Ed and Stede are reunited in Our Flag Means Death but they have some issues they have to overcome before they can sail the seas together once again. The episodes are streaming on Max.
Episode 4 recap: Fun and Games
Ed wakes up and immediately headbutts Stede in frustration. Stede tries to make a case for Ed but the rest of the crew wants him banished from the ship for what he put them through.
Stede goes to Izzy for the deciding vote, but Izzy is going through his own drunken crisis and votes for banishment. Ed leaves the ship and Buttons tells Stede that he’s just returned from the gravy basket, or purgatory, and isn’t himself yet.
He offers to take a walk with Stede and explain the whole thing. Ed reaches land and runs into a rabbit that he thinks is a wolf. He pours his heart out to the rabbit before it is suddenly killed.
He calls out for the killer and a woman named Mary shows up who is overjoyed to see Ed as they know each other from before. Buttons tells Stede that Ed cannot differentiate between real and fantasy just yet and he needs time.
Buttons also says that he’s looking for a vessel so that he can transmogrify into a bird as they run across an antique dealer in the middle of nowhere. The collector is a woman named Annie who recognizes Stede’s fine taste.
Mary arrives with Ed right then and he and Stede have an awkward encounter. Mary and Annie are partners and they invite Stede and Ed for dinner that evening.
On the ship, Lucius is still dealing with his trauma, the crew who served under Blackbeard are traumatized, and Izzy is suffering the most. Roach, Black Pete, Oluwande, and Wee John decide to do something to help everyone calm down.
Jim and the others are suspicious of whatever their fellow crewmates are planning. They host a fun activity to try and convince the Blackbeard crew that this is a safe space but it isn’t easy.
Stede and Ed get a chance to actually talk to each other about what happened while they observe Ann and Mary’s odd dynamic. Izzy completely loses it and breaks off the legs of the unicorn from the ship’s bow.
His own wooden leg breaks down and he crawls away mumbling something. The crew bands together to fashion on of the unicorn legs into a prosthetic for Izzy and places it outside his door.
Ann and Mary’s relationship makes Stede and Ed realize that they’re actually in a much better place and just need to talk about things more clearly. Stede tells Ed that he can stay on the ship for a little while longer and they’ll convince the crew about the idea.
Buttons turns into a seagull and flies away.
Episode 5 recap: The Curse of the Seafaring Life
Ed stands before the crew to apologize but while he admits the horrible things that he did, he never really says the words “I’m sorry”. Lucius is the one who finds it harder to take because of the time Ed pushed him off the ship which led to all the traumatic things he went through.
Ed tells Stede that he needs to practice being more assertive as captain, while Stede reminds Ed that he needs to keep it simple and not do anything drastic to win over the crew.
Lucius walks into Ed on the ship and freaks out. Ed offers to be pushed off the ship if it’ll help and Lucius agrees to try it out. He pushes Ed from the same spot he was pushed but it doesn’t do anything for him.
Stede asks Izzy for training to become a better captain. Ed runs into Fang on a rowboat and agrees to go fishing with him. Stede spots a ship out in the ocean and calls for a raid.
However, when they board the ship, they find that everyone is dead. Jim and Stede go down to the captain’s quarters where they find a priest breathing his final breath. The priest tells them that everything is cursed and they should take anything, but Stede spots a magnificent red suit and puts it on.
Everyone marvels at the suit except for Jim who says that he should get rid of it because it is cursed. Izzy tells Stede that even if he doesn’t believe in curses, they still have power if the crew believes in them.
Roach makes peanut butter and puts it in a sandwich for Frenchie to try out, but Frenchie gets an allergic reaction. He doesn’t know that and blames it on the curse.
The crew corners Stede and tells him to get rid of the suit but he likes it so much and rushes back to his cabin to hide. Ed and Fang are out fishing and given a chance to talk in peace, Fang helps Ed realize that he has a lot of introspection to do to become a better man.
Black Pete calls out Lucius for being distracted and tells him that he’s focusing on the number of times he almost died rather than the fact that he’s still alive. Lucius realizes that needs to change his outlook and shows Black Pete that he cares for him.
Stede gets locks up the jacket and then asks the crew how they should get rid of it. They decide to palm it off to someone else and raid a ship just to do that. Stede also exhibits much better captain instincts, clearly having learned from Izzy’s lessons.
Stede and Ed talk about their respective days and share a loving kiss with each other before deciding to take things slow.
Review
- The romance between Ed and Stede is too adorable. They have brilliant chemistry and their dynamic does a lot of the heavy lifting in the series.
- While it isn’t very intense or serious, the fact that they are covering the subject of the crew’s mental health regularly is wonderful. Most of the series is just feel-good and this adds to that experience.
- Buttons is an amazing character and he is brilliant in episode 4. His presence is completely different from the rest of the characters in the scene and he stands out spectacularly.
Our Flag Means Death season 2 episodes 4 and 5
Director:
Andrew DeYoung
Date Created:
2023-10-12 12:30
Also Read: Our Flag Means Death season 2 episodes 1, 2, and 3 recaps & review
