A Love Letter to My Beloved Pirates for ‘Our Flag Means Death’s Cancellation
To my dearest pirates of Max’s Our Flag Means Death, you are gone too soon, but that is the way the world can sometimes be to beautiful things. You were captivating and brilliant in both of the seasons we got, and it hurts to know that there are those who do not see your importance and want to celebrate it.
In all seriousness, the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death is one that brings pain to so many of us. This is a show that we fought to keep alive after season 1, and we all knew that they only wanted to bring us a few seasons, if only those in charge would have given the show a chance. Maybe that’s what will make Our Flag Means Death so sacred to us all in the coming years: knowing we were there when the show was at its prime and how we fought for it.
I’m reminded of how I felt with the cancellation of Pushing Daisies way back when. I was filled with pain knowing what that show could have been if anyone at ABC had just believed in it. That’s how I feel once more with this news.
Look, on one hand, I get it. I understand the money side of things, but Our Flag Means Death was not a show that was going to break the bank at Warner Bros. Discovery, so canceling a show that did have a huge fanbase just feels like a villain hitting the hero when they were already down—especially when creator David Jenkins and the cast (including Taika Waititi as Blackbeard) were all down for a third season. This all just feels like the cruelest timeline to exist in.
You will always have my heart
Our Flag Means Death will join the canon of shows that I love so dearly that were gone before their time. Shows like Party Down and Pushing Daisies have been my favorites because I knew at the time that they were incredible, and while the fanbase for Our Flag Means Death was loud, supportive, and vocal about how good this show is (and how much we wanted a third season), what we get now is just that feeling of what could have been and the love we will always share for show.
There is solace in the fact that the season 2 finale gave us a bit of closure, with Blackbeard and Stede (Rhys Darby) starting their lives together with their crew sailing off on the Revenge—in knowing that we got to at least see them happy and healthy, having given a proper funeral to Izzy Hands in the process.
For all of this and more, there is going to be a Revenge-shaped hole in my heart knowing that we could have had more of our pirates but they were taken from us too soon. I love you so much, Our Flag Means Death, and I would give my arm if it meant another network would pick you up and give us another season.
(featured image: Max)
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