Frenchie is a character in Our Flag Means Death played by Joel Fry.
Physical Appearance[]
Frenchie is a young man with curly black hair. He wears a beard and mustache.
Personality[]
Frenchie's a skilled musician and is often seen playing a song. He holds some peculiar beliefs, including the fact that cats are witches[1] and that women have crystals in their bodies that attract demons.[2]
History[]
Before becoming a pirate, Frenchie worked as a servant for "a minute".[3] At some point in his life, he joined Stede Bonnet’s crew aboard the Revenge.
During the sewing activity, he sews a flag with a cat on it. When the ship is welcoming the English officers, he plays the role of a servant. His flag is destroyed during the attack of the English, as it ends up covered in blood. When Lucius goes missing following his finding about Jim, Frenchie replaces him as Stede’s scribe, but as he doesn’t know how to write, or read, he tries to doodle what’s happening.
Following the boarding of a French vessel, he finds an invitation addressed to Sir Godfrey Thornrose to a fancy party. He gives it to Stede and Blackbeard, and it’s decided to go. Oluwande goes with them. Once on the ship where the party is happening, Frenchie and Olu go on their own. While Olu impersonates the crown prince of Egypt, Frenchie poses as his viceroy. They end up putting in place a pyramid scheme among the aristocrats, but Frenchie gives their earnings to Abshir, one of the aristocrats’ slaves who helped them. Frenchie also helps Stede humiliate the aristocrats by gathering scandalous information.
During Stede’s fuckery, he plays the role of a witch, with Wee John as his cat.
He’s part of the expedition to St. Augustine to collect oranges, and with the others he helps fix Nana’s wall. When Jim decides to stay behind at St Augustine, Frenchie claims their and Olu’s room after Olu says he can’t stay in the room anymore. He shares it with Wee John, and makes some modifications by adding a sitting nook.
When the Revenge is invaded by the English Navy, Frenchie convinces Lucius to give him Stede’s journal so he can get rid of it by saying he “was born for this kind of espionage”. With Roach’s help, he tries to throw into the sea but fails miserably and the journal ends up at the feet of one of the English. He then claims it to be a bit of fanfiction about Captain Bonnet to try and cover it up, but it doesn’t work.
When the crew decide to mutiny against Izzy, Frenchie agrees with all of them, and again when Olu is designated captain. After Ed comes back alone from Barbados and goes back to his Blackbeard persona, Frenchie, alongside with Jim, is kept on the ship to serve under Blackbeard while the rest of Stede’s crew is abandoned on an island. He’s told to sew an extra part on Blackbeard’s flag.
Relationships[]
Stede Bonnet[]
Over the course of his voyage on the Revenge, Frenchie comes to value Stede as his captain. He tries to get rid of Stede's journal in an attempt to help him.
Blackbeard[]
Frenchie seems starstruck and afraid when he first meets Blackbeard, asking whether the crew would be allowed to live, which Edward treats as an absurd question. When Blackbeard forms a "new crew" after being abandoned by Stede, Frenchie is forced to become a part of it, apparently due to his skill in sewing.
Izzy Hands[]
Just like the rest of Stede's crew, Frenchie dislikes Izzy due to his authoritarian ways and focus on rules. When Izzy takes over as the captain of the Revenge, Frenchie agrees with the crew that they should mutiny.
Wee John Feeney[]
Frenchie seems to be John's closest friend aboard the Revenge. They take part in Stede's fuckery together with Frenchie playing the witch and John playing her cat, and when Oluwande gives up his room, John helps Frenchie claim it in return for roommate rights.
Oluwande Boodhari[]
Oluwande and Frenchie get along very well. During their outing to the fancy party, they devise a scheme aimed at conning the aristocrats out of their money.
Appearances[]
| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Trivia[]
- The origin of Frenchie's name can be found in the second draft of the Pilot script: the character was envisioned as French-Nigerian and speaking French in the show. He lost this characteristic during rewrites but kept his name.[4]
- Frenchie is allergic to peanuts, as shown in the second season; although, only Stede Bonnet seems to acknowledge the allergy as such, since Roach and the other crew members of the revenge blame Stede's (apparently) cursed coat.
References[]
- ↑ Pilot at 8:33
- ↑ Discomfort in a Married State at 17:38
- ↑ The Best Revenge is Dressing Well at 20:12
- ↑ PDF of the "Pilot" script, Second Draft - dated 4/15/20