Pilot

Season

1

Episode

1

Air date

March 3, 2022

Writer(s)

David Jenkins

Director

Taika Waititi

Episode guide
Next
A Damned Man

Pilot is the first episode of Season 1 of Our Flag Means Death. It aired on March 3, 2022.

Synopsis[]

Aristocrat-turned-pirate-captain Stede Bonnet is put to the test when his crew encounters a British naval vessel.

Plot[]

It's 1717, the Golden Age of Piracy. Stede Bonnet is a wealthy landowner, but has no qualifications as a pirate. Nonetheless, he decides that he and his crew will sail the seas aboard the Revenge.

Onboard, Frenchie sings to the crew, happily aboard the Revenge and embarking on the life of a pirate. The crew of the Revenge try to convince Black Pete into a wager, but Oluwande mocks him, citing that Pete is always slow to the wager. Pete throws his cards on the table in anger and complains about the mundane element of their journey thus far.

Arriving on deck, Stede alerts the crew that they are embarking on a perilous adventure and whilst some will return, some will not. Stede warns that those who do return may be mentally compromised, and asks for their opinion on how they should proceed. Stede and the rest of the crew members decide they should discuss the mental health issues that could arise as a result of their trip.

Stede tells the crew that they talk their problems through as a crew, and they all agree. The crew is ordered to their stations by Stede when they notice an upcoming vessel in their path. With his pirate instincts kicking in, Stede orders the vessel surrender, and is eventually able to climb on board, but this does not come without humour.

Whilst onboard, Stede announces himself a robber, but is surprised to find that there is little treasure on board except fish and flowerpots. Stede eventually returns to the Revenge, proud of his spoils.

Stede tells the crew members that each pirate treats their crew differently, and that he hopes to be a different captain. To start, he will pay the crew a salary. Hesitation and uncertainty seems rife among the crew upon mention of this, however.

Despite Stede's perception of success, the crew seem to have little faith in their captain, and Wee John rebukes their mission a "disgrace". When Stede confronts him about the comment, Wee John reminds Stede that the Revenge is still lacking the most important element of piracy: a flag.

With knowledge of his crew's uncertainty, Stede orders a flag be created on deck. Pete rebukes Stede, citing that sewing is "woman's work" and therefore he will not be privy to it. Stede takes a firm stand against Pete, citing that his views are untrue. Eventually, Roach and the other members get to work on the formation of a flag for the Revenge.

Stede believes that he and his crew can be successful, but first they need to learn to sew. Buttons interrupts Stede in his thought, citing that there is a potential mutiny within their crew. Stede is initially reserved to believe this and laughs, but is quite alarmed when he realises that Buttons could be telling the truth. With news of the mutiny, Wee John questions who will take the place of Stede if he is killed, and Pete immediately volunteers himself for the role given his past experience as a pirate.

The Revenge's mutiny is interrupted once again at the sight of another, albeit larger, ship in the distance. Stede seems reluctant to approach the topic of violence when this comes around, however, and asks Jim for a refresher.

On deck, the crew of the Revenge realise that they have perhaps made a mistake when they realise the ship approaching them is a British Naval Warship, therefore has ten-times the men and firepower of the Revenge. The British Naval ship shoots a warning shot at the Revenge which hits the mast.

On the British Naval Ship, the captain and his officers debate whether they should blow the Revenge up. The captain is reserved, but eventually spots and recognises Stede. Officer Wellington eventually boards the Revenge and apologises for the warning shot, and his crew later joins the crew of the Revenge for dinner, with the Revenge's crew disguised in Stede's clothing.

During a tour of the ship, Badminton mocks Stede for his attempts to become a pirate, while tensions among the rest of the two crews come to a head as Badminton's men continually make racist remarks directed at the crew of the Revenge. These tensions eventually climax when Jim throws a knife at one of the British officers, setting off a fight. Badminton, overhearing the commotion, draws his sword, and Stede hits Badminton over the head with a paperweight, causing Badminton to collapse and impale himself on his own sword, killing him instantly.

Under Oluwande's advisement, Stede takes credit for Badminton's killing, gaining him the respect of his crew. Two of Badminton's men are kept as hostages while a third is sent back to the warship on their tender, gagged and with his hands tied to the oars, surrounded by hand-made dummies dressed as his fellow officers. That night, Stede reads a bedtime story to the crew, and the Revenge continue on its journey.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Ted Heyck and Pedro Lopez as Elderly Fishermen
Theo Darby as Young Stede
David Jenkins as Officer Shaw
Asher Bishop as Rowboat Bully
Eden Grace Redfield as Alma Bonnet
William Barber-Holler as Louis Bonnet
Iain Morris and Luke Marinkovich as English Seamen

Featured Music[]

This episode features Concerto for Recorder and Viola da Gamba, TWV 52:a1 by Georg Philipp Telemann.^[1]
High on a Rocky Ledge by Moondog plays through the end credits.^[1]

Quotes[]

Stede: If someone returns from the raid mentally devastated, we talk it through, as a...?
The crew (scattered unison): ...As a crew.

Trivia[]

Behind the scenes[]

David Jenkins expressed his surprise at the fact the episode was called Pilot, as the show was picked up to series without going through the pilot process. Jenkins stated it should be called Stede Bonnet instead. ^[2]
Nathan Foad revealed that during the flag-making scene, he had a serious allergic reaction to the fabric that was being used, but not wanting to make a fuss, he did decided to hide it.^[3]
According to Takia Waititi, while filming the scene of the British officers on Captain Badminton's ship, a number of extras had to be removed from the stationary ship because they became seasick, despite the lack of real water. Waititi described the experience as, "It's an entire ship, and it rocks and rolls, and it's got people moving lanterns and stuff, and then you go up behind that and there's the big LED screens with the ocean and that's also moving."^[4]
David Jenkins revealed that the first thing to be shot for the show was the crew listening to Stede's speech in the opening of the episode and the reshoot of the same scene was the last thing shot for season 1.^[5]

Cut material[]

The second draft of the script for this episode includes some dialogue and information that didn't make it to the final aired cut, including referring to Mr. Buttons as Stede's First Mate, Stede being 12 years old in the flashbacks, and that Stede wasn't just afraid of killing the goose, but was also afraid of the live geese themselves.^[6]

Historical inaccuracies[]

The crew have Stede read Pinocchio to them. This is historically inaccurate, as the action of the show takes place in 1717 and Pinocchio was first published in weekly installments between 1881 and 1883. This is far from the only anachronism in the show. The more popularly noted ones (like Oluwande's Crocs) have been noted by fans on twitter since the episodes first aired. David Jenkins' responses have been flippant, including a now deleted tweet in which he stated, "Btw if you’re looking for historical accuracy from a pirate show featuring Taika dressed as a biker and Will Arnett as a cowboy you’re a maniac and absolutely adorable."

Improvised scenes[]

Wee John's comment about how he used to sew dresses for his mother was improvised by Kristian Nairn and inspired by the fact that his mother made mini skirts for him when he used to do drag.^[7]
Lucius' "wooden-boy voice" was improvised by Nathan Foad and he claims he would rather die than do it again.^[8]
In the scene where Stede informs his crew they are about to attack a ship and asks if they have any questions, the actors were asked by Taika Waititi (the director of the episode) to come up with their questions on the spot. According to Samba Shutte, this led to some of the crew breaking character laughing and the scene having to be reshot.^[9]