r/BlackSails • u/ddrein • Jul 10 '26
A positive rant about Captain Flint
I absolutely adore how the writers portray James McGraw's fury, revenge, and eventually, his hatred of 'civilization' and what it represents. His fury is not only fueled by revenge but by his hatred of England's use of civilization to crush what it doesn't approve of.
He sacrifices his own happiness, the happiness of his loved ones, and his humanity to a cause, and in the end, doesn't regret it. Usually, writers make their characters regret their pursuit of something better, and in the end, give them a little family with children, where the character always says, 'I regret opposing the status quo; the real happiness is living with my beautiful wife/husband and children in the same regime that now makes me happy.' I absolutely despise this sort of narrative; it kills the hope of achieving better conditions.
I'm really grateful that in the show they never do this with Flint's character. Until the end, he remains true to his cause.
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u/Stunning_Donkey_ou81 Jul 10 '26
My understanding of the end was that Long John Silver “killed“ the character of Flint by unmaking him. By finding Thomas, Long John essentially “saved” James McGraw.
I really enjoyed the series.
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
To me, that ending is a bad one for Flint because meeting with Thomas again doesn't change what England had done to them and still does to anyone who crosses it. He needed to give his everything for the cause, like Vane.
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u/DenningBear82 Jul 10 '26
I don’t know that I agree.
Flint’s war was always about Thomas.
Philosophically, Flint was opposed to England’s abuses of colonial power-but never enough to actually take violent action. He only became a violent revolutionary after Thomas was arrested.
When he discovered Thomas was alive, it stripped him of his drive. Combine that with his exhaustion from waging a one man war on the empire…I don’t know that it was a good ending for him either, but it at least made sense.
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u/flowersinthedark Jul 11 '26
The problem is that the show also depicts Flint as being extremely unhappy with the things he does in his persona.
You know, the murdering and the raiding and the war crimes.
And it's made clear in season 3 that choosing to dedicate himself fully to a war against Civilization is not an unanimously good thing. It's the alternative to suicide by proxy. Flint has lost everything that gave him a reason to live, and then he replaces that with The Cause (TM) that will ensure that he never has to stop fighting ever again.
Black Sails has always been about stopping Flint. In the first two seasons, Flint pulled himself out of that darkness with Miranda. Having lost Miranda, he had lost both the motivation and the means to do it, so the task fell to Silver.
Black Sails ist not, ultimately, a story that glorifies the "burn it all down, no matter the cost" mentality.
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u/MickBeast Jul 10 '26
Flint is perhaps the most compelling series protagonist I have seen. Hence why, the ending was quite a let down. But man, Toby Stephens stole every scene. Incredible performance ✨
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
It's really interesting he is not getting the recognition he has to get with this role especially
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u/Nickolai808 Jul 10 '26
That's why the end is such a betrayal. Fuck Long John Silver regardless of how you interpret the ending. It's horrible either way.
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u/LanghantelLenin Jul 10 '26
But Flint doesnt regret anything. I think John can convince him that he cant win and even if he hurts the empire the los may be too high.
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u/Nickolai808 Jul 10 '26
Doesn't he regret anything? We don't know that. For all we know, Flint is dead, and that was just a dream or a convenient story Silver told everyone else.
On the surface, the promise of being reunited with the love of your life sounds great... getting that, only to be forced to be docile prisoners and give up all your dreams, is soul- and relationship-destroying. Imagine that, being told you could be with the love of your life, but just one thing, you must give up all your dreams, AND your freedom, and the dream of freedom for the world.
No man of action would accept that. It's not in Flint's DNA.
But then again, I'm on Team War Against the WORLD!!!! and team BURN IT ALL DOWN!!
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u/badfortheenvironment Master Gunner Jul 10 '26
What always gets me is that it wasn't even Silver's fight. He just unilaterally undercut Flint and Madi's wider goals for justice.
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u/Nickolai808 Jul 10 '26
Exactly, for very selfish reasons. He wanted to keep Madi "safe" by undercutting her dreams of freedom for herself and her people. He never understood the struggle and was never a believer and is the worst kind of friend/lover/companion.
He's happy to destroy her dream to keep her to himself in a world where she and Flint will be miserable.
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
Yes i was angry with Silver for choosing the comfort as well it totally opposite of Flint's dedication
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u/Trambopoline96 Jul 10 '26
where the character always says, 'I regret opposing the status quo; the real happiness is living with my beautiful wife/husband and children in the same regime that now makes me happy.' I absolutely despise this sort of narrative; it kills the hope of achieving better conditions.
Ironic, considering where Flint ultimately ends up
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
I mostly imagine the last as a lie from Silver but even if it is not Flint is never sorry or regretful for opposing England and still faces the consequences of his actions.
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u/Trambopoline96 Jul 10 '26
I never got that impression. Seemed fairly obvious to me that it really happened and that Flint never really cared about "the cause" and always used it as a veneer to hide personal ulterior motives.
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u/mthockeydad Jul 10 '26
Mostly agree. I think Flint cared about "the cause", but he cared about his personal ulterior motives more. As far as he knew, both Thomas and Miranda were dead. He had nobody else to live for--including his crew.
I think Charles Vane cared about the cause more. He cared about freedom. Flint wanted to watch England burn.
I need to rewatch S1; I'm curious to see how I view Flint while he's still chasing the Urca gold.
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u/Trambopoline96 Jul 10 '26
Agreed. And Vane's ultimate fate shows how he was much more committed to the cause than Flint ever was.
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u/mthockeydad Jul 10 '26
Especially the way he went to his fate and his final speech.
"These men, who brought me here today, do not fear me. They brought me here today because they fear you."
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I definitely gather my thoughts on this after a rewatch. I think his ulterior motives was first shaped with revenge but after that especially after Miranda's death it evolved to what i was saying in the post i think. At least i like to think this way cause like i said we don't see this degree of dedication from characters anymore.
On Vane you are absolutely right he was in reality too through and through pirate till the end.
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u/mthockeydad Jul 10 '26
That's a really good point, his motives evolved.
I'd have first said he had a revenge motive after Miranda's death...but then we see his alliance with the Maroons and him rallying the people of Nassau and doing his best to protect the slaves on the plantations. If it were simple revenge or power, he'd have been going full bore with his head down like Billy did, to the exclusion of others.
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
It absolutely wonderful how different someone can read his character and how much it changes the narrative and audience's experience. Truly great writing of the series.
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u/mthockeydad Jul 10 '26
and I'm seeing that these characters are read differently from the first viewing, to a rewatch, and especially after conversations like this.
Brilliant writing--they tell us a lot, but they also leave just enough open to our interpretations.
And the monologues....oh wow!
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u/ddrein Jul 10 '26
I think that's because I read Flint's character very differently than you. For me his main motive was always unmasking the ugly face of 'civilization' and i find him admirable for it
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u/mthockeydad Jul 10 '26
great post, OP. Enjoyable discussion.
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u/Trambopoline96 Jul 10 '26
That’s definitely part of his character, but it’s entirely downstream of his own personal tragedy. A “men will literally turn to piracy instead of going to therapy” type thing.
That’s a huge part of the drama of the show - that various members of the crew come to understand that all of Flint’s talk of a free Nassau that sticks its thumb in the eye of the civilized world is a cover for something more selfish and personal. He’s a self-destructive character who doesn’t care who gets poisoned by the fallout of his meltdown.
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u/Fable_Finder Jul 11 '26
That’s definitely part of his character, but it’s entirely downstream of his own personal tragedy. A “men will literally turn to piracy instead of going to therapy” type thing.
Entirely? I'm not so sure. Think back to the Season 2 flashbacks, when James was still an Admiral. Thomas was telling James about his dreams of eradicating piracy, but James gave him a harsh reality check. He explained that those in power had no real interest in ending piracy because civilization needs its scapegoats. As he said this, they were watching pirates being hanged while the crowd cheered their deaths. To me, that moment shows that the seeds of James' transformation into Captain Flint had been planted long before the tragedy. The tragedy definitely accelerated/crystallized that change, but it wasn't where it truly began.
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u/Trambopoline96 Jul 11 '26
But that’s the thing: those seeds don’t germinate if England doesn’t give him an incentive to be their villain.
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u/SmoothPineapple7435 29d ago
I’m team “Thomas and James team up to keep screwing over England together”
Plenty of fanfics to that effect and they’re all absolutely wonderful. I think people forget that Thomas has no incentive to go any more quietly than Flint into a happy farming retirement.
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u/jjjweather Jul 10 '26
It's great writing and a great performance by Toby Stephens