Have you heard about Taika Waititi's gay pirate show? I'm not being cute - the show is literally about gay pirates. It took me by surprise because I thought that this was simply going to be a pirate comedy, but now that I'm all caught up on this HBO series and I can't stop screaming it from the rooftops: Taika's new pirate show, Our Flag Means Death, is super gay!
Taika Waititi did not create this show, contrary to popular belief. He is simply a star and an executive producer with his name being used as a selling point for David Jenkins' fantastic show. The award-winning writer and director of Jojo Rabbit, Thor Ragnarok, and What We Do in the Shadows takes a break from being behind-the-scenes, to don tight leather pants and a really hot salt-n-pepper beard in order to play the fearsome Blackbeard.
The series focuses on Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), an 18th-century rich boy who abandons his family and buys a pirate ship in order to live out his fantasies of being a "gentleman pirate". The crazy part? That guy was real. This is all loosely based on real events and real pirates and I *hope* real gayness. Stede is laughably horrible at being a pirate captain. His crew of rowdy pirates - about half of whom also turn out to be gay and have adorable ship rendezvous with one another and one of them, Ewen Bremner, shows his ass twice - are initially unhappy with Stede's incompetence. They are pirates! Not gentlemen! They want to go swashbuckle or whatever it is they do.
Rhys often wears frilly robes throughout the show and he doesn't take it all off, but we have see him stripped down to his skivvies in the past!
That all changes when Blackbeard comes on board. Instead of killing Stede and his men, Blackbeard is fascinated by Stede - again, something that really happened! They became best pirate pals! They form an obvious infatuation with one another and become co-captains. It is downright adorable. I had no idea Taika was such an amazing actor. When he looks at Rhys Darby, it feels like he is actually falling in love with him.
This series is exciting, hilarious, and tender. It straight up becomes a gay love story! After their epic kiss, you will find yourself hoping that the two run off together and go have sex on the beach. I won't spoil it, but these are pirates so their plans get epically foiled. All I know is that I cannot wait to see season two. I have full confidence that Taika would be down to do a sex scene with Rhys Darby.
Avast ye, mateys, and watch their amazing sexual chemistry:
