BLACK SAILS - The Impact Review

(Read our exclusive interview with Mark Ryan here...)

The year is 1715 and the place is the West Indies. Civilization is changing, countries forging new alliances, new trading partners and trying to grab the best assets they can to preserve their powerbases. If that means disowning those who once did your bidding, then so be it... and thus it is that a breed of mariners quickly find themselves cast, quite litrally, adrfit and branded 'hostis humani generis'... 'enemies of all mankind'... or, if you prefer, 'pirates'. 

That's not to say they all remain noble and always dignified - their crews are a mixture of ex-servicemen and survivors, of rejects and outcasts, of pragmatists and opportunists - but they now face an evolving new culture all their own, often powered by money and profit but motivated more often by merely surviving a world changing around them.  Captain Flint ( Toby Stephens) is a man with a mission. In a rough and ragged version of democracy, he only remains the captain of the ship by the will and loyal numberings of his crew and they grow restless at the lack of haul after recent excursions and battles. But what only Flint and his loyal quatermaster Gates (Mark Ryan) know is that Flint is after specific details of a specific ship, supposedly laden with gold and enough to secure all their futures. But a page from a ledger with important details of the treasure is missing from the ship they've just pillfered and with a real chance that Flint's hold on his crew will falter, time is running out. The ship heads to Providence where Flint and Gates hope to make deals to further their uest or at least buy themselves some time.

Meanwhile one of the survivors of the ship they attacked has come onboard, offering himself as Flint's new 'cook'. However the man has the missing page of the ledger, aware it is important but not yet sure of  its true value. This is a man who looks out only for himself and staying ahead of his enemies. His name... is John Silver...

Nowadays the word ‘pirate’ summons visions of Johnny Depp sauntering up the beach with a quip, a cutlass, a swish of a hat and a famous impression of Keith Richards in full flow. There are a few minutes at the opening of the Black Sails pilot where you may be wondering if this Michael Bay produced outing will take a similar gentle OTT, tongue-in-cheek and somewhat family-friendly route. Before the opening credits have finished, we know it is full of action, possesses a bevy of sardonic one-liners and before you can say ‘Yo, ho, ho…’ we’re up to our doubloons in ship-on-ship action. 

However the series quickly nails its colours - and enemies - to the proverbial mast.  A further few minutes in and the tides are turning. Black Sails ain’t your granddaddy’s swashbuckler, though it might be something that one of his bygone ancestors would have appreciated. There’s profanity, perversion, pragmatic pilfering and pirate pussy-whipping and it becomes clear that what we have here is exactly what we’ve been promised: a Deadwood-on-Sea. Adult material, yes and with all that implies, but also one that expects you to pay attention to the ebb and flow of the complex dynamics between all our characters and their conflicting agendas. Though there’s more than enough flesh to keep Banshee looking over its shoulder, this is the cable punctuation to an ironically more earthy, briney and clearly well-realised concept. Those expecting a loud but hollow Michael Bay project (where the plot often plays a very second-place second-fiddle to the visuals) will likely be pleasantly surprised by the reversal of that tactic – and with the depth of field not only in the cinematography but in the story-telling and structuring of the series itself.

This is 'Shakespearian Drama' and 'Greek Tragedy' with a salty taste and writ large - mixing characters who we would meet or hear about in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and real, historical characters of the time - all on show with a fine flourish in its quill. Before the end of the first hour, you’ll be aware of the various alliances – those which are deeply personal and those that are simply pragmatic.

Toby Stephens is a magnificent and smouldering Captain Flint, giving us a character that stands side by side the likes of Vic Mackey, Walter White and Jax Teller as a person we may not always like and who may be their own worst enemy, but whom we would very much want on our side. He is wiley but flawed, but back him into a desperate corner and he’ll come out swinging with everything he has... and not stop swinging until the blood stops flowing.

But the lynchpin here is Gates. In the ship’s quartermaster, Mark Ryan simply has his best role since Robin of Sherwood, giving the audience a character we can like and respect but never underestimate. If Flint is the king, then Gates is the deceptively, steadying hand behind the throne – not beholden to his Captain, but there out of respect, loyalty and trust. For all the swirling machinations of our cast and crew that grab the more sultry spotlight and foreground, it’s Ryan's layered portrayal of the life-long sailor that may yet become our anchor and pivot in the maelstrom about to engulf them all.

What could have been a 'Bros before Yo-Ho-Hos' excuse for flimsy plots amongst flimiser clothing, Black Sails delivers on almost all the promises it made to the San Diego Comic Con crowds last year.  From the opening notes of Bear McCreary's (Battlestar Galactica) sea-shanty credits to each sun-scrorched frame, it's sexy, dangerous, dirty and IMPORTANTLY...clever... and in being so it becomes a welcome addition to the schedules. It is yet more proof that the networks, like the eighteen-century kingdoms and territories on show, should be looking over their shoulder for the next generation of risk-takers looking for the spoils of war and willing to kick down the doors with a new set of rules...

Black Sails begins on Starz in America on January 25th. Its UK debut has not been officially announced.