Because of movies like "The Rock", "Pearl Harbor" and more recently the "Transformers" series, when Michael Bay stamps his name on anything people's ears perk up, So start perking your ears, because Bay has done it again.
Starz's new series "Black Sails" has become one of the most talked about shows this year. It is an intense, provocative, and an accurate depiction of the pirates life as you have never seen it before.
This isn't another kid friendly "Pirates of The Caribbean" knock off. The Co-Creators Robert Levine and Jonathan Steinberg wanted to show the more realistic side of the historically correct life of a pirate, that included the harsh conditions at sea and the brothels on land.
"On this show, sex isn't just sex and murders have meaning; such things are acts of power and politics," said Makeisha Toby from thewrap.com
"Black Sails" was created and written as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island", with Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), and all his pirates. Only this version of Captain Flint isn't the one we all remember.
"Flint is an extreme libertarian; a would-be king; a man who yearns to leave the sea, settle down, find peace; an incurably restless, rabid animal; and, of course, a criminal," said Jeff Jensen from ew.com.
He will stop it nothing to find the largest treasure in all of the world, and he will go through anyone that tries to stand in his way.
The story begins twenty years prior to "Treasure Island" in a place called New Providence Island. This is an island that the British Navy watches very closely because it has become a haven for pirates, from all walks of life, to come and hide their smuggled goods, enjoy their riches, and embrace the true extent of a pirate's lifestyle.
The Island is controlled by Richard Guthrie(Sean Cameron Michael), who is depicted as the kingpin to all illegal pirate trade, and his daughter Eleanor (Hannah New).
Eleanor is an assertive and independent woman that somehow holds her own in the midst of drunk and disorderly pirates that see her as just another prostitute.
Captain Flint isn't the only one Eleanor has to deal with though. Possibly one of the most ruthless, and cutthroat pirates of the show is Captain Charles Vane (Zach McGowan).
Captain Vane is the wild card of this show. You will never know what he is going to do next, and if Captain Flint never makes it to "Treasure Island" Vane may be the reason why.
This show is fueled by high intensity situations from beginning to end, there is no time to blink.
"The first episode delivers all the swords, blood, sex and nudity that a Starz Subscriber may be seeking, but slowly, through the next three, it becomes clear that "Black Sails" has more ambition than merely artfully framing a lesbian sex scene or a sword fight," said Tim Goodman from Hollywoodreporter.com
Because of the huge turnout during Comic-Con 2013 and a lot of support from fans, the second season of "Black Sails" was guaranteed before the series premiere aired.
Though the first season only included eight episodes, they are all an hour long. You can watch the pilot episode on tv.com if you don't have Starz and we all know inevitably it will make its way to Netflix in no time.
The second season however will have the standard 10 episodes that most Starz's shows have and will not air until sometime in 2015, so there is plenty of time to catch up on this must-watch show.
At a Glance:
Network: Starz
Starring: Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Zach McGowan
Production: Film Afrika Worldwide, Platinum Dunes, Quaker Moving Pictures
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Rated: TV-14
Overall Rating: 5 of 5
