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IX.
Low ships
Season Two
Number Nine
Date Aired January 24th, 2015
Writer Jonathan E. Steinberg
Robert Levine
Director Steve Boyum
Previous VIII.
Next X.
"Once that ship is in your possession you will be invincible!"
Captain Flint[src]

Captain Flint attempts to seize a new ship; Eleanor must deal with an old threat as a new threat presents itself in Nassau; Rackham must start from rock bottom once again; and Bonny and Max's relationship takes an unexpected turn.

Synopsis[]

The episode begins upon an English merchantman, the Good Fortune as they anxiously await to be boarded by a pirate ship commanded by Ned Low. The captain of the Good Fortune tells his crew that if they behave rationally that the pirates will likely not inflict harm upon them. Once Low's crew has boarded, they round up the merchantman's crew. Originally intending to show them mercy, Low changes his mind and has the crew and the captain killed when he realizes that there is a special cargo aboard: a young sickly female named Abigail Ashe. Following the murder of the entire ship's crew, Low orders that the Good Fortune be set ablaze.

Goodfortuneburns

Low leaves the Good Fortune ablaze.

Upon the beach, Flint and the rest of the survivors of the Walrus realize that the Urca de Lima has shipwrecked and her massive treasure hold washed ashore. However, the Spanish Man O' War which nearly destroyed the Walrus watches over the beach and her crew is attempting to salvage the gold for themselves. Flint proposes to the remaining Walrus crew that the only way they can get off the beach is to take over the Spanish Man'o'War. He proposes that two men may be able to swim undetected out to the Spanish ship and overtake the skeleton crew that was left aboard as the rest of the Spaniards are ashore attempting to recover the gold. In exchange for a pardon from the Walrus crew, Flint volunteers himself for the mission. Silver then volunteers for the second spot.

A flashback shows Flint as a Royal Navy lieutenant in London in 1705. He meets Lord Thomas Hamilton, who wants to exterminate piracy in the West Indies.

In Nassau, Eleanor arrives at Hornigold's fortress, which is currently being controlled by Vane. Eleanor complains that Vane has not been coming to the Consortium's meetings. Vane returns the complaints and states that he believes that Eleanor has no desire to attend and run boring meetings. He opines that she would rather be like him and take what she wants, when she wants. Finally, before Eleanor leaves, Vane asks her if she thinks he is going to let Flint back into the bay whenever he returns with the Spanish gold, if he even returns at all.

Once they're alone on the beach, Flint berates Silver for volunteering, wishing that someone who could actually fight would be accompanying him. Surprised, Silver states that he didn't actually think Flint was serious and that this was just an elaborate ruse by Flint to escape the justice of the Walrus' crew. Nevertheless, Flint dives into the water and swims toward the Spanish ship, with Silver following not far behind.

In another flashback, Flint shows the hanging of a pirate to Lord Hamilton. As the crowd cheers when the pirate is hanged, Flint tells Hamilton that pirates are needed, because the civilized world likes the shows like the one they just witnessed.

As they arrive at the Spanish ship and pull themselves aboard, Flint and Silver find themselves in the precarious spot of being in a room full of Spanish sailors quietly sleeping in their hammocks.

Rackhambeaten

Rackham bloodied and beaten

Elsewhere in Nassau, Rackham is leaving an outhouse when he is assaulted by a group of men, beaten, and urinated upon. Rackham has become an unpopular man in the community as word has gotten out that he took part in killing members of his own crew. When he returns to his brothel, Anne Bonny confronts him to see what has happened. He bemoans to her the fact that he has lost everything that he has worked so hard to build in the past few years as a respected pirate.

Flint and Silver stealthily make their way through the hammocks, but must first kill a Spaniard who spots them. Once they make their way up to the top deck, they call the lookout down from his perch in the crow's nest, under the ruse that it is time for a shift change. However, as Flint kills the lookout, he realizes that the Spanish crew have awoken and that he is about to be captured.

At the Harbormaster's tent in Nassau, Low's quartermaster, Mr. Meeks, is demanding that they receive full price for the cargo they captured from the English merchantman. The Harbour Master explains to him that they are not going to receive full price for the cargo because the barrels are stained with blood. Eleanor arrives and explains to Meeks that she cannot resell the cargo in bloody barrels which means that she will incur the cost of having to repackage the goods and that she doesn't intend to suffer that financial loss.

At Rackham's bar, Eleanor has a sit down meeting with Rackham, Bonny, and Max, and wants to know why the Good Fortune was captured by Ned Low's crew and not by Captain Hallendale and his ship, the Straight Arrow, whom she had given the lead. Max admits that she sold that lead to Low for 90 gold pieces. When Eleanor demands to know why Max would subvert her authority like that, Max fires back and states that she doesn't live her life according to what Eleanor thinks. Bonny in incensed that Max is actually such a schemer, figuring that she was just a helpless woman who needed to be saved from pirates. She tells Rackham that Max needs to be put on the streets by the next day or else she will deal with Max in her own way.

Flintsilvercaptured

Flint and Silver held captive

Below decks, Flint and Silver are tied to chairs as a Spanish sailor begins to interrogate them. He states that he will let one of them go with a handful of gold, but only the one who tells him what he wants to know first. Silver immediately spills all the beans about who they are and what they are attempting to do. True to his word, the Spaniard unties Silver and gives him some gold. As the Spaniard is about to shoot Flint, Silver cracks him over the head and immediately finds himself in a stand-off with the two remaining members of the Spanish crew in the room. Unfortunately, Flint only has one pistol so he must choose which Spaniard to shoot. Flint recommends that Silver kill the one with more scars as it appears that he is more battle tested. Silver agrees and shoots the scarred Spaniard and gets in a brawl with the other one. As he is about to be stabbed, Silver is saved by Flint who has managed to untie himself during the scuffle.

Man O 39 War sails

The Man O' War sails for Nassau.

Hearing the ruckus below decks, the remainder of the Spanish crew attempts to enter the room, but Flint and Silver have successfully barricaded themselves inside. The Spanish crew is attempting to break down the door when they are surprised by the Walrus crew, who have rowed out to the Spanish ship. The Walrus crew successfully kills the remainder of the Spanish crew and manages to lower the sails on the ship, allowing them to escape.

Later that night, Max goes into Bonny's room and attempts to smooth things over. As she approaches Bonny, Bonny pulls a knife and puts it to Max's throat. However, Bonny is overcome with her hidden passion for Max and allows herself to be kissed.

Down in Eleanor's bar, Eleanor pours herself a drink. She is then confronted by Low, who proceeds to tell her why he is a good captain; it is not because he is smart or a good sailor, but rather it is because he is feared and has no remorse in his heart. He then asks for proper compensation for the goods he brought in earlier. Eleanor, holding firm, then tells him to get out of her bar.

1705 Red Ensign

James McGraw, standing before a ship flying a Red Ensign, 1705.

In a flashback, Flint meets Miranda, the wife of Lord Hamilton. He introduces himself as James McGraw. Attentive viewers will notice that, despite the fact the date is given as 1705, the merchant ensign in the background of this scene features the Union Jack in its canton, rather than the historically correct Cross of St. George.

Later, Dufresne informs Flint that crew has reached a vote, 17 in favour and 15 opposed, to allow Flint and Silver to escape with their lives once they reach Nassau, however, they will be kicked off the crew and will forfeit their share of any profit. When Dufresne leaves them alone, Silver tells Flint that he knows him well enough to know that he plans to become a captain again, take control of the ship, and return to the beach to steal the Spanish gold. Flint confirms that.

Memorable Quotes[]

"You fuckin' ingrate. You mewed and whimpered in that fuckin' tent till you had me all turned around. Got me thinking you were some helpless thing they was beatin' on. I get you out and you pull this shit! Starting shit without telling us..."
―Anne Bonny to Max[src]
"The truth is, I'm not a particularly skilled captain. Navigation is foreign to me, I have no gift for politics. So what am I good at? This is going to sound absurd, but I make the men feel better about themselves. See, every man here has served under a captain who uses violence to achieve an end. To terrorize, to advertise. When the men see that, they can spot the lie. They know that their captain is, in some part of his soul, sickened by his own actions. And the lie infects everyone who sees it. But with me, when the men see me slaughter the crew of the Good Fortune, when they see me cut out of man's tongue from his mouth for lying, when they see me burn a boy alive in front of his father's eyes, they know, they can see it in my eyes...there's no lie there. There's no seed of remorse there. I simply don't have it in me."
―Ned Low to Eleanor Guthrie[src]

Trivia[]

  • Mr. Scott does not appear in this episode.
  • The character Edward "Ned" Low is introduced this episode. Ned Low was a historical pirate known for his savagery, but only became a pirate in 1721.
  • Dufresne had been played by actor Jannes Eiselen throughout the first season of the show, but sadly he was diagnosed with brain cancer before he was able to begin filming the second season. He was replaced starting in this episode by actor Roland Reed.
  • The tactic used by Flint to take over the Spanish ship was an actual naval tactic of the time called "cutting out", which involved assaulting a ship with smaller boats, usually at night against an anchored and unsuspecting target. The most notable example of a "cutting out" occurred on October 25th, 1799 when a group of 100 British sailors recaptured the HMS Hermione from a crew of nearly 400 Spanish sailors. During the assault the Spanish crew lost 119 killed and had 231 taken prisoner while the British crew miraculously suffered no fatalities and only 11 wounded.
  • Frasier and Naft appear in a promotional image for this episode along with Eleanor and O'Malley but do not appear in the episode itself, the scene presumably having been cut.
  • In the flashbacks the Red Ensign is shown with the Union Jack in its canton. In 1705, the flag should have featured the Cross of Saint George, as the Acts of Union (1707), uniting England and Scotland into Great Britain had not yet come to pass.
  • Although not named on screen, the hanging of the pirate "Davey" appears to take place at the Execution Dock in Wapping.
  • The episode confirms that including Flint and Silver, 34 total members of the Walrus Crew survived the prior episode's battle. The fates of Froom, Beauclerc, Bobby, Paxton, Nelson and Cameron are left unaddressed, indicating that they likely all perished.
  • There should have been far more Spanish soldiers and crewmen present at the Urca wreck. The Urca should have had a crew of at least 200, while the Spanish Man O' War would have had a crew of at least 800. Even with the casualties from the hurricane, the Spanish should have had far greater numbers than the mere 100 soldiers that Flint says are guarding the beach.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Characters[]

First[]

  • Ned Low
  • Meeks
  • Abigail Ashe
  • Dooley

Deaths[]

  • Fogg
  • Jefferson
  • Spanish Boatswain
  • Ranking Spanish Sailor
  • Lookout
  • Spanish Sailor 1
  • Scarred Spanish Sailor
  • Spanish Sailor 2

Locations[]

Organizations[]

Ships[]

Navigation[]

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