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XXXVII.
XXXVII-1
Season 4
Number 37
Date Aired March 26, 2017
Writer Dan Shotz
Director Steve Boyum
Previous XXXVI.
Next XXXVIII.
"Were you and I ever to come to blows I'd be forced to hesitate before doing you any harm."
―James Flint

Silver and his men hunt for Flint on Skeleton Island. Madi is made an offer. Rogers struggles to hear Eleanor. Billy casts his lot.

Synopsis[]

XXXVII-6

A series of flashbacks throughout the episode take us back to when James Flint and John Silver were more aligned than ever. A few weeks earlier on the Maroon Island, Silver was being schooled on how to properly sword fight, when Flint realises that he doesn’t really know Silver’s past; the boys’ home origin tale is clearly fabricated. Our past is the only insight into our base motivations. For as committed as they are to each other’s futures, it bothers Flint that Silver insists on keeping his past a complete mystery.

In the present on Skeleton Island, Silver is ferried ashore to join Israel Hands and five others in furiously hunting for Flint before he buries the Urca cache. However, Flint’s superior strategy serves him well. He manages to fool the group into splitting up, and then takes out three of the men single-handedly.

XXXVII-4

On the governor’s ship, Woodes Rogers seems to be at war with himself, haunted by his guilt over Eleanor’s death, which reinforces his cruel nature. When he asked Billy Bones which one will prevail, Billy admits that it will most likely be Flint and he should make his move now. However, Rogers wants to see if he can turn Madi once more. Below deck, Rogers quietly reads Madi the riot act: he has no regard for “her kind” and despises the idea of compromise, but wishes to deal with her for Silver’s life. However, a calm and collected Madi has the interests of her people firmly in mind and picks the cause over the man.

XXXVII-7

Meanwhile enroute to Skeleton Island, Jack Rackham speaks with Mr. McCoy, the old man who sailed with Avery and knows the way to Skeleton Island. The philosophical old sailor tells Jack just what he wants to hear; to hold onto the pirate life for as long as he can. Later, all Jack’s optimism vanishes when one of the crew informs him that the old man has had a heart-attack. Jack turns to Featherstone and tells him he’d better have taken notes from the old geezer or there will be hell to pay.

Back on Skeleton Island, Dooley has sided with Flint all the way. However, they are found by Joji and another pirate. Pairing up, Flint takes out the other guy, while Joji pins Dooley’s hand to the ground without killing him, as if to say that he didn’t want to kill his brother. It’s one hell of a fight between Flint and Joji, but in the end the silent and deadly pirate is killed.

XXXVII-12

Back on the Walrus, Silver's plan always seemed rather foolhardy, as it relied on Rogers keeping his word and not murdering everyone regardless. Under the cover of the island’s thick fog, Rogers has a few of his redcoats swim out and set the Walrus on fire. Mr. DeGroot, unable to put out the flames, orders the men to abandon ship. With the pirates bobbing in the water, longboats filled with redcoats begin picking them off like fish in a barrel. DeGroot himself is shot in the head. The thing that hurts most is that Billy leads the redcoats. When he locks eye with Ben Gunn, in a brief moment of humanity he lets him go.

Back on Skeleton Island, after a skirmish with Israel Hands, Flint subdues him, and the final confrontation between Silver and Flint begins. After all that’s happened, Flint is still willing to talk reasonably with him, but Dooley comes up behind Silver with pistol drawn. Flint doesn’t hesitate, and instinctively shoots Dooley to save his life. However for Silver, Flint has just killed yet another man in the name of his own cause. Silver attacks. The fight is short but ferocious. They seemed equals at this point. Silver so desperately wants to kill him, while Flint so desperately wants to avoid this fight. The only thing that saves either one is the sound of explosions from the Walrus.

XXXVII-2

In the end, Flint, Silver and Hands get to the cliff that overlooks the ships, and see the Walrus; the ship that has lived on borrowed time for so long is finally done in.

Memorable Quotes[]

"Can’t you see it? It isn’t utility that’s behind his investment in me. Nor necessity, nor dependency. I understand you fear a false motive, but this much is clear to me now. I have earned his respect. After all the tragedies that man has suffered? The loss of Thomas, the events of Charlestown… I have earned his trust. I have his true friendship, so he is going to have mine. And as long as that is true, I cannot imagine what is possible."
―John Silver to Madi
"Hold on to this for as long as you can, for all of us who once had it and walked away."
―Mr. McCoy to Jack Rackham
"The voice you hear in your head I imagine I know who it sounds like, as I know Eleanor wanted those things. But I hear other voices. A chorus of voices. Multitudes. They reach back centuries. Men and women and children who'd lost their lives to men like you. Men and women and children forced to wear your chains. I must answer to them and this war their war Flint's war my war it will not be bargained away to avoid a fight, to save John Silver's life or his men's or mine."
―Madi to Woodes Rogers

Trivia[]

  • In Woodes Rogers's visions/hallucinations of Eleanor, she is knitting, something which we never saw her do. This would appear to follow on a theme from recent episodes in which Rogers is idealizing her memory per his standards of civilization, rather than remembering her as she truly was.
  • One of the promotional images for the episode featured the "ghost" Eleanor in the background of Rogers's ship, but did not appear in the final version of the episode. 
  • Joji's appearance in this episode is his thirty-fifth in the series. He never once had any dialogue.
  • The episode's depiction of the burial of the treasure deviates somewhat from Treasure Island, the novel to which Black Sails serves as a prequel. In the book, Flint and six men bury the treasure, which also includes a great deal of silver and gold, after which he kills all six. In this episode, it is a single chest of jewels, and the events surrounding the deaths of the six men are different. Also absent is the blockhouse and stockade that Flint and the six men build in the book.
  • This is the only episode not to feature any scenes taking place in Nassau.
  • Sizo Mahlangu is uncredited for his appearance as Obi, although he does appear briefly escaping from the burning Walrus.
  • This episode breaks with the streak established by Seasons Two and Three of killing a main character in the ninth episode of the season. However, prominent recurring characters De Groot, Joji and Dooley are all killed in this episode.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Characters[]

Deaths[]

  • Pirate 1
  • Colin
  • Adams
  • Mr McCoy
  • Pirate 2
  • Joji
  • Dooley
  • Mr. De Groot
  • Walrus Crewman (offscreen)

Locations[]

Organizations[]

Ships[]

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