User Reviews

This episode gives you a chance to live through the absurdity of french aristocracy! Great acting by everyone. This episode made up for all the slow pace in the first couple of episodes.

Also the Nigerian prince joke, just beautiful writing!!

This one takes place off-ship and is almost a one-off in terms of overall arc, but oh man, what a madcap, delirious, hilarious, awful nightmare this is!

As Ed teaches Stede about piracy, so Stede teaches Ed about how "the other half" lives. They find an invite to a fancy boat party and Ed is eager to attend. Stede warns them that everyone there will be condescending and awful, but Ed wants a chance to try out his new social skills, and of course Stede is going to relent for his BFF.

Well, it goes as predictably wrong as Stede feared. But man, oh man, do Godfrey and Jeff the Accountant make a fine pair!

Best line of the season in this episode. This is where a lot of us said, "AHA!!!"

We get to see a little bit of life on board the ship with Stede and Ed this episode, and watch their relationship develop.

While this episode isn't my favorite for a handful of reasons (mainly the implication that Edward "sounds stressful, Izzy :(" Teach doesn't understand the concept of passive aggression), the relationship being developed between Ed and Stede is so charming in this episode. As I watched while it was airing, I didn't have the benefit of episodes 9 and 10 to know what was going to happen--and thought I was seeing things in the moonlight scene where Stede tucks the square of red silk into Ed's pocket. "He can't be about to kiss him!"

Spoilers for episode 9 and 10: HE WAS! (And it was perfect.)

I also think that David Fane and Nathan Foad deserve a shoutout for the B-plot of this episode, which does such a fantastic job of delivering one of the themes of this show in the "I've never had anyone take an interest in my form before" scene. It's silly and funny, but Lucius's response is so earnest--there's always something to love and we owe it to each other to look for that. It's one of my favorite scenes in the whole entire series.

The way that Ed's character is expanded upon through showing his insecurities is a fabulous turn of writing after what we had seen so far.

Stede also showing confidence and protectiveness over Ed is a perfect way to slowly spw the seeds of romance between the two completely opposite characters.

Frenchie and Oluwande get a perfect moment to show their friendship & mutual distain for the rich pompous party goers, resulting in the best play on words that I have seen. Those pyramid schemes are tricky business!

Kristen Schaal's cameo as Antoinette is a showstopper, proving once again how she can steal a scene with just a single line - "you're my brother, Gabriel, it's disgusting" is just comedy gold in the moment.

This is THE episode of this show! This is where we get to see Stede work his power and the homoeroticism between Stede and Ed is off the charts.

We get to see their budding relationship with each other; Ed teaches Stede how to use a sword, Stede teaches Ed how to dine with pageantry. They both get to see the violent sides of each other, and Ed gains immense respect (and heart eyes) towards Stede.

Frenchie and Oluwande's parallel story is also so satisfying to watch. I love how this show confronts anti-black racism and slavery: By having the black main character scheme the racist enslavers into handing over all their money (and dignity).

This episode is hilarious, sweet, and my favorite episode of this season.

There were definitely parts of this episode that were funny, but a lot of it was a mess.

It is starting to feel like this show would have been better off as a movie as they don't have enough material for a show.

God I wish I could watch this episode for the first time, again. To my mind this is the best episode yet and also a perfect episode in terms of all the things it accomplishes so economically. Genuinely can't believe this was only half an hour, the text is RICH. (Class commentary? In MY silly pirate show??)

Ed's character is made so much more complex with the bit of background we get, and his fish-out-of-water positioning in this episode is so interesting. Conversely, seeing Stede navigate his own upper-crust world for the first time this season is very revealing. We can see that he knows all the rules and how to conform, even excel, in that environment but that doesn't mean it fulfils him at all. He's so worried about that world being similarly cruel to Ed, it really shows his best side.

I love that in the world of the show Blackbeard is meant to be a madman, but we as the audience are constantly presented with evidence that Stede is maybe more insane!

Lucius SHINES in this episode. "We don't own each other," thank you, king, you're absolutely right.

The below are just some noteworthy tidbits I loved.

Apparently I will protect Fang at all costs, he owns my heart in this episode. Nick Kroll and Kristen Schaal absolutely outdo themselves on this one; shout out the Kroll's nostril flare. I love all the comedy royalty cameos in this series. Frenchie and Olu's pyramid scheme had me absolutely howling, it was so clever and played so well. Major kudos again to the costuming - the way Antoinette has every brooch known to humanity pinned to her bodice is so funny. I don't know WHAT Con O'Neill was THINKING when he did that scene but it sure was iconic even if it made me want to rip my skin off from secondhand embarrassment. Taika apparently invented puppy-dog-eyes, who knew! Abshir pushing Stede out of the office was so good. Rory Kinnear returns! His response to the hair comment is so funny I had to rewind and watch it again for full appreciation. Angus Samson as the king is another win for Aussie viewers and he absolutely owned that role.

This is one of my favorite episodes as we explore Stede and Blackbeard's newfound collaboration to teach each other what they know best. We get to see Stede, Blackbeard, Frenchie, and Oluwande attend an aristocrat party where the craziness explodes. The dialogue is witty and pulls the viewer into some of the funniest scenes to date. The episode switches between scenes on the Revenge where Lucius and Izzy are having a power struggle to the party where Jeff the Accountant dazzles the aristocrats with his vivid stories, music, and dancing. Frenchie and Oluwande's con game taking place during the party adds to the bedlam on board. The ending scene in the moonlight is the first realization by both pirates that they are feeling something for each other during the often quoted "you wear fine things well" moment. Taika's acting continues to impress as he shifts from different moods and layers of his character development. Another nod this episode goes to the costumes, makeup and set designs. Every detail is perfection.

One of my favorite episodes where many of the cast (and the guest stars) get to shine. There's a lot of intentional absurdity, but also a lot of genuine underlying emotion. The 'pyramid scheme' and the revenge thanks to Abshir are some of the most delightful bits of the season and you have to cringe for Ed as he realizes he's the butt of the joke.

A win for everyone who has ever felt like an outsider.

(Note: big round of applause for the costume designers who went whole hog this episode! The rich people are delightfully over the top. Not historical, as historical is not the point, but perfect for setting the characters.)

This episode gave us Jeff the Accountant and the most bottom pout Ed has ever pouted and it's beautiful. I also loved Joel Fry (as Frenchie) and Samson Kayo (as Oluwande) in this. As I said in my overall review, all the characters in the crew are lovable.'

Stede burning down a ship because people made fun of Ed????

YOU WEAR FINE THINGS WELL???????

I can never get over you wear fine things well. It's the cutest scene in the series as far as I'm concerned

The usage of the colour purple as a theme for the love between Ed and Stede fills my heart with joy (and has made my favourite colour purple, maybe...)

I love it when Stede can go really wild! On one side we have Ed and Stede, trying to work their (clearly neurodivergent) charms on a ship full of aristocrats - dealing with feelings of inferiority and with some harsh passive aggression. On another side, Frenchie and Olu are inventing pyramid schemes - taking the situation they're in and using it for their benefit against the terrible slave owner aristos. Then on the third side we have a new romance blooming between Lucius and Pete, between Lucius and Fang, and a new rivalry between Lucius and Izzy. Lucius sure is a busy bee. We establish taking charge of a nasty situation in their environment - making the bad people turn against themselves, profiting off of them and telling the mean boss you're doing things your way. Then a lovely lovely romantic scene by the moonlight - melts my heart. If I could, I'd give it 11/10.

(Technically spoilers included, but I promise not really to ruin anything...)

I loved this episode deeply. If you like a good underdog story, this was absolutely one to watch!

Admittedly, the entire thing is intentionally a-historical madness (yes, the European aristos on the pleasure boat in high Rococo fashion are excited about phrenology... also one is wearing a chicken hat... this is not supposed to be tricking you into thinking it's anything but historical *fantasy*).

Besides following our two main leads in their awkward dance of navigating 18th century mean girls, the B plot of the what the other crew are up to is funny and satisfying and one of my favorite jokes (I hope Abshir comes back next season)!

And the the denouement at the end of the episode is, seriously, all I could have hoped for.

AKA 'Stede and Ed go to a fancy party and set a bunch of snobs on fire'. There are so many things to love about this episode! Stede taking his revenge on the snobs for their 'massive aggression' towards Ed, Frenchie and Oluwande's scheme, Abshir and his fellow servants coming out on top at the end of the episode and the developing sub-plots of Lucius and Pete's relationship, and Izzy's lack of respect from the crew of the 'Revenge'. Again, there's so much detail and narrative packed into this episode, and it's a joy to watch. The guest-stars are also fantastic and hilarious. One of my favourite moments is at the very end of this episode, when Ed and Stede have a little moment in front of a huge, romantic moon. "You wear fine things well."

This episode of the series is genuinely one of the funniest things ive ever watched. Blackbeard being introduced to passive aggression and the upperclass i'm all its "grotesque glory" is so much fun to watch. This is one of the first episodes where u start to feel the romantic feelings that Stede and Ed might have for eachother. The way that when the aristocrats on the boat make ed feel uncomfortable, stede basically burns it down for him has always made me laugh. But most importantly the heart wrenching moon lit scene referred to by the obsessive fan base as the 'you wear fine things well scene' where Stede after the day has realised that Ed is sensitive about how even though he is incredibly rich his poor background keeps affecting him, takes the ed's red material he was given as a child, puts it in his jacket pocket and tells him "you wear fine things well" The full moon & the way their looking at each other is what makes this scene just so good. This episode was hilarious and yet really deep at the same time. I loved it.