Our Flag Means Death Creator On Season 2's Guest Stars, Practical Sets, And More [Exclusive Interview]
The second season of "Our Flag Means Death" is about to set sail on Max, and fans of the show are more than ready to see the estranged pirate couple Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) deal with their breakup at the end of season 1.
"Something got set into motion there that I think has to impact the entire world of the show in a big way," series creator David Jenkins told me in an interview. "It's hard to walk back from that, and there'd be no reason to. It's a joy to write to it."
Without getting into spoilers, "Our Flag Means Death" season 2 hones in on that romance as well as other relationships among the pirate crew of the Revenge. I talked with Jenkins about how guest stars like Minnie Driver and Rachel House came to be part of the second season, as well as who on the cast liked to climb the rigs of the two pirate ships they built when they changed their shooting location to New Zealand.
Some of the more spoilery bits are being held back for a separate post once the second season premieres, but in the meantime, you can read the rest of our conversation below.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
'It's great to be able to start season 2 with [the show] fully being what it is'
One thing I think sets up season 2 very well is the trailer, particularly the song that goes over it, Patti Smith's "Because the Night." I just wondered if you had anything to do with that song choice.
Well, I love that song selection, and as much as I would love to say that I picked that Patti Smith track that I love, that was actually marketing's call. We went back and forth on a few things. I really wanted "The Beautiful Ones" for the teaser trailer, the Prince track, and they put that in, and I love that song, and I love Patti Smith for the trailer. I think it fits the vibe of the show and the sound of the show really well.
Season 1 had, arguably, a slow burn, where the romantic nature of the show came in on the last half of the season. Without getting into spoilers, we dive right into season 2 with the romance, especially between Ed and Stede, but also with other members of the crew. Was that something you wanted to do from the get-go, just really dig into that aspect of the show?
Yeah. It's great to be able to start season 2 with [the show] fully being what it is. I don't think you can walk back from where we leave it, after the first season. I think you want to see what were the repercussions of this? Ed really got burned, and he's not a very vulnerable guy, so how does that play out? And Stede just learned what love was at the end of the first season. So something got set into motion there that I think has to impact the entire world of the show in a big way. So it's hard to walk back from that, and there'd be no reason to. It's a joy to write to it.
The trailer also teases that Ed, especially, is not handling it very well.
Well, it's a bad breakup, and he's lashing out, he's drinking, he's cleaning things. He doesn't know. He's everywhere. He's all over the place.
'You just try to write a really good guest role, and then you hope the right actor is available and interested'
With the second season, you initially have the core cast in disparate places, both geographically and emotionally. How did you work on balancing that, just moving the chess pieces on who is where?
Well, in the first half of the season, they're separated until around the third episode, but really until the fourth episode, they're not back together again, fully. So it was interesting to have these two crews and to see what they'd been through, and then to put them back together and see how they would deal with each other and form a new family again, because they'd have to rebuild the family again. So a lot of it was just charting who's on what ship, where is the ship, and then, it's much easier when you get them all in one place together and doing things as a workplace and a family again.
There are also a lot of new folks in season 2. Minnie Driver's been advertised already as playing Anne Bonny, and Ruibo Qian has a pretty integral role. When you were setting up season 2, did you create these characters and then cast them? Or did you have these specific actors in mind?
We knew we wanted Anne Bonny and Mary Read in, and if you have those two characters, we knew we wanted two really good actors for those characters, because they're like George and Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" You know you're writing parts for really interesting guest stars, and I wanted to have Rachel House in the first season, and we couldn't quite make it work. I'm such a fan of hers. And then Minnie was doing a movie with Rhys in New Zealand, and it was like, "Great! She's here. Maybe she'll do it." And it was awesome to get both of them. I'm such a fan of both of them. It's a bit like in the first season, where you write a really good part in Calico Jack, and then you hope you get somebody like Will Arnett, but you just try to write a really good guest role, and then you hope the right actor is available and interested, and it works out.
'It always makes your jaw drop'
I know you shot in New Zealand this season, and it seems like you got to create some bigger sets than we saw in season 1. What was it like creating the actual ships? Was there any specific moment when you were on set where you were like, "Whoa, this is a lot bigger than it was last season?"
Almost every day I get to go on set and look at a pirate ship and see what they've done with it for a given episode, and then there's two pirate ships ... you plan this stuff, but when you see it actually built — and there's no green screen, really, we're building a lot of this stuff — and to see the world that Ra Vincent and Adam Wheatley builds for the Pirates Republic and have that be a set, it always makes your jaw drop. I know it makes Taika's jaw drop, sometimes. And it's like, "Dude, you did like a Marvel movie." And he's like, [sounding like Taika Waititi] "Oh yeah, but it's all green screen stuff. I never get to be on a pirate ship."
That's a good impression!
Thanks! And when you get to see everybody, the entire cast, in costume, on a physical set, and then that giant screen that we have has got the sky and the sea on it, you get goosebumps. And if you ever stop getting goosebumps, you have to quit.
'I hope people cry a little bit ...'
Did you ever try to do any pirate-like things on the ship, like swing on the ropes or anything like that?
Oh, I mean, there's some rigging climbing, I think, happening. I frown upon it. I don't want to see anybody fall, but I think Taika likes to climb stuff, and I think Vico Ortiz, they like to climb some things. And the rigging is climbable. You're a little bit like, "Don't climb on that." But then we have this guy Courtney, who does our rigging, and he does authentic nautical rigging, and you can get on it. You can hang onto it.
For my last question, what do you hope fans feel when they watch the season 2 finale?
I hope they feel like, "That was awesome." That's it. I hope they're like, "That was awesome. It scratched my itches. I feel moved." I hope people cry a little bit, and I hope they're just like, "Yeah! Bring on season 3."
The first three episodes of "Our Flag Means Death" season 2 are now streaming on Max. Two new episodes will be released weekly leading up to the season finale on October 26, 2023.