Starz hasnt really ever been a major player in the TV game, with Spartacus being the only real success the channel has ever had. They only started offering original programming in 2005, though, and so new shows like the pirate drama Black Sails can still be considered among the channels early forays into the medium. Executive produced by Michael Bay which the posters and trailers make sure to highlight Black Sails serves as a prequel of sorts to Robert Louis Stevensons classic Treasure Island. Spoilers follow for the pilot episode of the series, entitled simply I., which aired in the US on Saturday night. Set in and around the pirate port of Nassau on New Providence Island in 1715, the first episode of Black Sails introduces a host of profligate thieves and pirate mongrels: Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) leads a crew that includes the likable quartermaster Gates (Mark Ryan) and the recently-captured John Silver (Luke Arnold); the crew make land in Nassau and deal with island fixer Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New); meanwhile, both disgruntled crew member Singleton (Anthony Bishop) and Captain-Of-Some-Other-Ship Vane (Zach McGowan) plot to further their own interests. This is the kind of set-up namely, juggling multiple narratives at once that worked wonders for HBOs Game of Thrones, and indeed, the evoking of that show by multiple critics of Black Sails seems to lead to the same conclusion: no matter how much gore and nudity and no matter how many different characters are introduced, the cohesive elements present in Game of Thrones are noticeably missing from shows like Black Sails. None of the aforementioned characters are given very much meat to chew on. In fact, the most interesting of the bunch was Anthony Bishops Singleton, who at the end of the episode was either dead or severely wounded at the hands of Flint. If he fails to return, I fear there is something to be said already about the writers room for Black Sails a television show survives, quite uncomplicatedly, on characters that sustain long arcs, multiple episodes and seasons, and remain interesting throughout all of that. If the only care in writing comes when a character is going to disappear anyway, then theres not much chance of the surviving characters carrying the entire show. Game of Thrones suddenly kills off popular characters all the time but those that remain are written with the same care. It is, admittedly, a hard judgment to pass after only a single episode, and despite my disappointment with the pilot episode my hopes arent entirely dashed. Luke Arnolds John Silver, again, was given nothing to do in the opener, and yet he seems to be presented as a major hero of the series. The second episode needs to give him a motive, a past, needs to make him a character inhabited by something other than a glib, casual wonder at suddenly being a pirate. Toby Stephens was given the most screen-time as Flint, and yet his quest to seek a vast treasure is yet to be colored by any personal, heartfelt motives. Hopefully, these character sketches will be shaded in the coming episodes. Another notable criticism is the pacing, as after a fair battle in the opening scene the rest of the episode fell straight down the cliff. A long, boring cliff. Im not saying a show like this needs to be all action all the time, but in presenting an opening episode one would think all the stops would be pulled and everything would be out on the table. If this is Black Sails with the stops pulled, Id hate to see an hour calm by comparison. The pilot is by no means a complete failure, but Black Sails has some tightening up to do if it hopes to last as a series. What did you think of I.? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to read next weeks review of Black Sails 1.2 II.
