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Lloyd 'Happy Trails' Farley: the man, the myth, the legend. What can be said about this amazing - and humble - man that hasn't been said before? Or, more accurately, what can be said in public? Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Lloyd is a master of puns and a humorist, who has authored one pun book to date - Pun and Grimeish Mint - and is working on a second. His time with Collider has allowed Lloyd's passion for writing to explode, with nearly 1,000 articles to his name that have been published on the site, with his favorite articles being the ones that allow for his sense of humor to shine. Lloyd also holds fast to the belief that all of life's problems can be answered by The Simpsons, Star Wars, and/or The Lion King. You can read more about Lloyd on his website, or follow his Facebook page and join the Llama Llegion. Happy trails!
Making a prequel to a classic is tricky business. When it's done right, like Bates Motel, the prequel to Psycho, it's a captivating look to see how the characters develop into the ones we know from the original. When it's not, like the debacle that is Hannibal Rising, a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, it can impact how we view the original (thank goodness for Hannibal).
So when it was announced that Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island was getting a prequel series produced by Michael Bay, any skepticism was understood. One person even suggested that Bay would "manage to fit some robot aliens in there." Fortunately, Black Sails managed to impress, and currently sits at a respectable 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. 11 years later, it's still an adventure worth the voyage.
'Black Sails' Takes Place 20 Years Before 'Treasure Island'
Image via StarzIn real life, Black Sails left port on January 18, 2014, with Starz taking the unprecedented step of allowing the first episode to be aired for free on the likes of YouTube and iTunes. Story-wise, the series takes place in the early 1700s, 20 years before the events of Treasure Island, during the Golden Age of Piracy in Nassau, New Providence Island, a pirate paradise steeped in debauchery. The series largely centers on Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and on "Long" John Silver (Luke Arnold), a young sailor who joins Flint's crew as a cook, characters who loom large in Stevenson's classic novel. A third, crime boss Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), also features prominently, only she isn't mentioned in Stevenson's book.
The first two seasons focus on the hunt for Urca de Lima, a Spanish treasure galleon, and its journey to New Providence Island. The last two seasons see the pirates in their "war against the world," aiming to keep control of their island home from Governor of the Bahamas Woodes Rogers (Luke Roberts) and his campaign to bring order to the region. Yet the plot devices are secondary to what Black Sails is truly about: the journey of the characters to whom they are heading into Treasure Island. Over the course of four seasons, Black Sails connects their stories to Treasure Island with purpose.
The brilliant Captain Flint ruthlessly rises to the top of the heap, creating the fearsome legacy and reputation that still surround him after his death. "Long" John Silver manipulates and schemes his way into becoming a pirate leader, losing his leg but gaining notoriety along the way, developing into the feared captain of the novel. The mysterious Billy Bones (Tom Hopper), who kicks off the novel by taking refuge at the inn with possession of the map to Captain Flint's treasure (which is left with Jim Hawkins), begins his journey in Black Sails as a seasoned leader among Flint's crewmates before his harrowing arc leads to his state at the inn. And Captain Flint's treasure, of course, and how it came to be where it ended up.
'Black Sails' Is Way More Than a Pirate Show
But to dismiss Black Sails as "simply" a prequel or just a pirate show is folly that will get you walking the plank. The series stands on its own merits, with a gritty, dark and violent tone that avoids the romanticized, cliché pirates of most fare to give a far more authentic representation of piracy in those days (Captain Jack Sparrow wouldn't last the first five minutes). The machinations for power and the intrigue and complexity of relationships are akin to Game of Thrones, and like that series, the characters are deep and well drawn out, making viewers cheer on truly despicable people as the lesser of two evils. To a degree, it's like another series, Once Upon a Time, except instead of fairy tale characters, real-life figures from pirate lore, like Jack Rackham and Blackbeard, are drawn in.
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Most importantly, it doesn't lose sight of its destination. It has an endgame, like Bates Motel or Young Sheldon, where the characters end up becoming the ones we met first. It does so, excellently, tidying up its storylines for characters like Flint whose fates are largely left ambiguous in Stevenson's tale. And if you're concerned that it doesn't sound like there's much Michael Bay for a Michael Bay production, fear not: the production values are top-notch, and ship battles are awash — no pun intended — in massive explosions and spectacle throughout the series. No alien robots, however.
English (US) ·