This story contains spoilers for the finale of Our Flag Means Death: Season 2.
The sophomore season of Our Flag Means Death started with a dream, and in some ways, it also feels like it ended with one. By the end of this week’s finale, Ed (Taika Waititi) and Stede (Rhys Darby) have survived a beach showdown much like the one in Stede’s dream, and in a surprisingly conclusive final scene, are revealed to be trying out the innkeeper life. It’s a sweet if somewhat rushed epilogue that sees selfish Stede set aside his own ambitions for a quiet, loving retirement with his other half. This should be a happy ending, but thanks to the ship-set scene that came before, it’s actually an unsettling one: is Our Flag Means Death preparing to pull focus away from its two main characters if it gets renewed for a third season?
It’s perfectly possible that Season 3 of the series will pick up with Ed and Stede, the star-crossed pirate lovers who are undoubtedly the rom-com’s main attraction, still in the picture. Given how quickly the series resolved the “Ed wants to become a fisherman” plotline that seemed poised to cause major conflict in Season 2’s penultimate episode, the creative and ever-evolving series could easily return to the pair’s story if given a third season (which creator David Jenkins recently said would be its last). Stede and Ed could end up hating landlubber life, or be tempted back to the sea to help the crew of the Revenge on their next adventure. The pair’s loosely history-based story still feels unfinished, and not just because they made the biggest decision of their careers by simply sharing a wordless look during Black Pete (Matthew Maher) and Lucius’ (Nathan Foad) matelotage ceremony.
So why do the final moments of “Mermen” set off unofficial spinoff alarm bells in our heads? Mostly, it’s because the show ends by clearly showing audiences that there are still more adventures to be had – but only aboard the New Revenge. A sweeping shot across the ship shows Frenchie (Joel Fry) seemingly in charge and new crew members Spanish Jackie (Leslie Jones), Zheng Yi Sao (Rubio Qian), and Auntie (Anapela Polataivao) all aboard. Stede and Ed, meanwhile, are at peace on the mainland, without a hint of unresolved conflict or the angst that propelled their relationship this far. It’s an unusually settled ending that feels a bit like a surprise bookend to both their character arcs.
To be clear, if Our Flag Means Death continues on with Waititi and Darby – both very busy and in-demand performers – in lesser roles, its third season still has the potential to be great. This isn’t a Scrubs Season 9 situation, in which the core cast of a beloved show is largely replaced by a much less endearing ensemble. Each and every crew member of the New Revenge has already developed a fervent fan following, with standouts like Jim (Vico Ortiz) and Lucius (not to mention Con O’Neill’s dearly departed Izzy) appearing in fan works regularly. The show would admittedly lose some viewers’ attention if it pivoted mostly away from its central duo, but its talented ensemble could carry Our Flag Means Death on their own if need be. There’s also a good chance that Waititi and Rhys would still star in a third season, and the unusually conclusive ending was done for another, more practical reason: in case of cancellation.
The sweet yet oddly tensionless finale of Our Flag Means Death forewent the more thrilling ending viewers might have expected (the real Stede and Ed never gave up piracy and died for their crimes) and instead chose safety, love, and the chance to hopefully set sail another day. After such a great, dynamic season, the abrupt loose-end-tying ending feels like a frustratingly safe choice, but it’s also a shrewd one given the particularly fraught TV landscape the show was born into.
The first season of Our Flag Means Death premiered in March 2022, just a month before a massive merger led to the formation of the show’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. The conglomerate’s cutthroat post-merger strategies have been well-documented, and when HBO brand shows started getting the ax last year, Our Flag Means Death fans worried that the show (which was renewed in June 2022, though that doesn’t guarantee a return these days) would become yet another queer love story left for dead before its characters could get their happy ever after.
In this period of intense industry uncertainty, it’s perfectly possible that David Jenkins and the writers behind Our Flag Means Death simply chose to write a season finale that feels like a series finale on the off chance that the show doesn’t get to end on its own terms. This might be a narratively jarring move, but it’s also an undeniably smart one; these days, writing queer shows with massive cliffhangers simply feels risky, because there’s a good chance those cliffhangers will be the last we ever see of the characters in question. GLAAD’s annual “Where We Are On TV” study found that 24% of all queer or trans characters on TV during the 2022-2023 study period won’t be returning to the small screen, either because of premature cancellations or planned series endings. As sudden and final as Ed and Stede’s quaint career change might feel, it could be the series’ way of bucking TV’s bad habit of leaving queer love stories hanging.
Whether you vibed with “Mermen” or not, it’s unabashed in its presentation of gay love that doesn’t end in tragedy. It shouldn’t be up to filmmakers to have to end each season of their show on a safe note in case of cancellation, but the finality of the episode shows a strength in the face of an often cruel and dispassionate industry. Sure, Ed and Stede get a safe ending here, and it’s one that I wish could’ve been fleshed out with an additional episode or a longer runtime. But there’s still power in the writers’ choice to ensure that no matter when the show ends, it’ll be on the note they want it to end on and nothing less.
With the SAG-AFTRA strike still ongoing, fans may not know for a while whether Waititi or Darby might take a backseat in a potential third season or will remain an integral part of the show moving forward. Instead, we’ll have to trust the dedication to this story that the series’ enthusiastic cast and crew have demonstrated so far – and hope that Ed and Stede get bored with that inn sooner rather than later.
For more on Our Flag Means Death, check out IGN's review of Season 2 and our review of the Max streaming service.
