Fun and Games

**Fun and Games** is the fourth episode of the second season of *Our Flag Means Death*. It aired on October 12, 2023.

## Synopsis

After he's banished from the Revenge, Blackbeard unwittingly receives relationship advice from some dysfunctional old friends.

## Plot

Aboard the Revenge, Stede is holding Blackbeard's hand as the latter regains consciousness after being assaulted by the crew, which ends with Ed headbutting Stede. Stede then comes before the crew to inform them of this development and the crew all insist on voting on banishing Edward. Buttons approaches semi-conscious Ed and shares his own experiences with the gravy basket. On the bow of the ship, Izzy is drinking to drown his sorrows when Stede asks him to weigh in on the issue of Edward's banishment, only to be met with an angry non-answer.

The crew inform Edward of their decision to banish him and he gets on a dingy to row towards nearby land. Buttons tells Stede that Ed is still half-dead and invites him to go to the land as well, telling him he's looking for a vessel that would allow him to transform into a bird. Ed walks the jungle alone when he finds a bunny rabbit and gets talking to it, only to have his "new friend" killed by Mary Read. Ed and Mary hug, happy to run into each other.

Stede walks with Buttons through the jungle as Buttons explains that Ed had a near-death experience and is not unmoored. They end up in Anne Bonny's antiques shop where Stede immediately connects with Anne over their shared love of beauty and Buttons goes perusing for a suitable bowl. Mary and Ed come into the shop, which Mary co-owns and the two women invite Edward and Stede to dinner, making the situation very awkward.

Aboard the ship, Wee John, Roach, and Black Pete become concerned about their crewmates, as Lucius gets scared of the wind and Izzy keeps drunkenly shouting at the headless unicorn figurehead while Archie, Jim, Fang, and Frenchie keep scrubbing the deck when Edward was brought down. The three decide to show the rest of the crew that the ship is a safe space, and Blackbeard's crew become convinced there is a plot against them.

At Anne and Mary's place, the women tell stories of their pirating times. They then ask Stede and Ed how they met, leading to a very awkward and angry conversation between the two men. The hostesses retreat to the kitchen and the guests continue to talk despite the sounds of an argument, and later a fight, they can hear. When Anne and Mary come back, Stede notices Mary has a knife in her back and when she asks Anne to take it out, she keeps flicking it to hurt Mary even worse, which disturbs their guests.

Oluwande brings Blackbeard's crew (sans Izzy) and Lucius below the deck, when they are presented with a pinata and a cake. Unfortunately, this attempt at making them feel safe and welcome only brings back painful memories of trauma and soon the two groups are at each other's throats.

Stede is helping Anne cook the rabbit while Edward is smoking with Mary. Stede tells Anne about his family and she flirts with him relentlessly, eventually straddling and kissing him. They are interrupted by Buttons, who finds the perfect bowl among Anne and Mary's things. Anne gets weak and realizes Mary has poisoned her.

Aboard the Revenge, Olu tries to diffuse the situation as the two groups point their weapons at each other. They agree that the ship is a safe space and that they should discuss their issues. They try to resolve their differences but soon get into a disagreement yet again. Their fight is interrupted by Izzy, who staggers drunkenly into the room, dropping the sewed-off legs of the ship's unicorn figurehead to the floor. He starts monologizing in anger but is stopped when his wooden leg snaps, sending him to the floor. The crew try to help him, but he rudely refuses to accept any help and crawls away, repeating that everyone is alone over and over again.

At Anne and Mary's the hostesses enjoy the cooked rabbit along with Blackbeard, Stede, and Buttons. An attempt at polite conversation leads to Anne revealing to Edward that Stede abandoned him for his wife, causing Ed to act out in anger and then walk out. Stede finds him hiding under a blanket and confronts him about their relationship. They have a heated discussion and eventually realize they were moving too fast, which caused their relationship to crash. Stede confesses his love to Edward, only to have this tender moment interrupted by Anne and Mary who were eavesdropping on the conversation. Edward accuses Anne and Mary of toying with him and Stede. Mary and Anne get into an argument, which concludes with Anne storming out. Mary tells Ed and Stede that she and Anne are what an adult relationship looks like and that they use "fun and games" to keep themselves entertained. Smoke fills the room as Anne comes back, explaining that she set the house on fire so that she and Mary can run off to the sea and be pirates again.

The revenge crew are fashioning Izzy a new leg out of one of the sewed-off unicorn figurehead legs. Izzy is drinking alone in his cabin, arguing aloud with his reflection in the mirror. The crew drop off the leg at his door without talking to him. Izzy opens the door to find the corridor empty safe for the leg and a letter. As he reads it, he bursts into tears.

Button is conducting his ritual. Stede offers Ed a place to sleep on the Revenge for one more night since Anne and Mary's house is on fire and when Ed accepts it, he runs off to talk to the crew about it. Buttons approaches Edward, explaining that he is in love with the sea and has to change in order to love her the way she deserves to be loved. He walks into the bush and Ed is left alone, pondering how people don't change, until he notices a seagull next to Buttons' vessel.As the bird flies away, Stede comes back to Ed, asking for help finding his way back to the ship.

On the bow of the Revenge, Izzy is standing alone, looking like a new man. He takes out the note from the crew, which is revealed to read "for the new unicorn". He smiles with satisfaction as a seagull flies by.

**After-Credits Scene:** At the dining table, Buttons talks to Anne and Mary about becoming a bird and about people hooking up aboard the Revenge.

## Cast

### Starring

* Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet
* Ewen Bremner as Nathaniel Buttons
* Joel Fry as Frenchie
* Samson Kayo as Oluwande Boodhari
* Con O'Neill as Israel "Izzy" Hands
* Vico Ortiz as Jim Jimenez
* Matthew Maher as Black Pete
* Kristian Nairn as Wee John Feeney
* Guz Khan as Ivan
* David Fane as Fang
* Taika Waititi as Blackbeard

### Guest Starring

* Nat Faxon as The Swede
* Samba Schutte as Roach
* Madeleine Sami as Archie