It’s season 3! For some reason, I always forget when Black Sails comes back, so this was a pleasant surprise. It usually takes BS some time to get going so this first episode was a ton of set up.

There’s just a ton of bad news coming to wash ashore Nassau. The pirates have a finger hold on that island. It’s a much steeper hill to climb for Max, Rackham, Vane and Anne than I think they ever imagined. Max had a fantastic line to Anne about their situation that went something like this: “We stole a mountain of Spanish gold and are keeping it on English land we stole. We can’t protect ourselves from what’s coming.” Her thoughts of being known simply as “the whore who lost everything” is probably going to come true.

Meanwhile, Flint is going bananas taking on the world on the ocean and John Silver is trying to hold it down on one leg. Oh, and a major name from the past is en route and no one knows about it. Serious dark horse.

Eleanore has flipped! She’s always wanted the best for the island, but if she gets caught with the people she’s now rolling with, she’s going to be turned into chum by her old crew.

The F Word

A lot to love this week. Carl hitting on that girl all episode was hilarious. Frank rallying around Debbies cause brought out the best/worst things about him. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen him as happy as helping Debbie sign up for welfare. Him catching the clerk on missing paperwork (and knowing the exact form) was brilliant stuff (and shows how smart Frank is when he actually applies himself).

Some great writing was done for Fiona this week. She’s got so many complicated things going on, I love seeing how they handle each part. The crushing weight of three of her siblings spiraling around her finally came out to V in a much-needed talking to (I like seeing Fiona talking to her friend about stuff). The scenes with Debbie continue to be great. Debbie can throw down a convincing argument, but she continues to go head first through barriers. Despite getting some sense knocked into her, she’s still a stubborn Gallagher. I loved Fiona giving Debbie that ultimatum. “Having Frank’s support on this should worry you.” They had a real heart to heart and sorta mended the bridge but they both stuck to their guns. I’m thinking Fiona is going to get the news that she won’t be able to terminate next week. She was super dense going to see Gus though! He says he wrote a song about her and she sticks around for it? She asked for both guns blazing on that one.

Ian and Lip fight! That “earned my own space” line from Lip crossed a serious line that was hard to watch. Ian has always been able to count on his brother, so this was some shocking stuff (even if Lip did have to tell him off when it came down to it). I don’t think Ian has ever felt more alone.