Black Sails: XV Recap

Synopsis of 2×07: Silver turns the tables on Flint, striking a deal with Max. Hornigold looses support while Flint gains an unlikely ally. Eleanor makes a critical decision.

Rating: ?????

Eleanor is in far over her head, as she attempts to steal Abigail from under Vane’s nose. It does not look like an easy task to smuggle someone out of the fort in the dead of the night. Initially hesitant, Abigail eventually comes to believe Eleanor’s goals are in her best interest.

Back on the beach, Flint awaits the vote, as Hornigold’s and Flint’s men decide whose decisions to back. Flint insists to Billy that if the men side with Hornigold, many men will die, while they will likely live should they side with Flint. The men hear Hornigold out, who belligerently slanders Flint’s name and his ideas. Flint is spared though when Silver approaches Flint, claiming the two men Flint left on the beach to scout the Urca gold, have returned, and they bring with them grim news. The Urca gold is gone. The news of their loss spreads like wildfire, and before long, all of the men are aware there is no longer gold on that beach.

At the brothel, Max continues to mother Anne, while cleaning up her mess from last episode. Anne solemnly reveals that she was once married, to a man that abused and hurt her, when she was thirteen. It turns out Jack saved her from her grave predicament and she muses that perhaps Jack saved her from something that she was supposed to save herself from. Max finds resistance from her girls who insist she send Anne on her way after what she has done, rather than coddling her. Max makes it extremely clear though, that Anne will always be welcome in her home.

Flint hears his scout’s story, learning that all of the gold has been retrieved and shuttled away by Spanish ships from the beach. The men call counsel to debate how to proceed. Without the gold, storming the point seems pointless. On the bright side though, Hornigold has lost all support towards his plan to storm the fort. Thrown into chaos, Flint’s men seek to get paid, any way they can find.

Knowing the men will listen to what he says, Silver approaches them with a very convincing argument, claiming Flint has shown them a new future, a future of reconciliation and pardons. Dufresne and Billy watch Silver from afar, Dufresne marveling at Silver’s tenacity and mocking his partnership with Flint. It is painfully clear Dufresne is not a fan of Silver or Flint and suggests to Billy that they should take the deal he was offered by the Navy. Billy though, seems less than willing to betray his oath. Still, he asks Dufresne to find men that would be willing to betray Flint.

Anne finally works up the courage to crawl out of her hole of mourning and meets Max downstairs in the brothel. While eating, she is approached by a man named Jacob Garret, who doesn’t seem to know Anne’s infamous identity. She asks Jacob why he has chosen her and much to my surprise, she agrees to accompany him upstairs. When upstairs, Anne is frozen with what appears to be fear or confusion, or potentially regret. Before she can make a decision, one of Max’s girls waltzes in, and entertains Jacob herself, forcing Anne to bow out. Max later finds her crying and comforts her once more. It sounds to me like Anne needs to speak to a therapist.

Back at the fort, Eleanor and Abigail continue to attempt to find a way out of the tunnels beneath the fort without attracting attention. The two find an old steel door that seems impenetrable, but Eleanor is eventually able to pry it open and relock it. It looks like she’s just in time as Vane finds the two of them from the other side. Shocked, Vane insists she will turn upon anyone and that that Eleanor has sealed his death sentence with his men by taking Abigail. Eleanor regretfully leaves, officially making herself an enemy of Vane’s.

In secret, Dufresne meets with Billy, who surprisingly betrays him, citing that his torture under the Navy has changed him entirely. He claims he has no intentions of honoring the Navy’s offer, insisting none of the men should have to experience what he went through. Dufresne in particular, is a man who would put a man in that position so that he himself could avoid such a future. Sounds a lot like a coward. Unchallenged, Billy announces that there will be no more dissenting to Captain Flint.

Max shares with Anne her interest to acquire a larger spy network in pursuit of Max’s larger goal. Silver later approaches Max, wishing to speak with her in private. Silver reveals that he secretly deceived Flint, creating the charade that the gold was no longer on the beach. Silver led everyone to believe the gold was gone. In reality, the scouts returned to share with Flint that news that a disease had ravaged the camp, leaving only a couple of men defending the camp and its gold. Max, now very interested, partners with Silver to retrieve the gold. She claims she knows of particular crew that would be more than willing to aide in this new endeavor of theirs.

Eleanor triumphantly returns Abigail to the tavern, where Abigail immediately recognizes and embraces Miranda. Miranda later introduces her to Flint, who eagerly introduces himself as James McGraw.

Billy approaches Flint in private, revealing that many of the men have dissented and left his crew as a result of the events that transpired that evening. Flint is surprised, even shocked, by Billy’s support of his captaincy but Billy believes the men need Flint’s leadership and claims he will do whatever is necessary to preserve it.

Hornigold, now lacking a crew and any support, prepares to leave Nassau. Dufresne approaches him, expressing interest in joining him. He reveals that the Navy may be particularly interested in acquiring a particular captain, in return for their freedom.