HBO’s inclusive, eccentric pirate comedy romance series “Our Flag Means Death” has reportedly become the most popular new streaming series in the US in the past 100 days (ie. all of 2022 so far) according to Parrot Analytics.
Business Insider revealed the stats, saying the series peaked as the eleventh most in-demand show in the US and worldwide last week – impressive for an original series not on a global service. Demand for the show has also tripled between its series premiere and its first season finale last week.
The series follows an aristocrat who abandons his comfortable life and family to prove himself as a pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy, despite having no aptitude for the role. He and his dysfunctional crew struggle to survive against deadly threats from naval warships and other bloodthirsty pirates.
Much of the success in recent weeks has been as buzz has spread. The series has also received high praise of late for its handling of queer storylines amidst its ensemble which neither tokenizes its LGBT characters nor shies away from romantic plotlines involving them.
In particular the careful handling of the brewing romance between its leading characters of ‘gentleman pirate’ Captain Stede Bonnet and the gruff Captain Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach, played by New Zealand comedy legends Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi respectively, has scored much acclaim.
At present, there has been no word on whether HBO will renew the series for a second season, but critics and audience approval scores have been high with an 89% and 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
