Netflix is Officially Losing A 4-Season Underrated Masterpiece Next Month

Netflix has been removing (or on the verge of) losing some big series as of late, and the next one to go is a painful one). It happens, though, because Netflix licenses shows for a set number of years, and if that agreement isn’t extended (as its short-term licensing of HBO Max titles wasn’t), the shows end up heading back to their original streaming homes. In April, a multi-Emmy award-winning drama is set to leave the platform, just as news is building of a big-screen revival for its genre.

Next month, all four seasons Black Sails – Starz’s underrated but exceptionally good fun pirate show – will officially leave Netflix. Based on characters from and serving as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s 143-year-old classic, Treasure Island, it ran for four seasons, originally between 2014 and 2017, and can reasonably claim to be the best thing in the pirate genre outside of Pirates of the Caribbean. Over the past decade, it’s grown in stature, but it’s still not quite remembered as the masterpiece it deserves to be. It will leave Netflix on April 16.

Black Sails’ Netflix Removal is Bad News for Fans

Netflix does have a habit of signing late renewals for shows, but at this stage, Black Sails is set to leave the streamer in a little over a month, which at least gives fans enough time to watch its 38 episodes again (or for the first time, if you haven’t yet taken the plunge). It’s certainly worth a rewatch, telling the story of Captain James Flint (Toby Stephens on top form) some 20 years before the events of Treasure Island. The cast was mostly unknown when it was released, other than Stephens and the late, great Ray Stevenson who joined in Season 3 as notorious pirate Edward Teach. A pre-Umbrella Academy Tom Hopper also plays Billy Bones.

The show easily remains one of Starz’s best ever shows and feels like a sort of bastard cousin of epic fantasy shows like Game of Thrones, without the magic and dragons. It also draws on real events for history buffs (particularly maritime history buffs), and was good enough for an 81% average rating on Rotten Tomatoes over the course of its 4 seasons, including a 100% rating for Season 2. It will be a big miss from Netflix’s catalog from a variety point of view, but it can of course still be watched on Starz. Even better, it’s currently also free on The Roku Channel (with ads) and on Plex.

It’s odd timing for Netflix – or perhaps just inconvenient timing – given a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie with Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow is being increasingly talked about, and especially with Netflix’s own pirate movie – The Bluff – now on the service. You’d think they’d want to give the audience that’s currently enjoying Karl Urban swash-buckling his way through that adventure with more to watch next.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!