After a long wait, Our Flag Means Death finally returned for its second season on Max. The season came to an end in October and featured some big surprises. Warning: Spoilers Ahead! After Prince Ricky Banes (Erroll Shand) destroys Zheng Yi Sao’s (Rubio Qian) fleet, the pirates fight against Banes’ men in an attempt to return to The Revenge, which wasn’t harmed along with the other ships. Sadly, Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill) was shot by Banes during their escape and he died in Blackbeard/Ed’s (Taika Waititi) arms. While some fans praised the emotional punch of Izzy’s death, others were left outraged. Many fans took to social media to express their anger towards the choice to kill Izzy. Recently, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with O’Neill and he spoke about the fan response and his own thoughts on Izzy’s ending.
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“I’ve been told about it,” O’Neill said when asked about the reactions to Izzy’s death. “I always find it quite… ’cause Izzy wasn’t particularly loved in Season 1, and so the overwhelming love I’ve had or he’s had in Season 2 has taken my breath away, really. David Jenkins brought us all together. David Jenkins created the show that we all love. David Jenkins created the show that brought us the fandom and brought us… all of us.”
O’Neill continued, “He didn’t take it lightly. We talked about it a lot. Narratively, it made sense. I love playing Izzy with my heart and soul, and I’m sorry that people are upset. I’m genuinely sorry because I understand it. I didn’t realize until Episode 6 dropped how much love there was for him. Then I started to get a bit nervous about how they would respond to Episode 8. But the reason I think it works is because David Jenkins has a plan. He has a narrative in his head, and whatever that narrative is, I’m up for it. I think Izzy’s demise was although painful, essential to his narrative, so yeah.”
You can watch our interview with O’Neill at the top of the page.
Our Flag Means Death Showrunner Talks Stede and Blackbeard’s Romance:
The first season of Our Flag Means Death saw Stede (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Waititi) develop a romantic relationship. Showrunner David Jenkins previously opened up to Screen Rant about the development of that romance.
“They have a chemistry with each other that, when the first time they shot together, it was obvious. It was noticeable, the chemistry that they have. It was very easy. They both played kind of a heavy scene. I think one of your first scenes, [Rhys], was that one where he’s in the bathtub. Immediately it was like, ‘Oh, there’s a shorthand there that’s really lovely.’ And you don’t always get to see it, because Rhys and Taika are both used to coming into a scene, killing it by being absolutely hilarious, and then leaving,” Jenkins explained.
“The thing that I noticed watching it was, and I know I said it to Taika and maybe Rhys, where it was like, ‘You don’t have to come into the scene and kill it, because you’ve got 10 episodes of scenes to do that. You don’t have to do everything.’ Because they’re just amazing and they want to come in and destroy. I think, on this, where they’re both the lead and we get to see so much of them, it’s nice to see them, and to look at them, and watch them think. I haven’t gotten the chance to do that as a fan. So, creating those moments was absolutely a joy.”
Our Flag Means Death is now streaming on Max. Stay tuned for more from our interviews with the show’s cast.
