Our Flag Means Death’s Cancellation Marks the End of a Unique TV Phenom

The pirates that launched a thousand pieces of fan art have been brought back to port. Max announced on Tuesday that Our Flag Means Death, the silly and romantic pirate comedy starring Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi, has been canceled. Its second season, which ended with Darby and Waititi’s pirates, Stede and Blackbeard, setting up new lives as innkeepers on a Caribbean island, wrapped on October 26. 

“Getting to share this show with you and watching you make it yours has been a dream come true,” creator David Jenkins wrote to the show’s legion of fans on Instagram. “The second season was made possible by the enthusiasm of one of the most likable fan communities in the history of this medium.” 

The show was a modest success when it premiered in the spring of 2022. A passionate fan community gathered swiftly, waiting anxiously for word of a season two renewal, which came that June. But with a shortened eight-episode season 2 and a move to production in New Zealand that brought costs down, there was a sense that the period comedy might be at risk in the current Max environment. Like Minx]s recent cancellation after being bought from Max by Starz, it’s the end of a show that was beloved but too small for the now-contracting era of post-peak TV.

The season 2 Our Flag Means Death pulled off, though, was something to treasure. As Sarah Catherall reported from the set, the second season allowed the show to dive deeper into its motley crew of characters, show off stunning New Zealand locations, and bring a happy conclusion to several of the most affecting love stories on television (all of which, not incidentally, were queer). “There’s a way of life that they’re fighting for,” Jenkins told Vanity Fair about the season (now series) finale. “It’s about belonging to something.”

That sentiment certainly goes for the show’s fans, who greeted the show’s ending with much less of the rage that usually greets any word of cancellation these days. “I am so happy we have created this community, I am so happy we’ve found our people,” wrote one fan. “Thank you for creating such a safe space for us all.”