Crossbones returned with its second episode “The Covenant” and delivered on some storylines while building suspense with others.
This episode mainly revolves around the introduction of a popular pirate captain named Sam Valentine, who has been friends with Blackbeard for decades. Valentine and his crew have secretly been transported to Blackbeard’s hideout to discuss the grand master plan involving the Longitude Chronometer. As Blackbeard explains, the only reason he stole the chronometer was to sell it back to the British at a huge profit while somehow convincing them that he was dead. Additionally, Blackbeard asks Valentine for a Hellburner or two as part of the scheme. Sure, his scheme doesn’t make much sense at all, but the show probably wouldn’t be as interesting without it.
Valentine decides that Blackbeard is crazy and refuses to help with the plan. Instead, he decides to get drunk and talk trash about Blackbeard while his crew visits the local brothel. This decision doesn’t quite work out for Valentine and his crew, but more on that later.
During this time, we are also following along with Thomas Lowe and learning more about him. Lowe has his super spy abilities, but he is also a skilled doctor and artist. He begins sketching pictures of Kate and a mysterious submarine in his book, which only hints at future storylines. Of course, Lowe’s life on the island can’t be calm or relaxing. He agrees to help Kate by trying to solve the dilemma of her husband’s legs, all while sneaking around the island, eavesdropping on Valentine and Blackbeard’s conversation.
One interesting aspect of this episode involves Eisengrim, a character introduced in the pilot that originally never spoke. Apparently, the man that Lowe killed in the first episode while sneaking around was “his mate that he loved very much”. I originally thought that this death was a simple byproduct of stealth, but Eisengrim seems determined to prove that Lowe murdered the man. Thankfully, Fletch finds the body while diving for sponges and hides it in the ocean. This storyline is bound to reappear in later episodes.
As the episode progresses, we learn quite a bit about Blackbeard and Valentine’s relationship; actually, they aren’t friends at all. Valentine seems to despise “Ed” and jumps at the opportunity to talk trash about him. After one tense scene, Blackbeard goes for a walk on the beach to clear his head, but he immediately gets the headache again and sees the ghost. He runs to a shrine that he has hidden on the island to calm himself away from the rest of his crew. Unfortunately, this is when he is ambushed by some of Valentine’s men.
We don’t know why Valentine’s men want to kill Blackbeard, nor do we know who sent them. What we do know is that Blackbeard can still kill like a pro, even at his advanced age with no weapons. He tries to get answers out of one of the men, but neither he nor Lowe, who just arrived at the scene, can keep the man from bleeding out. Blackbeard’s men are lacking for a clear enemy to blame, so they arrest both Lowe and Valentine in order to hang them. This leads to a conversation between Valentine and Lowe in which the Hellburners are explained as being unmanned ships packed with explosives that are used purely for destruction. Valentine also figures out that Lowe is a British spy based on their conversation, but that information doesn’t help him at all.
Blackbeard hangs Valentine after a “heartfelt” speech, but Lowe is saved after Kate says that he was “in her bed” all day. This is clearly a lie at the time, but Kate obviously has some motivation for saying it. Lowe escapes the gallows and finishes killing Valentine with a rifle, per their agreement. The episode ends as we finally learn who paid Valentine’s crew to attack Blackbeard. We also see Valentine’s first mate agree to help Blackbeard with his plan of selling the Chronometer to the British. Finally, we also see a dangerous romance begin to blossom.
The second episode of Crossbones wasn’t as exciting as the first, but there were some great moments. I enjoyed learning more about some of the key characters and the upcoming story beats. Other parts of the episode were simply confusing. Every character has their own agenda, but nothing is truly explained beyond Blackbeard’s occasional idea. The Covenant would have benefited from a more focused storyline; it seemed like they were trying to jump between too many plot points at once.
Crossbones is still enjoyable, and it appears that the upcoming episode will feature more action than the first two. Hopefully, all of the storylines will tie together well, and we will keep learning more about the characters. Plus, John Malkovich is delivering a fantastic performance every week.
You must be logged in to post a comment.