Crossbones – Antoinette Review

Crossbones returned this week with a new episode that finally answered many of the plot questions. In fact, this latest episode of Crossbones made up for the lack of information in the previous three by actually explaining some of the character motivations and why Lowe is such a talented super spy.

Antoinette is an episode that is focused once again on the main characters of Thomas Lowe, Blackbeard, and William Jagger; the side characters are involved in this episode, but they fade more into the background as Blackbeard’s nefarious plan begins to take shape. Lowe finally discovers the majority of Blackbeard’s plan, but he remains conflicted about what action he should take. Does he give the information to Jagger, who is clearly insane, or does he assist Blackbeard in his scheme and murder harmless civilians? Lowe finally decides to assist Blackbeard, at least to a certain point, while attempting to discover Blackbeard’s ultimate goal.

Lowe’s decision leads to a more entertaining portion of the episode in which he, Charles Rider, and Nenna infiltrate the governor of Cuba’s mansion for a hidden purpose. These three have to sneak into the mansion, steal a prize for Blackbeard, and escape back to Santa Compana without anyone ever finding out that they were in Cuba. Obviously, secrecy and refraining from murder is very difficult for pirates, so Lowe is given the main portion of this secret assignment while Rider and Nenna watch his back. Unfortunately for Lowe, Rider doesn’t put much effort into keeping him safe from danger. Ultimately, the mission is a success and the team returns to Santa Compana with their prize.

Nenna is pretty fun now that she is being explained.

While this main story is happening, Crossbones is also bringing to light some of other minor characters. James Belfour, Kate’s husband, is determined to quit taking Opium while working on his damaged legs. This puts Lowe in an awkward position because he feels the need to assist Belfour, but he would have to stop having an affair with Kate. Belfour is put in an awkward situation as well because Blackbeard needs him focused on building a secret device for his plans, but quitting Opium makes Balfour less than motivated to work on the project.

He likes talking to bloody objects.

Finally, the Longitude Chronometer makes an important return to Crossbones as it is finally delivered to William Jagger. Unfortunately for the pirate who delivers the device, Jagger is less concerned about keeping the device than he is torturing random people for information about Blackbeard’s lair. This delivery leads to an…unfortunate time period for the pirate as Jagger tries to obtain information.

Overall, Antoinette was one of the stronger episodes of Crossbones. It focused less on introducing more stories and more on answering important questions. Additionally, the episode also had a few more segments about Nenna, the mysterious pirate who loves to steal from everyone. We finally learned about some of her motivations for stealing and how far she is willing to go to protect her goals. Additionally, the scenes in Cuba taught me that Nenna is willing to work with absolutely anyone, as long as they don’t put her in excess danger.

Antoinette also explained why Lowe is a master artist with knowledge about various other subjects. Apparently, Lowe actually attended medical school, and he was forced to learn about art as a method for assisting patients. During this time in medical school, Lowe also learned about the mysterious malady that causes Blackbeard’s visions. He provided some information about this disease, but I believe it is a major portion of the story, so Lowe won’t solve the problem anytime soon.

Finally, Antoinette is an episode that ended with a “Holy Crap!” moment. All great shows have that moment at the end of the episode that teases great plot points and keeps you interested in the rest of the series. Crossbones finally found a way to include one of these moments, and it was a doozy. I am actually pretty interested in the next episode, as long as they explain that final moment.