NBC’s ‘Crossbones’ episode 2: Preview with a look behind the scenes

On Friday night, NBC is going to unveil the latest episode of “Crossbones,” but why not take a minute first to dive into how the show makes this swashbuckling action happen in the first place?

Not only does the video below feature John Malkovich (Blackbeard) and Richard Coyle (Thomas Lowe) on set in Puerto Rico, but it shows you some of how the fight scenes are conducted, and the sheer amazement that all of this is able to be done on a network TV show. This in some ways shows you the bravery that Robert Greenblatt has right now running the NBC regime. He is still for the most part staying by the book, in between utilizing procedurals like “Law & Order: SVU” or reality shows like “The Voice” to draw some of the ratings. However, he has allowed himself Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern to try out some more genre shows that will have smaller audiences, but can hopefully find their place in time. He has “Hannibal” for the suspense / horror crowd, “Constantine” coming for comic lovers, and this for all who sail under the Jolly Roger.

So what do we hope for the rest of the season? Mostly, we want the battle of wits between Lowe and Blackbeard to be such that it doesn’t matter that they are pirates or someone else entirely. We want to see a cat-and-mouse game that is almost equivalent of Walt vs. Hank on “Breaking Bad,” where they are both flawed, but it is still pretty clear which of the two is the true evil. This series has definite potential, but it has to focuses on these characters first and then the action second.

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Photo: NBC