‘Black Sails’ season 3, episode 7 review: Like a peg to the head

After a few weeks of action, including a supremely awesome showdown between Teach and Flint last week, “Black Sails” opted to settle in to a certain extent on this weekend’s all-new episode, and give us a story that was a little bit more about the politics and the character relationships … at least if you ignore the part about Silver putting a peg through Dufresne’s head.

This was undoubtedly the night’s most violent and powerful moment, and with that, we do think that this is meant to show this famed man’s evolution perhaps more so than almost any other scene in the episode. We’re not sure if our perception on him changed 120% over the course of the hour, but we do start to see him becoming more of the ruthless, influential, and manipulative man that he can be. Also, this was a tremendous showcase of Luke Arnold’s charisma.

Also tonight, there was the sit-down discussion between Woodes and Flint that really is the calm before the storm. We know that more is coming there, and it was fun to see them go back and forth a little bit about Flint’s past and seeing if they can get on the same page. Ultimately, though, Flint does have a larger plan here that involves using Anne, but you’re going to have to wait until next week to see more of that come to fruition.

Ultimately, “Black Sails” is in an interesting place given that so many characters are now on the same side, and are doing what they can to get some more control. Having these sort of alliances are a nice sort of evolution for the show, and they provide some diversity at a time when the show could’ve run the risk of being repetitive. The performances remain strong, and while (aside from Silver’s actions) this was a slower episode, there was still a lot to like. Grade: B.