#calico jack ofmd

[umulata]

"HellOoO there, cap’tain Sweetcheeks 💞💕" + my fav details

I had so much fun with this comm! The theme is Cheap Costumes From, Like, Target :B

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Part 1 / Part 2 / Ed edition / Part 4

[orangesodaliker]

calico jack slayed and im tired of pretending he didnt. he showed up, fucked around, and successfully manipulated his oldest friend all because Izzy asked him to. he is somehow the dumbest and also the smartest character in that episode all while being whipped for a guy that doesnt want him. and he’s even blond.

[ladyluscinia]

There are obviously some people not taking Edward's S2 arc very well. Or - more often - twisting it to fit into absolutely wild takes and then pretending they are taking it well while everyone else is wrong and problematic for beliefs like "S2 clearly establishes Edward was harming his entire crew in his depressive spiral and he's still in the process of making that right." One of them wrote this section from a post that I found absolutely fascinating (if also wildly off base) in the way it buys into Edward's clearly faulty POV without hesitation...

...and I really want to talk about Knife Parade now.

Because I don't think that's what's going on here, obviously.

Edward has internalized some very fucked up shit in his piracy career, a lot of it probably going back to his time with Calico Jack (and others? Fang was with him for 20 years, and Izzy "all his fucking life"?) under Captain Hornigold, aka the man who killed Felix the cabin boy by feeding him a live crab. Edward didn't really emulate Hornigold until Kraken Era because he hated the man, but we can see from how he and Jack act in 1x08 that he still developed a very skewed understanding of violence and social bonding.

And, as unpleasant as it makes him, the Edward of the past was absolutely the kind of guy to "fuck with his crew like that for shits and giggles."

Like - hold the defensiveness because this is not a one-to-one comparison - Edward describing chasing Fang around screaming and terrified as just a fun game sounds like how someone's childhood bullies would describe tormenting them. Bullies often feel like they were just joking around or just playing a game, even when the other party was clearly not having a good time. The show even invokes this with Nigel and Stede in the first episode.

And the reason bullies typically feel this way is because the social environment that they are in treats their behavior as acceptable (or fails to treat it as unacceptable because adults/other children are consciously or subconsciously designating the bullied kids as fair targets).

Edward thought chasing after Fang with a knife and shouting "come here you little fucker" was okay because he grew into adulthood in a culture where that and way worse was normal. Maybe he even got the idea watching an adult do it to someone (for likely non-playful reasons). He was probably older and/or higher ranked than Fang, in a culture where rank entirely out-ranks obligations to give a shit about someone else's feelings.

Just think about how he describes being Captain:

"Oh fuck no. Apologizing? Nah. Didn't apologize for jack shit."

The idea Edward didn't want to hurt Fang is not even on the table, because he didn't pay enough mind to the people below him to register hurting them was even a thing his "fun" actions could do. He's entirely rewritten the events in his mind.

And, again, this is a funny joke and a very understandable mindset to develop that literally no one has ever pushed back on until this moment, so good for Edward thinking back and going "oh fuck I guess Knife Parade was less Yardies and more Torturing Felix" and then immediately acknowledging that Fang has justifiable basis for beef with him. That's pretty big of him. Growth.

But "didn't care about Fang being terrified to the point he legit forgot because peer-accepted behavior" is still not quite the same thing as "genuinely didn't realize Fang was terrified" lol

[luciuscodedswedeboy]

[lightninginapuddle]

Ed waking up on the beach to his past trying to provide him with food in 1x08 vs 2x03

I wish I was good at writing meta because this is tickling my brain so hard.

[gingertippers]

I was Blackbeard on Saturday at ECCC and my SO wore the Calico Jack cosplay I made him.

[captainsvscaptains]

Round 1 Part 1 Poll 5

Propaganda

Entrapta & her ship Darla were besties

Calico Jack's my specialest boy and a gross nasty cowboy man and he stands too close to his ex boyfriend's crush at the urinal. I love him. He got in a good the bad and the ugly style stand off with a bird.

[its-blorbin-time]

Stede and CJ breaking every rule of urinal etiquette speedrun

[4usrhacidae]

izzy is always trans to me no matter what. jack is trans or cis depending on the day. stede is always a clueless cis. ed is not cis or trans but a secret third thing. hope this helps.

[beatle411]

It's been a while since I shared some art here! Here's some drawings of The Swede, Jim and CJ that I did a while back.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Ed Edition / Part 4 / Part 5

[orangesodaliker]

Izzy and Calico Jack are exes that can only stand eachother long enough to bitch about their mutual ex (Ed)’s new boyfriend (Stede)

[ladyluscinia]

Izzy Hands Is Manipulative, But Not That Way

...or I finally finish that long ass meta post about why I love the fucking Navy Plot lol

The Izzy manipulation debate has been really interesting to me pretty much since it started, because I'd see a post arguing he's manipulating Edward and go "No, and he couldn't if he tried" and then the next post would say he sucks at manipulation because he's a blunt fucking instrument and I'd go "Yea- wait. Hmm. No, he can be targeted and tricky as fuck." Which does, on its surface, seem like a contradictory stance, but I swear it works.

Because the thing with Izzy - and this is such a fun thing imo - is there are two core types of manipulation that characters engage in, and Izzy fucking sucks at the one you expect his style of antagonist to focus on. But he's scarily good at the other.

Long meta under the cut, so get comfy.

...

From his role under Edward to the protagonist vs antagonist dynamic setup to his introduction scenes, Izzy is very much invoking the conniving second in command. We know this character from other media. He doesn't have the full power he wants so he's constantly scheming to get it. He can't or won't challenge his boss for some reason, so he settles for being the devil on their shoulder or working behind their back. He's the voice constantly ready to inflame insecurities and turn relationship cracks into chasms, and usually he's lying constantly to do so. His fingerprints are all over his boss's problems up to the moment they show some weakness, and then their loyal second goes right for the backstab. He is THE ambitious manipulator. The shady advisor. The snake.

And then you actually look at Izzy and he is not that guy. In fact, it's a testament to the strength of Edward's character arc how much his evil little henchman is not causing his problems.

So - Izzy and manipulation:

Izzy Can't Convince People To Do Things

Like. He really can't.

This interpersonal struggle is fairly fundamental to his character. And moreover, it's a skill that Izzy is intensely aware that he lacks, so usually he doesn't even try.

In his first episode he walks right up to Buttons and just straight up asks him for the information on his party. He doesn't even resolve to steal the hostages until he realizes that Stede has lost them in the bush already, and Izzy obtains them by buying them. When Stede confronts him they end up splitting the pair in a very above-board negotiation and he pretty much just goes with what Stede suggests.

Then in 1x03, people make a big deal of Izzy "manipulating" Edward by not clarifying that Stede didn't know who he was when he turned down the invite, but kind of importantly he repeats the damning line of the conversation faithfully. If he was going to lie, then why not lie? Why even go see Stede at all? And, if he didn't want Stede dead until after the conversation (understandable, tbh, since "Iggy" was stab-worthy), surely he could invent a better insult to rile Edward up. It makes his omission hit more like being bitchy about Stede not recognizing the obvious - namely that Izzy Hands works for Blackbeard and literally everyone knows this - than a slander campaign to get him killed. And once we properly meet Izzy and Edward in 1x04, Izzy's inability to manipulate becomes his main struggle.

Izzy's a blunt and direct person. He leans on authority bestowed by Blackbeard to take control of situations, playing the role he's supposed to play, and without it he lacks a Plan B. In 1x04 he doesn't have any authority over Edward, so his efforts to get him to take the danger of the Spanish seriously amount to "Well as bored as you might be, if you don't make a decision soon we're gonna fucking die." And this is true! There might be a very subconscious attempt at manipulation in his resignation speech before the "That's Blackbeard. I'm Stede, remember?" line - of the piss him off to get him to get his shit together variety - but Edward literally makes a joke out of it so not exactly effective.

And once Edward stops giving Izzy authority in general, his plan to make Lucius do stuff is still just... brute force. Which works at first when Lucius doesn't realize that Izzy's on his own now, and stops working as soon as Fang breaks ranks. His last ditch blackmail attempt isn't manipulative either - he just plans to tell the truth to Pete and assumes he'll be pissed about it. My guy loses a fight over the pirate equivalent of making an uppity employee clean the coffee maker while the boss is out. Not only does he fail to manipulate the crew in a conniving antagonist way... he doesn't even try.

I mean, the only time he (somewhat) succeeds in talking someone into things is 1x06. Getting Edward to agree to killing Stede isn't really manipulation - Izzy gets Fang and Ivan to back him in a very straightforward way because they all actually do have a stake in this - but he's passably able to push Stede to go through with the fuckery via fake compliments. It's not exactly high level work, though. Stede being vulnerable to ego-stroking / dares is pretty obvious.

So what is Izzy good at?

Well, if you can't make people do anything other than what they were going to do in the first place, you might as well lean into that.

...

Izzy Manipulates Situations, Not People

Situational manipulation is one of those fictional tropes that rarely can happen in real life, but there's not much resemblance because real life rarely gives you all the building blocks for a proper gambit and lets you loose. Too many factors. In narratives, though? It becomes one of my favorite ways of having a character be clever.

And before I get into this too much, a really fun sidenote - I think Izzy does situational manipulation more like the way protagonists do it. See, antagonists are usually emotionally and situationally manipulative (ex: provoking the hero to lash out and using it to frame them for a bigger crime), but it's not a good look when your hero drives the target to do something bad and then punishes them for it. So heroes lean on stuff like Batman Gambits - where the lynchpin of the scheme is the target fucking themselves over by behaving completely in character. They've written Izzy so ineffective at emotional manipulation that he pretty much has to rely on other characters' flaws or histories to cause problems, which has a very similar result. And it's wild.

...

Going back to the 1x03 confrontation in Jackie's bar, Izzy doesn't really do anything abnormal in how he conducts himself, but people are picking up on an agenda for a reason. Namely, the whole damn conversation quickly turns into a trap, and Izzy fully sits back and watches Stede spring it from sheer idiocy.

There's no indication that when Izzy walked up he wasn't going to carry out his task with all the bitchy professionalism expected of him, while probably hoping that Stede would eventually stick his foot in his mouth without Izzy's help (assuming he's the kind of idiot Izzy thinks he is). His first section of this conversation is nearly polite:

Izzy (about the Nose Jar): "I have a few colleagues in there." Stede: "Ugh. You again." Geraldo: "Mr. Hands, welcome. It's been a while." Izzy: "(To Geraldo) Yeah, because I hate this fucking place. (To Stede) But for some inexplicable reason, my boss would like a word with you. Bonnet."

It's not until Stede starts talking that I think Izzy clues in that Stede doesn't actually know who his boss is. He didn't introduce himself until the literal last second of their 1x02 interaction, so it wasn't obvious Stede wasn't literally bolting into the forest in horrified realization.

And Stede? He goes hard on being a bitch right out the gate. Brushes Izzy off, tells him to "get in line", calls him the wrong name, says he doesn't care who Izzy is...

Izzy so far has met Stede in a public place, in front of people who clearly treat Izzy with respect and fear. He doesn't bring up their previous interaction, Stede does. He doesn't even goad Stede beyond existing. He corrects him on his name, and watches it not register in the slightest. The next line is the clincher:

Izzy (slightly incredulous): "So I'll tell my Captain that you're declining then, yeah?"

As Izzy is speaking the conversation becomes a trap - he chooses a reasonable way to refer to Edward that isn't "Blackbeard" and waits to see if Stede will make this worse. The jump from "no I'm busy" to "tell him he has terrible taste in flunkies and he can go suck eggs in Hell" is all Stede, completely ignoring context clues as Geraldo stares on in horror. Hell, Jackie only refrains from later de-nosing Stede on the spot because Geraldo knows what's up, and Stede still doesn't pick up on the fact he should maybe be asking some questions (though I'll give him the knife was distracting).

Izzy returns to the ship, quotes Stede directly for his damning line, and waits to see what Edward will do with it. It's not good behavior on his part (and if he could have seen the future he might have tried worse), but switching mid-conversation to offering Stede an opportunity to fuck himself over is a very different mindset than simply lying to / provoking Stede or Edward to get what he wants. He's mostly being petty.

Stede did insult Edward of his own volition, after all, and just because Izzy fudges the truth to hide he didn't know he was insulting Blackbeard instead of just Izzy and a random stranger doesn't change that. All Izzy did to "escalate" that conversation was give Stede a second opening to do so himself.

But there is a far better example of Izzy masterfully manipulating a situation than this in-the-moment bit of pettiness, so let's move onto my favorite bit... explaining in extensive and slightly awestruck detail why the Navy plot. Fucking. Rules. Because it does. Ready?

...

How to Mastermind the Decisive Removal of One Stupid Fucking Stede Bonnet Over Drinks

Ahem. The Navy plot. Masterclass in intimate betrayal. Izzy's biggest escalation in the total collapse of Edward and Izzy's relationship, but also a completely fucking fascinating glimpse into whatever tangled web of codependency they've got going on, because Edward isn't even mad after 1x09. This wordcount is going to be insane enough without me getting into the Blackhands relationship connotations, so I will... attempt... to stick to breaking down the actual scheme.

And what a scheme it was.

Let's start at the beginning. Jack showing up to lure them into the trap at the start of 1x08? Nope, earlier. Izzy getting kicked off the ship and going to Jackie at the end of 1x06? Further back. Edward proposing the "kill Stede" plan at the end of 1x04, which is the domino that starts all this, right? Closer, but still no.

Izzy's first appearance on screen is in episode 1x02, and that episode is where the seeds of the Navy plot are first planted. See, during Stede's confrontation with Izzy, both of the hostages chime in:

Hostage 1 (Wellington): "Believe him, he's quite insane." Hostage 2 (Hornberry): "He does have the eyes of a madman. Sorry, you do."

Wellington says his line in a tone of voice that clearly indicates a story to tell, and it should also be noted that he is the same one who earlier jumped at the chance to tell the tribe chief about Stede murdering their captain - Nigel. And he's the one that Izzy leaves with, in a sour mood and wanting information about this "Stede Bonnet" character.

When Izzy later reaches out to the Navy, it's no coincidence that he finds Chauncey. He's known since right after their first meeting that Stede was directly responsible for the murder of an Admiral's brother and that the English Navy would know soon enough, since he was literally about to ransom a hostage back to them who would tell the story. And he filed that information away until it was useful or relevant like a clever pirate should.

Moving on to Jackie's bar in 1x03, Izzy gets more potentially useful observations / inspiration. Jackie is actually the first person in the series to make a deal with a naval power. Izzy and crew track the Revenge to the Spanish warship, which means they must see Geraldo sold out Stede to them. Izzy isn't stupid. He knows Geraldo and Spanish Jackie, knows that she's the brains and brawn behind this deal, and has seen enough of Stede that he'd absolutely believe that he did something to get Jackie pissed enough to plot his murder. File away Jackie wants Stede dead and details of how she nearly succeeded in offing him for later.

Izzy spends 1x05 up to the fuckery demonstration observing Stede's crew while waiting for Edward to pull the trigger. I definitely want to note the scene where they interrogate the Frenchman at the beginning of 1x05, because Izzy is staring directly at Stede as he leans away from Edward threatening violence (we know this will later be in his love montage so not actually a turn off, lol, but like... it looked like one). His opinion of the crew is that they like to fuck around without structure (1x05 during the party), probably that they enjoy more standard pirate levels of violence (not shown directly since they are kept out of the 1x05 raid, but fairly obvious), and that they are really easily awestruck by the chance to hear "real pirates" tell charismatic stories (1x06 ghost story).

Any of that sounding like someone we know?

And now to go back to Izzy in 1x06, when he gets sick of Edward being cagey about the plan to kill Stede and decides to "make" him stop stalling, he's straightforward again. Getting Ivan and Fang to back him isn't emotionally manipulative, but it does give him weight in the conversation. They are the ones who bring up the whole "love of a pet makes a man weak" thing, and they do it in the context of calling out hypocrisy. Izzy knows the standards Edward holds his crew to. He lets them convince Edward it's time.

Taking the chance to suggest Stede try a fuckery is a strong blend of situational and emotional manipulation, and later challenging him to a formal duel knowing he'd be overconfident enough to accept is more situational again. Even the terms of the duel are designed to take advantage of the situation. And then Izzy loses in the most comedy way possible, Edward lets him get banished, and Izzy decides that if he was ok with just sending Stede Bonnet on his way to fuck-off before... he's fucking gonna kill him now.

My guy is not a creative thinker, but he's definitely a logistical one. And as he rows away from that ship, all the pieces fall into place.

First, Spanish Jackie. Who listens to him bemoan his relationship woes because she likes him (Izzy gets Jackie in the divorce). Who wants Stede dead and has the clout to summon and deal with a distasteful ally - Chauncey. Together, they concoct an arrangement where a trap will be set and Chauncey gets Stede and only Stede. This isn't a tip-off or a free-for-all. Stede comes from Chauncey's world and they are sending him back. Permanently.

Then it's time for the trap itself, which needs to do two things: get the Revenge somewhere that Chauncey can corner it, and get Edward out of there. And Izzy? Izzy knows Edward. Knows there's one particular person in his past that will have no trouble integrating with the crew, getting Edward to act more like a pirate than a gentleman, and who happens to have a great ambush location on hand.

I've said this before but I'm gonna say it again - I don't think outside characters realize how hard and fast Edward is falling for Stede. The BlackBonnet bonding moments happen almost exclusively when they are alone. The place Izzy dramatically fails to manipulate the situation is not having the evidence he would need to predict Edward going back for Stede. He (and Jack) both think that a precise wedge between BlackBonnet - one that Jack delivers near flawlessly by playing into real issues - will be enough to remind Edward that Stede isn't his people. This isn't a plan to murder the love of Edward's life while his back is turned. It's a plan to get rid of Stede, and remind Edward why he was on board with doing that in the first place. "That's fair," Izzy says about a punch to the face.

Instead, Izzy's plot accidentally backs Edward into a corner and forces him to publicly pull a grand-gesture relationship level-up that he was not emotionally ready for, and the fallout from that explosion is way worse than any of our conspirators were counting on.

Still... you gotta admit. It was a really good plan.

[bromelads]

Ed, Stede, and their Living Ghosts

This post was originally a reply to another meta, but I decided to give it its own life since I enjoyed writing it and didn't realize I had overstepped some unspoken boundary where this/my engagement wasn't welcome🤷🏽No hard feelings. Just giving these ideas a place where I can see good-faith responses to them. Polished the post a little so it can stand on its own.

I think a big part of Season 1 is about Stede coming to terms with the ghosts of his past: the inadequacy and self-denial fostered by his father, his childhood peers, and his unhappy marriage to Mary. We get to see Stede literally grapple with Nigel Badminton's ghost, whose entire purpose is to feed Stede's insecurities about not being a good enough pirate. But where Stede's ghosts are finally put to rest at the end of Season 1, Ed's ghosts not only actively torment him, as we see with the trauma response he has to Stede's Kraken fuckery, but also walk right beside him in the form of Izzy, Jack, and the Queen Anne's crew.

I want to start with an exploration of the Badminton Brothers' roles as active "ghosts" in Stede's life. Before Stede caused their deaths, the Badminton Brothers played very active, imposing, and obsessive roles in Stede's new life. In life and death, both Nigel and Chauncey were both reminders of past torments that Stede escaped by retreating into himself. Izzy represents a similarly smothering force in Ed's life: lying to dissuade Ed from meeting Stede, making demands of Ed for a plan when he was checked out, poking him to re-engage with business-as-usual as the heads of Blackbeard's crew, sending Jack to draw Ed away from Stede by appealing to his nostalgia, trying to kill Stede and, finally, putting Ed down for indulging in emotional vulnerability over leadership.

I've seen some excellent comparisons between Izzy and Mary as living parts of Ed and Stede's past, but I've been a bit hesitant to compare Izzy to the Badmintons who, like Stede, are defined by their relatively high status in colonial society. Some of it has to do with not falling into the trap of equating the Badminton's treatment of Stede with Izzy's treatment of Ed because they serve entirely different interpersonal functions. While the Badmintons tormented Stede to assert their places in a social hierarchy where they were above Stede, Izzy's burdensome pressure is about maintaining a social order that benefits both him and Ed.

Outside of their race and English heritage, Nigel and Chauncey have very little in common with Izzy. Izzy's whiteness may afford him more opportunities and mobility than his nonwhite colleagues, but the Badminton Brothers' whiteness, class background, and status as official agents of the British Empire give them immediate access to resources and influence that Izzy just doesn't have as Blackbeard's First Mate. Other folks have written much better about the role that class plays where Izzy is concerned but I thought I'd be remiss not to mention it.

So with these big differences between the Badminton Brothers and Izzy, why do I think that it's fitting to call Izzy a ghost of Ed's past, like Nigel is to Stede?

Ok, I won't blame y'all for laughing but... for starters.... this scene.

Bear with me! Comedic value of Button's paranormal paranoia aside, there's something evocative about the way in which the camera lingers for three seconds longer than necessary on Ivan, Izzy and Fang here. I remember that when I first watched this, that extended pause sowed a seed of uncertainty in me. Obviously these men aren't ghosts, right? They're not gonna just vanish into thin air, are they?

We learn later that Blackbeard's crew is very much active and alive. But as we get to know their captain, we learn that he takes them for granted too.

Their needs are immaterial to Ed! He just needs to assuage their concerns when absolutely necessary in order to keep the ship running. He's not even trying to keep a temperature on the state of his crews' morale. Izzy seems to be doing all that by himself! And he's AWFUL at it! Which is an odd state of affairs for an exceptional leader like Ed to allow, burnout and all. Especially while running a pirate ship, where the risk of mutiny is ever-present.

Compare this to Stede who, for all his shortcomings and inexperience, takes a proactive approach to considering his crews' wants on how they do their work: he accepted feedback on their first "raid," asked for suggestions on what to do with their hostage, and listened to Roach when he recommended making a stop to restock on oranges. On the other hand, we see Ed really, truly leading when he needs to influence the situation in order to keep Stede and Izzy around. He's just a lot more enthusiastic about pulling weight for one over the other.

He orders Izzy to personally pursue Stede for him, orders the crew to witness their little clothes-swapping game, directs the lighthouse fuckery to save the Revenge from crashing, models proper pirate pillaging and interrogation form, introduces Stede to the art of fuckery, saves him from getting executed by invoking the Act of Grace, even plans a brand new life for them! Ed's ability to lead with his creativity is one of his most admirable qualities and Stede brings it all out. He inspires him! Keeps him curious! He's in love! He's alive!

Which brings me to the incredibly tense instances where Ed goes out of his way to keep Izzy around: in episode 4 when he promises Izzy his captaincy in order to pursue a life where he has less responsibility, and episode 5 when he promises to kill Stede in order to appease Izzy, Fang, and Ivan. Ed doesn't deliver on either of these promises: and we don't blame him! His deep burnout explains why he is so aloof and "go-with-the-flow" with his old crew.

Ivan wanted to do a little bit of murder cuz it would've been nice? Too bad, they're gonna let the ponce that humiliated them go. A sizable number of their crew dies during the Spanish raid? Not Ed's problem, dying in raids happens. Ed's second-in-command feels overwhelmed and unappreciated? Lol cool story bro. Ivan, Izzy, and Fang are severely discontent with his intense focus on Stede? Ok, fine, he'll kill him like they ask. Izzy duels Stede because Ed couldn't follow through on killing him? Guess he's gonna just let it happen. Izzy banishes himself off the ship? Oh well!

Ed is positively checked out of his role as Blackbeard. He's straddling the line of who his crew expects him to be and who he wants to be. Stede and the crew of the Revenge are the promise of a brighter, kinder future where he can be more fully himself. Meanwhile, the crew of the Queen Anne are heavy, haunting reminders of a brutal past. But they're also people with whom he not only has a shared history but who afford him respect, fear, and trust. Not just because of his reputation as Blackbeard, but because they've come to rely on him as a leader. Despite the social contract Ed has with the crew of the Queen Anne as their captain, we get strong hints that, in his mind, they occupy a closer place to the shadows of his past than that of living people who work with him to keep each other alive.

It's no wonder that when things fall through with Stede, Ed goes back to relying on Izzy, to everyone's detriment. From Ed's perspective, Stede's rejection is proof that a bright new life is simply not an option for him. It's back to the same old, haunting, burdensome thing for him.

So I don't think it's a stretch to say that there might be a deeper meaning behind Buttons, with all his experience and eccentricities, asking Izzy, Fang, and Ivan whether they're ghosts upon first laying eyes on them. Shoot, the first thing he asks Jack is "Are ye a filthy phantom?" And in some ways, he was! To Ed, they're all the living ghosts of his past.

Ed's return to the Revenge feels less like coming home and more like stepping into his own grave. This mausoleum filled with the walking ghosts of a life before Stede and after Stede. So when Izzy closes the rift between them by poking at a fresh wound, Ed sees no other choice but to re-assume an active role in the death that defines his profession. Except, you know, with a fresh dose of crippling heartbreak.

I can't wait to see how Season 2 explores Ed's relationships with those ghosts of his past, especially Izzy who's an ever-present, vocal reminder of the things he no longer wants to be or do. I personally feel that following the comparison of Izzy with Mary is more apt and satisfying for its healing potential. Where Stede could kill off his father's and the Badminton's voices telling him he wasn't enough, he could only overcome the guilt of breaking his social contract as a father and husband by facing Mary and telling her with real compassion and vulnerability, "I'm walking away from this family for our mutual good." When will Ed get to do the same with Izzy and for it to stick? Clearly not on the Revenge or his flagship, where the vulnerability he so badly needs is a liability.

I would love a resolution that allows Ed and Izzy to see each other clearly and move onto freer lives like Mary and Stede did, even if I think it would have a vastly different quality to it. Outside of the spousal overtones, Ed and Izzy's relationship feels more intimate than Stede and Mary's did, what with their close physical proximity and a pirate fleet they're accountable to between them. What will it take for Ed to be able to bury his childhood ghosts like Stede did? And what will it take for Izzy to stop haunting Ed with expectations and anxieties that Ed no longer cares for?

[bug-buzzz]

This is Calico Jack from ofmd