#its finals season which means arsyn gets too attached to a particular show

[ephemeral-fae]

Just finished my third watch through of Our Flag Means Death and also was rewatching The Good Place today and something struck me about why I love both these shows so much and their central message. In the final episode of OFMD, we see both Ed and Stede attempt to go back to who they were before they met each other, and we see them both become much much worse version of themselves. In a similar sense, in Good Place, every time the four’s memory gets wiped, we see all the progress they’ve made be erased. 

When Stede goes back to Mary, it’s to try and finally become who he thinks the world wants him to be. A good, supportive husband, who helps raise his kids and look out for his wife, even if he doesn’t feel the love he’s supposed to for them. And he resents them for it. He resents the whole world and himself for it. And finding Mary and the kids so displeased by his return only serves to make him resent everything more. He’s doing his job, so why does everyone still hate him? And he gets worse. He drinks too much, he tries to shove the glories of his pirate life on anyone who will listen, he crashes Mary’s showcase and threatens Doug. And this is way different from the Stede we’ve seen for the rest of the show so far. This isn’t the Stede who reads bedtime stories to the crew and offered up his library to them and paid them fair wages. This isn’t the Stede who tucked a piece of silk into Ed’s shirt under moonlight and told him he was lovely. This is Stede in a situation he hates, surrounded by people who hate and resent him for one reason or another.

The same goes for Ed. Izzy reminds him that who he was before Stede is who he’s supposed to be, and Ed realizes that that’s what the world wants him to be. The world wants him to be history’s greatest, most fearsome and bloodthirsty pirate. And he decides that if that’s what they want then that’s what they’re going to get. He makes Izzy eat his own toe, he throws Lucius overboard, he erases every trace of Stede and ditches all the members of the crew except for the ones he deems useful. And he hates it. We see him cry about it, cry about Stede, and we watch the mask of who he’s supposed to be slip to show who he is. The Ed who played along with Stede’s adventure, who gave up killing and was content to fold socks in the royal army. This is Ed in a situation he hates, driven by someone who wants him to be one specific thing so they can use him for it. 

This is the two of them without love and acceptance. And it harkens so strongly back to the Good Place’s message of People grow when they get external Love and support and how can we hold it against them when they don’t? (I forget who originally said that but if I find it I’ll tag them). Without love and support, and stuck in situations we hate, we become the worst versions of ourselves. It’s not stated explicitly in OFMD, but it’s patently clear in the actions of Ed and Stede with each other and their crew versus apart, and I really hope season 2 explores this more.

Anyways that’s all, thanks.