Scaeva

Speaking of real pirates... In one of the spoiler tagged remarks I read previously either in this thread or another one, someone mentioned that

I can't speak for competition shooters and the like, but I did serve in the Marine Corps, and there you're trained to shoot with one eye closed. There is no shortage of skilled marksmen in the Corps. Carl will be fine, and back to his old-zombie killing self in no time. He just gets to look like a pirate while doing it.

The man with spyglass had African features, although he was wearing some kind of paint on his face. My guess is that they landed on an island populated by Maroons. Some of the African slaves brought to the Caribbean were able to escape the plantations and form independent communities on relatively uninhabited islands or in stretches of jungle away from colonial settlements. Others joined up and intermarried with Native American bands. The Spanish called both groups Cimarrones, and that word was later anglicized to Maroon when the English encountered them in Jamaica. Some of the more populous or better armed communities were able to resist European encroachment for awhile, and occasionally even raided plantations or European settlements. They were also occasionally enlisted by buccaneer or pirate crews or employed as 'native' guides by them. Francis Drake famously used Maroon guides to lead him through the jungle to capture the Spanish silver train coming up from Peru to Nombre de Dios in Panama. On that last note I'm wondering if Flint & company might end up recruiting them for the defense of Nassau.

I like Max. She's also one of the smarter characters in the series, and one of the very few who seems to have clear and practical long term goals.

Flint cutting away the top of that mast may have been cold, but it was ruthlessly pragmatic . Right before that Flint was told by DeGroot that the sail was going to capsize the ship, and the Walrus was beginning to list heavily to one side. It was a choice between sacrificing the men on top or the entire ship going down. That said I think you're right about Flint being unhinged. Miranda's death seems to have extinguished whatever humanity was left in him. He had no emotional reaction whatsoever to sacrificing those crew members, and even had a nice nap afterwards. Meanwhile Silver was bawling his eyes out after having failed to save a crewmate from drowning.

I'm liking this series so far. It's easily one of the best Sci Fi television series in years, and possibly the best TV series on Syfy....ever. As someone who never read the books it is based on, I haven't found it difficult to understand what it is going on. I do have to wonder if maybe some of the more snarky posts in previous threads about the show being confusing, might have been from people who weren't all that interested in the concept or genre before tuning in. I could see details being lost if you're simultaneously playing with your cellphone or laptop or only half paying attention. My only major complaint with the series so far would be with the sound quality in some of the early episodes, where some of the dialogue wasn't always clear. It was never so bad that I couldn't make out what was going on in an episode, but on a rewatch I turned on the subtitles. The last few episodes seemed to be a bit better. Anyway... The gunfight in the motel was probably my favorite action sequence of the series so far, and I loved that Amos seemed to have an uncanny ability to sense that something bad was about to go down. He recognized the assassins before they even made a move. It will be interesting to see how things turn out now that Miller and the crew of the Rocinante have crossed paths, though Miller seemed to be in a bit of a head case even before finding Julie. He's going to need a new hat, ASAP. Any fans of Deus Ex here? When Kenzo complained about being a canary in a coal mine, I heard, "I never asked for this." It took me a couple episodes before I realized where I had heard that voice.

Great first episode! Ray Stevenson as Blackbeard is perfect casting, and it will be interesting to see how his character is going to shake up things this season. I wonder if his arrival will be good or bad for Nassau. Did anyone else like that they seem to be portraying Blackbeard, despite his ruthlessness and fearsome appearance, as an educated, cultured man? That seems to line up as well with recent research on Blackbeard's origins, which points to him coming from minor gentry and being the grandson of an Anglican minister. The man who cut a deal Eleanor probably isn't going to turn out to be a clueless fop from London. Like Vane and Blackbeard he's based on a historical person. It is hard to say of course of how closely the show is going to stick to historical accuracy in its portrayal, but if his portrayal even loosely resembles the real person he'll probably turn out to be a formidable antagonist. Mild history spoilers ahoy...