“Our Flag,” in its first season, was a by now familiar brew of diffidence, indirection, bubbling aggression and ambient quirkiness — you could feel “The Office” hovering in the background. Its comic focus was inverting the clichés of the pirate romance: The hero, Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), was a petty nobleman escaping family life by living out his fantasies at sea, where his aversion to danger and his general incompetence made him a menace to his crew. Those sailors, in turn, were a resourceful but delicate bunch, prone to sulking and overthinking.
The show’s general likability was buttressed by a mild but genuine warmth in the portrayal of the crew’s attitude toward Bonnet, a mix of cringing embarrassment and a gradually developing sense of devotion and protectiveness. There were also the pleasures of Rory Kinnear’s absolutely committed performance as twin Royal Navy prigs, both accidentally brought low by Bonnet, and Mark Mothersbaugh’s lo-fi score, with its interpolations of Fleetwood Mac and Cat Stevens.
And the show’s distinctiveness was ensured by the relationship between the peaceable Bonnet and the seemingly bloodthirsty Blackbeard, a will-they-or-won’t-they attraction with which we were teased throughout the season. (As a counterpoint, another pair of sailor lovers, played by Nathan Foad and Matthew Maher, openly displayed their ardor.)
Season 1 ended with Bonnet and Blackbeard separated and Blackbeard, thinking he had been dumped, reverting to his murderous piratical persona. Season 2, predictably, takes on the task of getting them back together. (Seven of eight episodes were available for review.) And boy, does it take that task seriously. It’s a startling example of what can happen when you take a show whose laughs are already offhand and attenuated and dial down the humor even further.
In the new season, romance and its accompanying psychological back stories take center stage. And while that undercooked romance is still played for laughs in minor ways, we are now asked to care about it in a way that’s ruinous for the comedy. Darby, a talented comedian, and Waititi, who as a performer has charisma but not a lot of range, work hard but can’t bring much genuine feeling to a relationship that functioned better in cardboard form.