Why ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Seems Destined For A Season 2 Renewal

One of the sleeper hits of the early spring here has been Our Flag Means Death, the pirate comedy turned sweet romance that aired on HBO Max for the last few weeks. But in the wake of season 1, fans have been clamoring to hear news about season 2, and whether Our Flag Means Death has been cancelled or renewed.

While we have no official news from HBO, I cannot envision a world where Our Flag Means Death is not given a second season. Why? A number of reasons:

The Showrunner is Confident – In an interview with Polygon, showrunner David Jenkins cites fan passion as a key indicator that season 2 should be in the cards: “I think they look good. I think we’re so lucky. It’s been so heartening to see how many people are responding to the show. Just in the last week, the fandom exploded — just to see it on Twitter, to see the fan art, is so gratifying…So the fact that that’s happening, I think, is really a good sign, and bodes well for season 2.”

The Fanbase is Passionate – Building on what Jenkins said, in addition to all the fanart, there is now a concentrated social media campaign for the season 2 renewal of Our Flag Means Death. I think yesterday I saw about 15,000 tweets with the trending hashtag about season 2, and the show is punching well above its weight in terms of social media/fanbase support.

The Numbers Seem Great – I don’t know what HBO Max expected from Our Flag Means Death, but surely it must have surpassed their forecasts. According to Parrot Analytics, Our Flag Means Death’s finale surpassed Euphoria as the most in-demand series on HBO or HBO Max for that time. While that’s not a 1:1 translation into viewership, it should be an extremely positive indicator to point to all the same.

It Can’t Be That Expensive – I mean, this isn’t Black Sails here. With a relatively unknown cast and filmed on what appears to be just a handful of sets, HBO surely has dozens of larger budgeted productions out there and Our Flag Means Death has to be close to the bottom in terms of overall cost to the network.

It’s a Taika Waititi Passion Project – Waititi is one of the most in-demand directors in Hollywood, and if I were WB, I wouldn’t snub some of his best work by killing off Our Flag Means Death and his version of Blackbeard here.

It’s Unfinished – In addition to featuring one of the best LGBTQ romances I’ve seen in any series, the fact is that this was not a show designed to be one season with the love between Blackbeard and Stede on the rocks. It’s the core reason fans are demanding another season, in order to see this resolved.

I’m not worried. The odds are good. I’d expect an announcement soon here.

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