‘Our Flag Means Death’ Killed This Character at the Cruelest Time

Our Flag Means Death’s excellent second season was not shy in altering its characters. Hell, one transmogrified into a seagull. But most transformations were internal. Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) found confidence and something suspiciously approaching capability, climaxing in his first cold-blooded kill and resultant infamy. Blackbeard (a.k.a. Edward Teach, played by Taika Waititi) has the opposite trajectory: after going on a raiding spree and becoming more homicidal than ever before, he became serious about giving up piracy for good.

[Warning: Spoilers for the Season 2 finale of Our Flag Means Death below.]

But arguably Season 2’s most dramatic and fascinating character arc belongs to Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill), Blackbeard’s first mate.Before Season 2, the idea that I would cry at the death of Izzy Hands was unlikely. But I did; after serving as a roadblock for the show’s greatest relationship in Season 1, Izzy Hands became the standout character—a well-written, brilliantly acted, complicated man whose journey sculpted the fabric of the show.

Read more at The Daily Beast.