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Black Sails

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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59

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

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7.1

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7.1	Your Score
7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

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Black Sails

Now Playing: Black Sails

Black Sails

Series Details & Credits

Starz | Release Date: January 25, 2014

Starring: Luke Roberts, Toby Stephens, Ray Stevenson, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Tom Hopper, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, David Wilmot

Summary: Created by creator Jonathan Steinberg as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island set in 1715, pirate Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his crew prepare to fight the British Royal Navy over New Providence Island with the help of Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), a daughter of a local smuggling kingpin.

Creator: Jonathan Steinberg

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure

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Recent Episodes

tbd
S4:E10. XXXVIII
Air Date: April 2, 2017
tbd
S4:E9. XXXVII
Air Date: March 26, 2017
tbd
S4:E8. XXXVI
Air Date: March 19, 2017

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

59

Positive:

17

Mixed:

14

Negative:

2

Critic Reviews

83

Boston Herald

Mark A. Perigard

Jan 27, 2017

Season 4 Review: In this, the last 10 episodes, the drama detonates long-standing alliances and brings to the fore grudges with lethal consequences. ... The premiere Sunday features three set pieces that are brilliant and terrifying. Read full review

80

The New York Times

Neil Genzlinger

Oct 1, 2015

Season 2 Review: Starz, though, knows the formula for these costume-heavy action dramas from experience with shows like “Spartacus” and “Camelot.” And that formula is executed with particular skill in Black Sails, thanks to some strong performances and an exploration of the consequences of greed that could have come out of modern-day Wall Street. Read full review

75

Boston Herald

Mark A. Perigard

Jan 24, 2014

Season 1 Review: Filmed in South Africa, Sails is awash in lush scenery, bloody expensive sets and brutal action. You’ve probably never seen a sword fight like the one that caps tonight’s episode. Read full review

63

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Gail Pennington

Jan 23, 2014

Season 1 Review: Steinberg promises that Black Sails, with no parrots and no peg legs, will be pirate-cliché free. Unfortunately, the female characters don’t escape sexist stereotypes. And that keeps Black Sails from being as much fun as it might have been. Read full review

50

Philadelphia Inquirer

David Hiltbrand

Jan 27, 2014

Season 1 Review: The scenery, the spectacle, the set design, the costuming, and the camera work are all winning, but the pacing of the series (which is planned for a second 10-episode season) is nettlesomely slow. Read full review

50

Hitfix

Alan Sepinwall

Jan 23, 2014

Season 1 Review: Like most of [Starz's] shows, though, it's all flash and no substance, and the flash fades pretty quickly, no doubt right around the point the production accountant realized just how much it costs to film extended sequences with ships in water. Read full review

30

The Huffington Post

Maureen Ryan

Jan 23, 2014

Season 1 Review: What's mystifying is why Starz and the creators of Black Sails seem to think that, given the expanding array of options available to consumers, any content creators can get away with peddling fare that can't even manage to be consistently mediocre. Read full review

SEE ALL 33 REVIEWS

Write a Review

7.1

User Reviews

10

William4002

Jan 15, 2022

If you want to watch something as intense as Breaking Bad and as full of action and big battles like Game Of Thrones, watch this!!Beautiful cinematography, acting is brutal and strongest than most tv shows these days, amazing cgi, remarkable characters and the plot...Oh lord, the plot isIf you want to watch something as intense as Breaking Bad and as full of action and big battles like Game Of Thrones, watch this!!Beautiful cinematography, acting is brutal and strongest than most tv shows these days, amazing cgi, remarkable characters and the plot...Oh lord, the plot is amazing and will leave you breathless, it's a shame this show is so underrated, it can be hard to watch because on Netflix there is only s4 ( don't know why ), but if you find a way to watch this show, you be in for one of the best tv shows ever made, surelly on my top 5.… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

9

Gittoplo

Mar 14, 2021

Now we're talking. Great show, amazing characters and locations. You can almost taste the sea salt. Last season is a bit meh but highly enjoyable show all in all. Captain Flint is absolutely epic.

5 of 5 users found this helpful50

9

Thejodjeremie

Sep 3, 2020

A great pirate show with lots of action, plot twists, and special effects. The story is great and fast paced most of the time.

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

9

Pi0

Mar 6, 2020

Funny how different the userscore and the prof critic score is... and how often i felt more related to the users insteed to some diversity forced **** and emotional overacting **** what those soap show adicts want. It was a great show... great characters.

6 of 6 users found this helpful60

7

JustcallmeT

May 2, 2021

Started of strong but gradually went downhill.
Great dialogues, okay story, but bad fight scenes.

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

6

jsharbour

Jul 7, 2020

Tedious writing, too much navel gazing and monologging, tiresome characters and repetitive conflicts. If I were any one of the characters, I would have killed all the others long before S4 ended.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

4

CosplayBook

Jul 1, 2021

Season One was decent...you could forgive it as it was attempting to find its footing. It laid out some good characters we only come to know later, or perhaps not. Scenes for the sake of scenes weren't bad, at least they had given the show its identity.

Season 2 was the best of the four,Season One was decent...you could forgive it as it was attempting to find its footing. It laid out some good characters we only come to know later, or perhaps not. Scenes for the sake of scenes weren't bad, at least they had given the show its identity.

Season 2 was the best of the four, using ship battles and sword fights. Deceit, world and character building. John Rackham quickly becomes the most likeable character. Although, now everyone looks like breaking bad characters aside from him and Vayne.

Season 3 is bad. Nothing makes sense, aside from Rackham and John Silver's character arcs. The British and most all the girls become strongly unlikeable. There is no salvaging this.

Currently on Season 4. I do not like a majority of the "good guys" in this. Could be a better story, with writing that makes sense!… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

SEE ALL 10 REVIEWS

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Seasons & Episodes

59

Series Overview
Season 4

tbd
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: January 29, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E10. XXXVIII
  Air Date: April 2, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E9. XXXVII
  Air Date: March 26, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E8. XXXVI
  Air Date: March 19, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E7. XXXV
  Air Date: March 12, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E6. XXXIV
  Air Date: March 5, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E5. XXXIII
  Air Date: February 26, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E4. XXXII
  Air Date: February 19, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E3. XXXI
  Air Date: February 12, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E2. XXX
  Air Date: February 5, 2017
- tbd
  S4:E1. XXIX
  Air Date: January 29, 2017
Season 3

tbd
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: January 23, 2016
Season 2

tbd
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: January 24, 2015
Season 1

58
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: January 25, 2014