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Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails
Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

You are reading material prepared during the development of the pirate life simulation game Corsairs Legacy by Ukrainian Mauris studio with the aim of popularizing the marine theme in general and pirate games in particular. You can follow the project news on our website, YouTube channel, and Telegram.

In this article, Kirill Nazarenko analyzes the first season of the series Black Sails.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the TV series, but I would watch Black Sails. It makes a very decent impression from the first moments and, above all, with its entourage. The specificity of the authors immediately captivates, they clearly state that the case takes place in 1715 and make it clear enough what kind of episodes Stevenson's "Treasure Island" is.

This is such a prequel to Treasure Island, Captain Flint is acting here, completely unexpected, so very romantic, rather pretentious in some places, and a very tenacious character, because he is killed like in every series, but they can’t kill him in any way.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": John Silver

The series "Black Sails" is about the youth of John Silver, one of the main characters. He is rather talkative and somewhat cowardly, however, this is the story of Silver becoming the way he became in Treasure Island. Of course, Black Sails tells the story of finding the treasures that were then buried on a desert island that Jim Hawkins, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, and all this honest company were looking for.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": the ship of the Royal Navy "Scarborough"

Speaking about the Black Sails series itself, I must say that the ships look like real ones, I am pleased with the rather correctly drawn sailing equipment, which really belongs to the first decade of the 18th century. True, as always, the ships are a little too big and this is a common thing because on a large ship there is where to turn around and there is something to shoot.

The ship that we get on from the first minutes of the first episode of the Black Sails series, when Captain Flint boards it, looks very good: it is not plastic, it is wooden, and it is proportional to the people who operate on it, in general, ship equipment on a wooden ship is shown quite well.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": character costumes

Overall, the costumes of the characters in the Black Sails series are pleasing, because here an important distinction is made between the costumes of gentlemen: a caftan and a three-cornered hat. The long-brimmed caftan was introduced into fashion by Louis 14 as early as the 70s of the 17th century, which was worn with a slightly shorter camisole, a shirt, often with lace, a wig, a three-cornered hat, short culottes, stockings, and shoes.

But this suit was not adapted for any work activity. However, this was its point, because it had to show that the wearer of this costume does not work with his hands, but is a nobleman, a wealthy man. Well, the sailors' suit, consists of short, by modern standards, trousers (after all, trousers, not culottes), jackets, shirts, and some kind of hat. The sailors and in general all the characters are dirty and sweaty, which is justified because there was nowhere to wash on the ship.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": Captain James Flint

However, what is not encouraging is the presence of beards on the characters in the Black Sails series, moreover, beards a la Hemingway: the beard covers the entire chin and cheeks, but is rather short. I must say that at the end of the 17th century in Europe, the fashion for a beard and mustache was absolutely expelled. It is impossible to explain rationally and explain any fashion movements. Not a single young lady and not a single fashionable young man can explain this, but everyone knows that they wear it that way. So, in the 18th century, a beard was not worn in Europe at all in cultural society. Wearing a beard was a sign of absolute savagery. I don't even know what to compare it to in the modern world.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": Edward Teach (Blackbeard)

Some people still wore a beard, say, the famous pirate Edward Teach — Blackbeard. He wore a beard as a deterrent. Actually, the appearance of a man with a beard like Lev Tolstoy caused horror, well, if it was not a decrepit old man.

In the same way, for example, in France, there was a tradition of wearing a beard among regimental masters (or they were also called sappers). These are a few people in each infantry regiment who wore leather aprons and axes. Theoretically, their function was to pave the way for their comrades either through the forest or cut through some enemy obstacles. The beard of the French sappers was specially grown to frighten the enemy, to show that they are brutal and unstoppable men.

Moreover, even a mustache was considered a sign of certain savagery, and, say, in the army only grenadiers and light cavalry, that is, hussars, were allowed to wear mustaches. It was assumed that the hussars and grenadiers are desperate people, somewhat insane, who rush headlong at the enemy. But all soldiers and officers were required to shave their mustaches and beards.

For pirates, you can come up with an excuse — they are wild, unbridled. But pirates were still people who followed the dictates of fashion. Let's say a three-day stubble or a week's stubble would be appropriate on their faces because ordinary people of the 18th century did not shave every day. Let me remind you that at that time there were no safety razors, there were only straight razors, so it was almost impossible to shave yourself. Only barbers shaved people, and the barber, of course, wanted money for his services, and more than once a week, as a rule, men did not shave. The army demanded to shave twice a week, but still, a few days stubble decorated faces a little.

But for example, such a beard as that of a cook, with whom Silver encounters in the first minutes of the first episode in the Black Sails series, or that of the captain of a ship attacked by pirates, this is completely unthinkable. Even Flint's beard is unreal.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": a black character

Here, of course, I will put down the funny moments where black people flash in the frame. It is clear that this is the call of the times, it is clear that tolerance tells us to show us black people and show us people of Mongoloid appearance. But I can assure you that there were practically no black people among the pirates in the Caribbean.

There were slaves, of course. African slaves appeared in the Caribbean already in the 17th century, but I must say that prejudices were very strong, and no one considered slaves to be people, including the pirates themselves. Therefore, the inclusion of a black man in the crew of a pirate ship is unknown to me. Theoretically, they were possible, but they would have to be incredibly rare and would have included him in the crew, most likely in the role of a servant, not a full-fledged pirate.

If we talk about people of Arab appearance in some kind of turbans, then this is even less possible in the Caribbean. Here in the Mediterranean Sea, where the northern coast of Africa (now Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) was a nest of piracy, there were Arab pirates, Muslims in turbans would be correct and no one would be surprised. Still, not in the Caribbean, of course. I'm not talking about some wild images of monsters with vampire screams that break into the ship a few minutes after the start of the boarding. Well, let's leave it all on the conscience of the authors of the Black Sails series.

Let's see how boarding happens. Let's skip the scene where Silver and this cook sort things out. By the way, Silver is dressed very fashionably, in the costume of a young and well-earning sailor of the early 18th century. Let's skip this episode and look at the boarding itself.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": a moment from the boarding scene

The boarding itself in the series "Black Sails" was filmed according to the laws of the genre: it is clear that the masts are collapsing there, and people are flying unclear where and how. I must modestly admit that I never participated in boarding and did not see the battle of the 18th century with my own eyes, but I dare to assume that after all, a person who gets hit by a chip, or a bullet, or a cannonball dies rather ugly and at the same time he does not commit any some aesthetically beautiful jumps, some flights. Everything happens pretty quickly and sadly. But the boarding very quickly turns into some kind of positional battles inside the fort literally on board the ship.

The captain and his sailors find themselves inside the room, narrow cracks lead to the street, some kind of white fog appears to instill fear in the viewer, and then the pirates knock out the door with something and burst into this cabin. Here I should note that the boarding was intended to capture the enemy ship. This is a commonplace statement, but it is worth remembering.

Capturing a ship is, first of all, capturing an engine, because if you master the engine and control system of the ship, then you can lead it somewhere. If your opponents are isolated in some place on the ship that will not allow them to control the ship, then these opponents can sit there further until they run out of food and water and surrender. It is clear that on a steamer the engine is at the bottom, but on a sailing ship the engine, that is, the sails, are at the top. If the crew of an enemy ship could be driven down, then, as a rule, this meant the end of its resistance.

Theoretically, it was possible to blow up the cruise chamber. In general, the explosion of the cruise chamber was a desperate act. First of all, everyone understood that the one who blows up this cruise chamber would die, and only a few decided on this. Moreover, I must recall that in the XVIII century the attitude towards suicide was a little different. Most Europeans were deeply religious people. Of course, they could be scoundrels and scumbags, nevertheless, this thought sat inside them that suicide is a mortal sin, and this sin cannot be expiated in any way, because having committed it, the sinner no longer has time to repent, because he is already dying.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": the explosion of the ship

I must say that in the history of the Russian fleet in the 18th century there were a couple of cases when sailors blew up their ships. One case was in 1738 when Captain Pierre de Fermery blew up his Dubel dinghy. The second case was during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768–1774 when Lieutenant Osten Saken blew up his Dubel dinghy. But both these battles were battles against the Turks. The fight against the Turks has always been perceived as something outside the field of laws and customs of war. In addition, both cases in the 18th century did not serve as a reason for their replication for propaganda, they began to be replicated and became part of propaganda only at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 18th century, such cases of blowing up one's own ship were perceived as some kind of crazy act.

Therefore, returning to the boarding in the Black Sails series, the likelihood that the sailors who were defeated in the boarding and driven to the lower decks would blow up the cruise chamber was extremely small. The sailors who mastered the upper deck naturally got access to all the ship's controls and therefore boarding began and ended on the upper deck, it rarely happened in the lower part of the ship.

I would rather believe in the reality of the scene when the captain and his sailors will be driven, say, to the forecastle, or the poop, and the last acts of resistance will take place there. But then, of course, it would be impossible to shoot beautiful shots with such chiaroscuro, with light falling through the embrasures, with some kind of explosion of the door with the help of a barrel of gunpowder.

By the way, to be honest, on the ship, not a single psycho was going to blow up the doors with a barrel of gunpowder, because this could all cause a fire. It would be much more natural in "Black Sails" to cut down the door with axes. Even during the storming of fortresses in the 18th century, they quite often resorted to cutting down doors with axes. So I would rather imagine some huge muscular pirate who blows the door to pieces with an ax.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": Captain Flint

Now let's watch the next episode of the series "Black Sails": this is a duel between Flint and his rival on the deck of this ship. To be precise, this place on the deck is called the waist. It was chosen for cinematic reasons, it is seen here that this is a recess in the upper deck.

Indeed, this is how it looked: in front of the ship there was a forecastle superstructure, closer to the stern, between the main mast and the mizzen mast there were quarterings — another superstructure, and behind the mizzen mast there was a poop, which could rise above the quarterings and in the poop was the captain's quarters.

At the same time, the waist could not be used in the way it is used in the movie "Black Sails". It was very heavily cluttered: in the center of the waist was the main ship's longboat, there could still be boats, and spare spars could be stored there, that is, parts of masts and yards that could be replaced in case of breakage. The waist was cluttered quite heavily.

In addition, when the guns of the artillery deck were drawn in the stowed position, the rear parts of the gun carriages practically touched this spars warehouse in the center of the waist. Just to avoid the blockage in the waist, walkways were built at the level of the quarterdeck and forecastle, along the sides, on which the sailors stand, looking at the duel between Flint and his opponent with such a “nice” scar on his face. So these walkways served just to freely move from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, without climbing over this barricade. But it is clear that the filmmakers of the Black Sails series made something like an amphitheater out of the waist, in the center of which this duel unfolds.

By the way, I must say that it was not accepted to sparkle with a shaved skull, as Flint's opponent does in Black Sails. Indeed, in the 18th century, especially in the first half, men very often shaved their heads and wore a wig. It was a purely hygienic measure.

By the way, wigs largely appeared for the sake of hygiene, because the wig could be “roasted” over a fire to expel any parasites from it, it could eventually just be thrown away or burned. And a shaved head was very easy to keep clean.

But showing a shaved head to people was absolutely not accepted. To be honest, it was as taboo as showing the part of the body on which we sit in the nude. Therefore, people who shaved their heads and did not wear a wig wore caps or fur hats, and since it was difficult in the heat, they tied their heads with a scarf. The custom of tying the head with a scarf is connected with the fact that the bald head had to be covered somehow. Pirates, who were not rich people, could well wear this scarf, so I would like to see this scarf on a character with a scar. But the fact that he has neither a mustache nor a beard is fully consistent with the fashion of the 18th century, and there is nothing to complain about here.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": the image of Captain Flint in the series "Black Sails"

Flint himself in the Black Sails series, of course, does not quite correspond to the ideals of the era. That's even if you take Flint's hairstyle: he has short hair.

A man of the 18th century, if he had hair, then it would be long hair, it should fall to his shoulders or be even longer, and when it interfered with the person, he braided it in a ponytail or pigtail. Therefore, Flint needed to make a pigtail or ponytail, but the authors of the Black Sails series for some reason decided not to do this. By the way, in one of the scenes of the duel, several guys of oriental appearance in turbans are clearly visible, who are sitting on the walkways above the waist and are watching the duel.

Another odd detail is the shoulder pads. Shoulder straps in the 18th century were widely used for carrying cartridge bags. This was the main way to carry a cartridge bag: over the left shoulder on a wide leather belt. Here, swords or sabers were worn on the shoulder, but it was more of an Eastern European tradition. If we imagine some Polish cavalryman of that time, then here I would completely agree with the shoulder harness, though rather narrow.

However, in the west of Europe, they preferred a swordbelt, which hung a saber, a sword, or a cleaver. Moreover, the infantrymen clearly preferred the waist belt. This tradition continued until the Napoleonic Wars when the fashion changed and the wearing of bladed weapons on the shoulder belt came into use again. These wide straps that cross the chest of the characters in the TV series "Black Sails" apparently were really liked by the costume designer and he decided that it would be cool.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": the battle of characters

Let's see what these characters fight with. They fight with normal-bladed weapons. Actually, this is most reminiscent of the very sea daggers or cleavers that were widely used. This weapon has a slightly curved blade but is shorter than a normal saber. The length of a normal cavalry saber was about a meter, in any case not less than 90 cm, because the rider needed, firstly, to reach the enemy on horseback, and secondly, to reach the enemy on foot. But on the ship, a long saber was rather harmful, and the length of the dagger blade was about 60–70 cm. Well, we see some such weapons in the hands of the characters in the Black Sails series.

True, Flint has a very wide leather belt with rivets. He, apparently, took it off some metal worker, because in the 18th century there were definitely no such belts. His opponent is wearing leather wristlets which he, too, apparently borrowed from a metal worker, because this is also a barely real detail.

The Cossack trousers with soft boots, which Flint's opponent is wearing, also attract attention. Love for boots is such a funny detail of our cinema. It should be noted that in Western Europe there were big problems with soft skin. Soft leather boots are a purely Eastern European phenomenon. Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Russian people could very widely use boots made of soft leather, it was a favorite and comfortable footwear. In the western part of Europe, boots in the 18th century, especially in the first half, existed only in the form of over-the-knee boots.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": over-the-knee boots of the 18th century

Hessian are high, above the knees, boots made of very tough leather, they almost did not bend, well, perhaps they bent a little near the ankle. Hessian boots are special cavalry boots, they served two purposes: firstly, they protected the foot from the impact of infantry weapons (the infantryman could not pierce the hessian boots with a bayonet), on the other hand, the hessian boots were very useful in the event of a horse falling, because to jump off the horse when it falls, the 18th-century rider could not. Individual cavalry training in the west of Europe was not very developed at this time, and the leg in the hessians was protected from fracture. It is clear that the horse is quite heavy — if it fell sideways and broke a leg, in the 18th century it meant amputation, which was certainly unpleasant. Therefore, hessian boots were very useful for a cavalryman.

However, if the cavalrymen dismounted, they took off their hessians and walked in shoes, because it was almost impossible to walk in hessians: —you could barely hobble in them. Therefore, some boots on pirates at the beginning of the 18th century in the Caribbean Sea is an unthinkable thing.

Toward the end of the 18th century, the fashion for boots with relatively soft tops from the East came to Western Europe. In the era of the French Revolution, these shoes became very popular, but not at the beginning of the 18th century.

At the beginning of the 18th century, most sailors were walking barefoot, because the soles were made of smooth leather, there were no protectors on the soles. It was also impossible to tamp the sole on the ship with nails because the deck deteriorated very much from this — they knocked it out with wooden nails. The deck, of course, was wet, so barefoot sailors were much more comfortable, not to mention that in the tropics it did not cause any discomfort. Some gentlemen on the ship, officers, of course, could walk in shoes, simply because they were not supposed to walk barefoot. But no boots, of course, could not be on the ship.

Then the guys in the Black Sails series fight like in a movie: they kill each other for a very long time, and the whole face of both is in the blood. We are even shown a close-up of Flint's opponent's dirk handle. It is such a typical epee handle — a copper olive that lies in the hand and a small cup protecting the hand and the shackle.

But why did they like to cast the handles of edged weapons from copper? Because the heavy handle served as a counterweight to the blade. With a light handle, a long blade is very difficult to wield because it will have a lot of inertia. If you have a heavy handle, then you balance the blade and you can twist it much easier in your hand, even though the weapon is heavier. I'm not saying that a heavy handle can be moved into the opponent's face if necessary, or hit on the head.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": battle on the ship

However, this fight, as we understand it, ends with Flint's victory, he kills his shaved opponent to the general joy of everyone around him in the Black Sails series. I'm not going to say the banal thing that in any cowboy movie the fight always goes on 10 times longer than it would actually go on. Even one blow that the hero inflicts is enough to kill the enemy. But if such short fights were shown in the cinema, then it would not be a movie.

Now let's fast forward to episode 8 of Black Sails and look at Flint's fight that he tries to force on the Spanish ship, which is abruptly interrupted by an attempted mutiny on Flint's ship. By the way, the character who is trying to overthrow Flint is wearing metal-rimmed glasses. Don’t be surprised, glasses of this kind were indeed widespread in the 18th century. Back in the 17th century in Holland, doctors often prescribed glasses with diopters. A man with glasses in the 18th century was absolutely normal and could often be found on the streets of cities.

It is clear that glasses were expensive and a simple peasant could hardly wear them. Still, people of average condition used glasses. Moreover, glasses with green lenses were also common, because it was believed that these glasses protect the eyes from bright light and were also worn for certain diseases.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": sea battle

Let's look at the sea battle itself in the Black Sails series. Flint's idea looks very real. He tries to put the enemy ship in two fires, but at the same time Flint's ship is stopped, or the filmmakers think that it is stopped.

At some point, we are shown a ship from under the water and we see two cables that converge at one point from which another cable goes somewhere deep into the ocean, and there is probably an anchor there. But such a design would be appropriate on a river where there is an expressed current. At sea, they put the ship on a stop with the help of two anchors: one anchor rope stretched from the bow, and another anchor rope from the stern, they went in different directions and this ensured the stable position of the ship's hull. This was very important because if the ship were to anchor, let's say, thrown from the bow, then the wind could rotate this ship.

If we were dealing with a harbor, usually very close, then the ships could collide, and intertwine anchor ropes with each other, which would make it very difficult to raise the anchor. But at sea, it was still more expedient to put the ship on two anchors, but not on such a strange design. I would also be interested to know how they threw this anchor there and how they are going to raise it.

Further, the maneuver of taking the Spanish ship in two fires. Here it is creatively transformed: they still want to fire longitudinal fire from the bow and stern. This is really an adequate combat technique, especially since firing from the stern was extremely dangerous and this is shown in the Black Sails series.

When the cannonballs hit the aft bulkhead, they caused very great damage, because they flew all over the deck. When hit in the bow, the damage was slightly less, because in the bow the cannonballs could hit the side, and the sides in the bow of the ship converged smoothly and they could to some extent reflect enemy cannonballs. But the aft bulkhead was rather weak and the cannonballs made their way quite successfully.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": muskets of pirates

In the process of preparing for battle in Black Sails, we see the process of loading muskets, and ramrods flash by, with which weapons are loaded, a charge and a bullet are nailed. The only thing, of course, is bad that the ramrods are metal.

Metal ramrods appear as a mass phenomenon only in the 50s of the 18th century. In general, they were first introduced into service by Frederick the Great in Prussia. With a metal ramrod, a soldier could load his gun more vigorously and thus accelerate loading. Before this, ramrods were exclusively wooden.

In addition, we are also shown the blade of a boarding ax in the frame. A completely normal set of weapons: by the way, muskets, pistols, boarding axes, and dirks — all this was widely used. But for some reason, the boarding peaks in the frame of the Black Sails series are not visible, even though they were used very widely. It was a cheap, affordable weapon available to absolutely everyone.

When we are shown commanders who look at enemies through spyglasses, the Spanish captain for some reason turns out to be dressed in the fashion of the 90s of the 18th century. Very funny: round hat, fluffy, powdered hair. So in 1715 or 1720 they definitely didn’t dress. Why this was necessary for the costume designer is unclear.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": a Spanish ship with a flag

By the way, one more inaccuracy in the Black Sails series: we see a Spanish ship under the flag with a very characteristic red oblique cross with ledges. This is a Burgundy cross. Indeed, this flag was used by the Spaniards in the 16th and 17th centuries. But in 1701 the Spanish Succession War begins, which ends in 1713 and is won not by the Austrian contender to the Spanish throne, but by the French contender. During this war, the supporters of the Austrian contender used this old flag with the Burgundian cross. When the supporters of the French pretender won, a new Spanish flag was introduced: a white flag with the coat of arms of Spain of a rather complex design. Spanish ships sailed under this flag until the 80s of the 18th century. And in the 80s of the XVIII century, the familiar red-yellow-red Spanish flag was introduced, which remains to this day.

But why, if the first episode begins in 1715, this flag appears in the 8th series of the Black Sails series, science is unknown. However, perhaps this is because people still somehow recognize this flag, and few people recognize the flag that actually functioned in 1713 until the early 80s. It would be possible through the lips of some naive pirate to ask the question: “Guys, what does he have in the stern?” And some old pirate would say: "Boy, Spain has a new flag now."

Further, we see an attempt to shoot at the stern of the Spanish ship. It seems to me that the destruction there should have been a little more than what we were shown. Then — this is the return shot of the Spaniard. It turns out that this is almost a three-deck ship, I counted three artillery decks. Naturally, Flint's ship gets hit hard and everyone is flying in different directions, including Flint himself, who seems to be sinking at the end of the 8th episode of the Black Sails series. He probably won't drown at all, but he's almost drowned so far.

Returning to the appearance of the ship in the Black Sails series, I did not like the iron racks of lifelines on the deck, because, of course, there were no iron racks of lifelines in those days. Everything was wooden.

By the way, in the pretentious scene where this character in glasses is aiming at Flint with a pistol, in the background, there is a guy who looks like a Taliban with a gun in his hands, on the barrel of which a weapon martyr is put on. This is a real technology of the XVIII century, it was used in the English army, though not for very long.

The idea was that the gun was loaded with blank powder, without a bullet, a small bomb or hand grenade was put into the martir, then a shot took place. At the moment of the shot, the remote tube lit up and this grenade flew at least 100 meters into the enemy, got somewhere, and exploded.

By the way, this character's ramrod is wooden and thick, it sticks out under the barrel, and this pleases, after all, iron ramrods are not present everywhere. But the pistol that this guy in round glasses is holding is more like a dueling pistol of the late 18th century. It has a very strong bent handle, like a modern pistol. At the beginning of the XVIII century, this is a not really realistic weapon.

Black Sails — a historical masterpiece? Kirill Nazarenko about Black Sails

The series "Black Sails": a cannon on a ship

Cannons in the series "Black Sails", by the way, are pretty good. They are cast iron and I respect the authors for this because copper guns were rarely used in the navy. Still, these are cast-iron cannons of a fortress type. There is one minus here: if we look closely at their breech, then there is a “cone” on it, which is called cascabel. When cannons were richly decorated in the 16th–17th centuries, some kind of incomprehensible rope loop was thrown over this cascabel.

However, on a real ship, this would be a dangerous thing, because there were no cascabels on the ship's guns, but there was such a ring through which a very thick rope was passed. I would say that the cannons shown here are probably 12-pounder cannons firing about 6 kg cannonballs, the rope would have to be at least 5–6 centimeters thick. This rope was passed through such a ring and fastened with two ends to powerful rings on the sides. This system served to ensure that the gun did not roll too far from the side during recoil and that, under any circumstances, this gun would not go far from its place. Because a cannon that had broken away from its place in a storm could destroy anything on the ship, and it was very scary. This rope was called bruk. Here it was somewhat frivolous on the part of the heroes of Black Sails to throw bruk over the cascabel like a loop and assume that you are safe.

In general, everything else is shown relatively well. I would say that the comments that came to my mind and which I have outlined above are comments on a very decent series. Against the background of the fact that the series is very often done with the “left hind foot”, the series “Black Sails” makes a favorable impression.

Of these complements, I must say that the cannons are painted red. This is absolutely the right detail. In general, the red color was very loved in the 18th century: the inside of the sides of ships and many ship details were painted in it, red stripes were painted on the sides, and gun mounts were painted red. It was a trendy color.

Well, the Spanish ship still manages to escape from the trap that Flint set up for them. He turns sideways to his opponents and fires a killer volley through which Flint flies overboard and begins to sink.

This concludes my review of the first season of the Black Sails series. Perhaps the second and third seasons will also be the subject of our analysis.

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