Phew! We can honestly say we did not expect this news. The pirate dramedy/romance Our Flag Means Death has been canceled at Max. While the show’s second season was certainly a mixed bag for some, it seemed like this very queer, very beloved by its fandom show deserved at least one season to wrap things up. Sure, Our Flag Means Death‘s season two finale could be seen as a series finale if you squint. But it felt like there was a lot more to unearth on the high seas. We suppose Izzy Hands fans still mourning his death can take solace in the fact that he made it into every episode? No, we guess that really doesn’t help. RIP Our Flag Means Death; we’re sorry to see you canceled. You flew the queer flag proud for two seasons and we commend you for that.
A spokesperson for Max recently revealed that Our Flag Means Death had been canceled after season two. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Max shared, “While Max will not be moving forward with a third season of Our Flag Means Death, we are so proud of the joyous, hilarious, and heartfelt stories that creator David Jenkins, Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Garrett Basch, Dan Halsted, Adam Stein, Antoine Douaihy, and the entire superb cast and crew brought to life. We also thank the dedicated fans who embraced these stories and built a gorgeous, inclusive community surrounding the show.”
Additionally, Casey Bloys, HBO and Max CEO, recently shed some light on the circumstances around the cancellation. He noted to The Hollywood Reporter, “Nobody likes to cancel a show. But the fact of the matter is the numbers weren’t there for a renewal. But I will say, whenever we cancel a show, if a creator can set it up elsewhere, we support them. That is an option for Our Flag; it didn’t make sense for us but it might be for someone else. We let the producers know if they can find a home, we’ll be supportive of that.” While it’s not exactly the news fans want to hear, it is always heartening to hear the series could have a chance at life on a channel other than HBO/Max.
David Jenkins, meanwhile, took to Instagram to share a note of his own about Our Flag Means Death‘s cancellation. Among other words, he noted “I’m very sad I won’t set foot on the Revenge again with my friends, some of whom have become close to family. But I couldn’t be more grateful for being allowed to captain the damn thing in the first place. Our Flag Means Us. Loving one another, pulling off some pretty weird and beautiful shit, and talking it through… as a crew.”
Max and other networks will surely be hearing from the series’ dedicated fans in the days to come. We’re confident that on the heels of Our Flag Means Death getting canceled, a thousand campaigns to save the show will arise. We’ll point folks to this one, from @RenewAsACrew on Twitter, if anyone is interested in landing a hand.
And who knows, maybe these efforts will even be successful, and we’ll see Our Flag Means Death uncanceled and back on the high seas.
But to all those saddened by this news, we say, losing a show is always hard. And for shows that have a dedicated fanbase, like Our Flag Means Death, cancelation can feel downright harrowing. But, we see you, and your grief is real. The community built around Our Flag Means Death, though, is yours. Hold onto it.
If nothing else, hopefully, Our Flag Means Death has helped to further pave the way for more queer shows to exist proudly on major platforms. Fellow crewmates, we’ll meet you on AO3.
Originally published on January 9, 2024.