May contain spoilers ***** I must say, I wasn't sure what to expect with this series. I had high hopes since I enjoy period pieces and I think John Malkovich is an excellent actor when he puts himself into a role. I think his try at Blackbeard (or the Commodore as he is called on his island) is the best thing he has done in years. I was not disappointed! IN fact the whole cast was amazingly good, the pacing pretty good, the twists and turns believable and the writing well done. There was just the right mix of action and suspense in most episodes (one or two may have been a tad slow). It was captivating and engrossing like a really nice book. The main characters were well defined. I would give it 10 stars for effort and accomplishment. I really hope they do a second season and if the quality stays high a 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th seasons - why not? Probably the only fuzzy point if you want to get really picky was Blackbeard's first wife and his nightmares or visions of her (it was kind of weak), otherwise a solid, entertaining season. I recommend it to anyone who likes pirate movies/TV shows or adventure/drama movies/shows.

You really should, while it is still available for free on Hulu. Don't let the negative reviews deter you; you may have noticed that most of them are from people who gave up in disgust after the first episode or so. I eagerly watched the whole thing, and am sorry there will not be more.This is a pirate tale, not a documentary, and yes, the writers have taken a bit (or more than a bit) of license with the Blackbeard legend. I for one don't care, to me it is an entertaining story, and an engaging application of "What if?"I find the dialog to be exceptionally well written, especially the exchanges between Richard Coyle and Claire Foy. I think the writers may have overestimated their audience in this regard; it seems to me that of the people who complain about it, most simply haven't the vocabulary to understand it, therefore to them the dialog is "bad."Regarding the much-maligned accent of Mr. Malkovich, it may be horrible, it may not, but I for one can't claim to be expert on the amazing diversity of accents to be found on that little island. I do know enough about them to realize that not everyone there sounds like (well, insert the name of your favorite posh-sounding English actor here.) In any event, I do not find it so off-putting as many seem to. And I am a Johnny Depp fan, but I really don't understand why so many people seem to find his Keith Richards impression preferable to John Malkovich's Blackbeard, at least regarding accent. To me, accents fade into the background as you become familiar with a character. I think if they do not, you may be focusing on the wrong things.In my opinion this was very well cast. Of course I was familiar with John Malkovich, but the others were almost entirely new to me. Richard Coyle looked vaguely familiar, and it wasn't until I happened to re-watch his performance as Moist Von Lipvig that I realized from where. The same went for Claire Foy, though her Adora Belle Dearheart character was so different from Kate Balfour as to make her pretty much unrecognizable from one to the other. (Terry Pratchett fans will probably understand these references, the rest of you can look them up.) :)The rest of the cast performed quite well, and all deserve mention, but I must say Ezra Buzzington stood out for me, for some reason, even though his appearances were few and far between. Julian Sands, as usual, made a great villain.Whatever else it may be, this is an excellently written and acted pirate tale; if you are the sort of person who enjoys this sort of thing, you really shouldn't miss it.

I was a little sceptical of Crossbones, another pirate series coming so soon after the acclaimed Black Sails, but in truth the two are very different shows. Crossbones is more a show about a secret agent (Richard Coyle) hunting his dangerous prey (John Malkovich) that just happens to involve pirates, rather than "Pirates of the Caribbean for grown-ups" as Black Sails has been described. Characterisation is for the most part good, although sadly in just 9 episodes there was clearly room for much more. We never really get to see how things turn out for a number of characters, and there's no denying the ending felt awkward and very rushed, but at least the series did get one unlike many others that are cancelled before their time. Ironically Malkovich's performance is one of the weakest, but that's more than made up for with excellent acting from Coyle, Foy and Stebbings; I hope Coyle in particular is given another leading action role soon, it clearly suits him. Sadly I think Crossbones may largely be remembered as "not Black Sails" when it deserves far better.

After watching Black Sails, i was happy to see another pirate show with the excellent John Malkovich. Well, after watching i was really disappointed! The so called pirates in this show are mostly well mannered, non swearing and seem to have incredible hygiene rules and dental care on the island... The production looks like amateur hour. On every episode up until now, the shots not cutting together jump at you without looking for it. In the last episode "Beggarman", Lowe receive lashes. When they're done with it, you can see that the marks on his back are drawn with red lipstick... But what really bugs me the most is that they didn't bother to give the main character Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) a freaking English accent!!