Despite the show being critically acclaimed and garnering a devoted fan base, Max has canceled Our Flag Means Death after two seasons. The LGTBQ+ pirate romance centered on Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), a gentleman-turned-pirate captain of a ragtag crew, with romantic undertones carry both seasons of the show as Stede and Taika Waititi's famed pirate Blackbeard, a.k.a. Ed Teach, navigate their romantic feelings for one another, the series is really a found-family story that reframes our ideas of piracy and aims at making queer relationships and identities less taboo. Understandably, audiences aren't happy that it was forced to walk the plank.
Creator David Jenkins had the unfortunate job of breaking the news to fans via Instagram, but while his heartfelt statement softened the blow, it did not dissuade the masses from being upset about the tremendous loss. Unlike Ed, they didn’t wallow in their misery and instead got organized. In seemingly no time at all beloved viewers pivoted their renewal campaign into a save the show campaign with an official website, petition, and clever social media hashtags like: #RenewAsACrew and #SaveOFMD.
