The standard opening home-video warning "Piracy Is Not a Victimless Crime" is somewhat amusing as a prelude to Crossbones, NBC's violent, amped-up revision of the mythic story of buccaneer Blackbeard, here portrayed with great gusto by John Malkovich. Having successfully faked his death, pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, aka "the Commodore," is the crafty lord of a pirate colony on the secret island of Santa Campana in the early 18th century. Ruthless British spy Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle) goes undercover as a ship's surgeon on a mission to assassinate Blackbeard and very nearly succeeds, but backs off at the hint of a secret Spanish plot against England, and joins the Commodore's motley crew to learn more. The result is a dizzying array of false alliances and betrayals with occasional hints of "steampunk" out-of-time technology (a submarine) and mysticism that threaten to take the show into more fantastic Pirates of the Caribbean territory but never quite do (although it is rather supernatural that women would look this good on a scurvy, pirate-dominated island). Is Teach a despotic psychopath or an enlightened sort whose outlaw mini-society—minus social classes or slavery—is a functioning, progressive democracy? Interestingly, a pirate-founded nation in the Bahamas is actually historically accurate; the credits claim that this tall tale drew inspiration from Colin Woodard's nonfiction account The Republic of Pirates. Presenting all nine episodes from the 2014 debut season (and last, since the show was canceled), extras include deleted scenes. Malkovich fans will appreciate this short-lived swashbuckling series. Recommended. (C. Cassady)
Crossbones: Season One
Universal, 2 discs, 386 min., not rated, DVD: $44.98 Volume 30, Issue 1
Crossbones: Season One
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