The cast of Our Flag Means Death set sail at New York Comic-Con! Well, as best they could, which felt appropriate for the ragtag crew of the Revenge. With the SAG-AFTRA strike still ongoing, options were limited. The panel—which would have otherwise been promo for the show’s eagerly anticipated second season that premiered earlier this month—had to figure out some creative ways to continue without directly referencing the show.
As any fan can attest, the cast has shown they are truly fond of one another, even off-set. Rhys Darby (Stede Bonnet), Con O’ Neill (Izzy Hands), Nathan Foad (Lucius Sprigg), Matthew Maher (Black Pete), Vico Ortiz (Jim Jimenez), and Kristian Nairn (Wee John Feeney) all proved that by answering questions via whiteboards à la The Newlywed Game.
The questions and responses ranged from relatable to wonderfully unrelatable. In response to the question, “Who’s likely to make a new friend anywhere they go?” Foad responded, “Me, not to be a bitch.” When asked, “Who’s most likely to go on an adventure with aliens?” Darby responded that both he and Samba (Schutte, who plays Roach) have seen UFOs.
While some of the questions fell short, most of the actors were able to find clever workarounds, which, all things considered, is impressive.
Darby, who co-hosts a podcast about all things unexplainable and cryptid called The Cryptid Factor, stole a chunk of the panel with his response to the question, “Who is most likely to take a selfie with Bigfoot?” He proceeded to tell a detailed story about the best way to approach the mythical beast. He also ended the panel—before dropping some trademark beatboxing moves—with a quote you could feel resonated in the room. Darby said, “The most important thing is to keep creating those fantasy worlds and living in them … the real world is shit right now, so all of these people here love fantasy worlds. That’s why we’re here. And it’s healthy, and it’s fun, and we can all be the same and use kindness. And one day, the real world will be there, and let’s hope it happens in our lifetime.”
The fantasy line hit home for me. Our Flag Means Death has been a show that has healed me in ways I never expected. Also, being told it was okay to live in that fantasy world by one of the actors? I’m not above crying at 11 o’clock in the morning.
It was a great experience to simply be in the same room as these amazing actors, listening to them talk about their lives and interests and trying to skirt any direct mentions of anything set-related. One of the best running jokes, for instance, besides Foad’s “Apropos of nothing” when introducing set stories, was how they’re all “just a bunch of friends who go on a lot of vacations together.” We got to learn a bit more about them as people, which I really did appreciate. If the panel had gone according to plan, most of it would have been about the show and the actors’ characters—though I am sad we couldn’t talk about some of the more pressing plot points of this season.
The ease of the cast together on stage, playing off of each other’s energy, was fantastic. For a panel, a fan couldn’t ask for more. One can only imagine what it would have been like if they had actually been able to talk about the show.
(featured image: Nicola Dove/HBO)
