A British soldier got killed. (the text is kind of an in-joke between my friend and I, because we were joking that that one character keeps killing people to impress another one. The show is much more serious than this cracky icon implies.)
Aaaahh, you're asking the right question! Black Sails is much more serious than Treasure Island. It is set about 20 years before the book, so there is no actual retelling, just an imagining of how the characters got to where they are in TI. Also, not all of the characters from the book are in the show. The ones I know for sure are Captain Flint, Long John Silver, and Billy Bones. Black Sails also has actual historical pirates, like John Rackham and Blackbeard and Woodes Rogers. It's more of a fusion, really.
Where TI is a children's book, and thus usually happy, the show is much more gritty. Not in a bad way, though. Okay, the first season has a lot of swear words and nudity, but the first season is a bit of an outlier in that respect. (Most people hate the first season.) But there is a lot of blood and pain and death in the show.
The focus of the show definitely is on the political aspect. It's all about why those pirates did what they did, how they fought their fight for freedom from the British Empire. It's all very well researched, and character-driven. There are a lot of characters of color, a lot of women in important, plot-shaping positions, and a significant number of queer main characters. I think the show is amazing, and the best thing I've seen in ages.
I think it is sufficiently removed from the book that you can look at it separately, even if you're a huge fan. All the characters who are in the book are guided to where you can see how they ended up who they are in the book, but there are still 15 or so years to go at the end of the show, so there is some room for interpretation.
I am not very eloquent when it comes to reccing the show, but if you need more pointers, I can show you other people's rec posts.
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Aaaahh, you're asking the right question! Black Sails is much more serious than Treasure Island. It is set about 20 years before the book, so there is no actual retelling, just an imagining of how the characters got to where they are in TI. Also, not all of the characters from the book are in the show. The ones I know for sure are Captain Flint, Long John Silver, and Billy Bones. Black Sails also has actual historical pirates, like John Rackham and Blackbeard and Woodes Rogers. It's more of a fusion, really.
Where TI is a children's book, and thus usually happy, the show is much more gritty. Not in a bad way, though. Okay, the first season has a lot of swear words and nudity, but the first season is a bit of an outlier in that respect. (Most people hate the first season.) But there is a lot of blood and pain and death in the show.
The focus of the show definitely is on the political aspect. It's all about why those pirates did what they did, how they fought their fight for freedom from the British Empire. It's all very well researched, and character-driven. There are a lot of characters of color, a lot of women in important, plot-shaping positions, and a significant number of queer main characters. I think the show is amazing, and the best thing I've seen in ages.
I think it is sufficiently removed from the book that you can look at it separately, even if you're a huge fan. All the characters who are in the book are guided to where you can see how they ended up who they are in the book, but there are still 15 or so years to go at the end of the show, so there is some room for interpretation.
I am not very eloquent when it comes to reccing the show, but if you need more pointers, I can show you other people's rec posts.