I'm hedging on the 10 only because of very minor things that other commentators have noted, like everyone's perfect teeth... but even that is forgivable in this utterly amazing piece of work. I can understand why there's so few episodes in each season and why the seasons are so far apart: these things took work, and every effort shows — from the sets to the costumes to the photography to the writing to the acting to the direction, every episode is a movie unto itself, done with nearly impeccable style.
To that end, it's almost laughable — in a sad sort of way — to read some of the negative reviews for this. "Not enough sword fights!" "Too much gay sex!" (I'm trying to remember just one, but then perhaps that reviewer was watching SPARTACUS?) "Too much talking!" — as though simple communication is a bad thing. Get over it, folks. This is a show with action, adventure, *and* a whole bunch of moral ambiguity about things. Almost every character, from Captain Flint to Eleanor to John Silver to the lowest crew member has some kind of wonderful personality flaw, which is one of the things that makes this show so *genuine*. The writers have taken characters from literature and made them fully developed people: not an easy task when you consider how much baggage people would bring to a series that's a prequel to Treasure Island... and they do it with amazing skill Just watch how things shift in the final episode of Season 3: a conversation at night in the jungle that, at first, we cant quite put into the chronology, until it starts wending its way through the climactic battle to follow. Brilliant writing and extraordinary performances all around. I cannot recommend this thing too highly/
To that end, it's almost laughable — in a sad sort of way — to read some of the negative reviews for this. "Not enough sword fights!" "Too much gay sex!" (I'm trying to remember just one, but then perhaps that reviewer was watching SPARTACUS?) "Too much talking!" — as though simple communication is a bad thing. Get over it, folks. This is a show with action, adventure, *and* a whole bunch of moral ambiguity about things. Almost every character, from Captain Flint to Eleanor to John Silver to the lowest crew member has some kind of wonderful personality flaw, which is one of the things that makes this show so *genuine*. The writers have taken characters from literature and made them fully developed people: not an easy task when you consider how much baggage people would bring to a series that's a prequel to Treasure Island... and they do it with amazing skill Just watch how things shift in the final episode of Season 3: a conversation at night in the jungle that, at first, we cant quite put into the chronology, until it starts wending its way through the climactic battle to follow. Brilliant writing and extraordinary performances all around. I cannot recommend this thing too highly/