Stede Bonnet is the main character in the HBO series Our Flag Means Death (2022-), a pirate romantic comedy. The story engine of the plot revolves around his doings and his relationship to notorious pirate, Ed Teach/Blackbeard. Stede is also known as the Gentleman Pirate, due to his high society background, his kinder ways of treating his crew as well as attempting a more civil approach to piracy. Throughout the series, Stede is well-known for wearing bright, frilly, fanciful suits from his highborn days, as well as a head of dashing blond curls.
Stede, a gentle and monied nobleman, turns his back on his rich and privileged but boring life for the romance of the high seas, commissioning himself a ship and a pirate crew. These escapades and his series of miraculous escapes from death captured the attention of renowned pirate, Ed Teach — better known as Blackbeard.
Much of the storyline in OFMD focuses on the blossoming romance and trials and tribulations of the relationship between Stede and Ed — which, while homoerotic affairs were more accepted historically with pirates, were still not without their troubles. The series makes sure to not erase Stede’s attraction to women in the first season, often referring to him missing his wife and keeping reminders of her around the ship, like her painting. Near the end of the first season, Stede leaves Ed to return to her. His ultimate return to the high seas does not come as some explaining away of compulsive heteronormativity, but just rather that Ed is a better fit for Stede than his previous wife (who is more than happy to have him leave her while he goes off for a life of adventure). Much of the heart of the second season centers on Stede bringing Ed back from near death and their protracted reconciliation.
While male bisexuality is getting more and better representation in modern media, it is rarely done so with as much depth and humor as is seen here in Our Flag Means Death. Stede is a fully realized and sympathetic lead, full of hopes, dreams, fears, opinions as well and growth. Although in the second season, we see him making some more negative choices, he remains lovable and fascinating to follow as he learns the intricacies of the golden era of piracy.