Xenon's Seventh Circle

I really enjoyed episode iii. Hurrah! There was far less of the "Look! We has nekkid wimminz!" approach, although they were still there flashing their bits on occasion. The language remains a bit of an obstacle though. Nobody swears quite like a sailor, I know - and that would have been even more the case back then, when they went to sea as young boys, and had nobody but each other as role models. But even so. If you swear that much on TV you're just going to look like an attention-seeking pillock, which is what this comes across as. Still, massive plot improvements this time, and far less wooden acting on display; although one of the pirates still thinks he's in an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which really isn't helping. I'm quite enjoying Jack Rackham though, which maybe shouldn't be a surprise, as the real one has always been a favourite of mine. For all the silliness elsewhere, their version has done nothing yet to discredit his name, which is good. Is it possible to discredit an infamous pirate? Never mind. Although I'm greatly amused by his polarising sunglasses.

Maybe, having grabbed everybody's attention in the first couple of episodes, they can now settle down and tell their story, with a little less of the ridiculously flashy behaviour? Please, show? You're making me feel like my dad, with all this grumbling about sex and swearing, and that's making me deeply uncomfortable.


Jack Rackham, complete with polarising sunglasses. With all the banging on about realism that accompanied the publicity material, I'm a bit baffled by his inclusion, but he can act, so I won't quibble. Much. And I like him. He's a gentleman, with limitations. He'd probably stab you in the back soon as look at you, but he'd do it terribly politely, and with a clean knife.


His boss, Captain Vane, who appears to be in a completely different show to the rest of the cast. It really is quite a patchwork production. I do wish they could sort that out.