CROSSBONES Season 1 Episode 2
Episode Title: “The Covenant”
Writer: Blake Masters
Director: Ciaran Donnelly
Previously on “Crossbones”
NBC’s “Crossbones” is back with its second episode, as the show settles in for its summer season. There are spoilers ahead in this recap, but you already knew that.
Tom Lowe’s Second Career
The writer (Blake Masters) seems to assume that people who haven’t seen the first episode of “Crossbones” may be watching the second one, which is why British secret agent/swashbuckling surgeon, Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle) basically recaps the pilot episode to Fletch (Chris Perfetti) aka Cabin Boy. The short version is that Lowe won’t kill Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (John Malkovich) until he knows why the Spanish are conspiring with Blackbeard’s pirates.
Lowe also demonstrates his artistic abilities by drawing the Spanish Viceroy and the submarine(!) he arrived in from memory. Lowe has also sketched Kate (Claire Foy) in his drawing pad and he was probably in the middle of coming up with some fan fic about her when the real Kate drops by and she offers to hook Lowe up with some much needed supplies in return for examining her crippled husband, James (Peter Stebbings) to help alleviate his constant pain.
Pirate Civics 101
Meanwhile, James has repaired the Chronometer, the steampunkish device that can chart longitude from anywhere on the ocean. But Blackbeard wants his friend and mentor, Captain Sam Valentine (Stuart Wilson) to sell the Chronometer back to the British to throw them off his trail and in return for two “hellburners.” Lowe overhears everything in this conversation by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragoning his way to the roof.
The only hitch in Blackbeard’s plan is that Valentine believes that the Chronometer will destroy piracy as they know it. Valentine not only refuses to go along with the plan, he actively undermines Blackbeard’s position among his band of pirates on Santa Campana. Valentine calls out Blackbeard for his power plays and Blackbeard is not at all pleased…
Cabin Boy Makes a Friend
A very old pirate named Eisengrim (Ezra Buzzington) confronts Lowe over the death of his male lover and he vows revenge. Lowe pleads his innocence and his ignorance, but we did see him murder the man in the pilot episode. As luck would have it, Cabin Boy comes across the man’s corpse while diving for sponges in the surf. Cabin Boy explains it to himself that Lowe will be hanged if the body is recovered, so he weighs it down with rocks.
Cabin Boy also gets an eyeful when the island’s prostitutes demonstrate what they needed the sponges for. And let’s just say that Cabin Boy isn’t sponge worthy.
Weekend at Blackbeard’s
While the pirate crews of Blackbeard and Valentine get drunk and enjoy themselves, one of the prostitutes convinces two of Valentine’s men to kill Blackbeard. Alone and unarmed, Blackbeard manages to hold the men off and he even fatally wounds them. Blackbeard yells at Lowe for being unable to save the man he just stabbed while also making his crew feel guilty for not coming to his aid sooner.
Valentine is quickly taken into custody by Blackbeard’s angry crew, while Selima (Yasmine Al Masri) insists that Lowe be tried and held as well. After eloquently surrendering to the pirates, Lowe takes a few punches from Eisengrim.
Let’s Make a Deal
Alone with Valentine at last, Lowe comes to an arrangement with him. In return for ensuring that Valentine is spared from a long and agonizing death, he tells Lowe that a hellburner is a crewless ship that is rigged to explode and devastate its target. Neither man knows why Blackbeard wants two of them.
Elsewhere, Kate tries to get Lowe released by claiming that they were sleeping together throughout the day, and thus Lowe couldn’t have been a part of the conspiracy to kill Blackbeard. Kate does this because Lowe’s medical assessment of her husband appears to have been accurate. James simply wants Kate to see him as a man, not as a burden.
Sorry, I Can’t Save You… Wink
Lowe and Valentine are placed in loose hangman nooses as the residents of the island prepare to execute them. Blackbeard half-heartedly tries to save Valentine before pointing out that he doesn’t have the power to override the verdict of his people. But Blackbeard’s wink to Valentine betrays his true intentions before Valentine is left to hang.
Kate repeats her alibi for Lowe and this buys him his life. Hours later, Valentine is still suffering in the noose, but Lowe honors their deal and he fatally shoots Valentine to put him out of his misery. Valentine’s former first mate assumes command of his crew and he agrees to follow Blackbeard’s plan and sell the Chronometer to the British.
Every Kiss Begins With Kate
In the end, Blackbeard gloats that he was the one who arranged for the prostitutes to get Valentine’s pirates to foolishly try to kill him so he could get Valentine out of the way without acting directly. Blackbeard even argues that he was never truly in harm’s way when Selima warns him not to take that risk again.
Back at Lowe’s hut, he finds Kate waiting for him before she expresses her gratitude for helping her husband. Then she makes out with Lowe. The end.
Ordinarily, a drama series would slowly build up to a romantic entanglement like the one between Lowe and Kate. In “Crossbones,” Lowe and Kate have had maybe ten scenes together in the first two episodes. What a strange courtship.
Now it’s your turn to weigh in on “Crossbones.” So let us know what you think in the comment section below!
