While Black Sails season 5 won’t be setting sail anytime soon (seeing as Starz ended the show after season 4), here’s what it could have been about. Black Sails is an epic historical adventure series made by Starz and follows the bloody misadventures of a crew of pirates. The show also acts as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, providing an origin story for Long John Silver. The first season of Black Sails focused on a treasure hunt, with later seasons following the battle for control of New Providence between the pirates and the British Empire.
While the show could be dark and violent, Black Sails also had a great cast of characters such as Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and Charles Vane (Zach McGowan), and a real sense of adventure. Starz announced the show would come to an end with Black Sails season 4, and while there are currently no plans for further seasons, the final episode set up a couple of potential spinoff ideas. Let’s explore what Black Sails season 5 could have been about, and if the show could return in some form.
Months before Black Sails season 4 premiered, Starz announced that the ten-episode season would be the show’s last. However, the historical adventure series didn’t end because it had poor ratings or reviews — the producers just felt as if Black Sails‘ story had come to a natural end, and they believed season 4 would be a good place to conclude the show. If they took it any further, they would have to start adapting the events of Treasure Island. So, Starz didn’t cancel Black Sails, as it was simply time for it to end. Per TVLine, co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg said:
From the start, co-creators Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg planned for Black Sails to end close to the beginning of Treasure Island. The idea was that viewers could go right from the end of the show and immediately dive into the book, but with a new context. Some fans wondered if a potential Black Sails season 5 would follow Luke Arnold’s Long John Silver into an adaptation of Treasure Island but with the series’ distinctly adult tone. That theory never came to fruition, though.
Levine and Steinberg admitted to Deadline they considered an adaptation as a potential concept for Black Sails season 5. However, the co-creators also felt the show and the book were two distinct entities that should be kept separate. Steinberg explained:
There have been many adaptations of Treasure Island in the past. So, if Levine and Steinberg were to continue Black Sails after the series finale, they probably wouldn’t adapt Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale. Instead, the co-creators would focus on other characters for a possible Black Sails season 5. During the interview with Deadline, Steinberg revealed:
Black Sails season 4 gave all the main characters a satisfying ending but finished with a sense that some of them would have more adventures. The show introduced real-life pirate Mary Read at the end of the final episode, who jumps on a ship with Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny. On one hand, this sets up the fact that they will live on beyond the historical adventure show’s end. But it also feels like it is teasing a potential spinoff following Rackham, Bonny, and Read (like what Jonathan E. Steinberg touched on during his Deadline interview).
This is another direction the showrunners considered for Black Sails season 5, but for now, there are currently no plans to continue the show. The series provides something of a happy ending for Captain Flint, so the character is unlikely to return for any continuation. While fans would like to see the Black Sails take on Treasure Island, it doesn’t appear the showrunners were keen on that angle.
Sources: TVLine, Deadline