‘Our Flag Means Death’ Most In-Demand 4th Week in a Row, But No Renewal?

April 20, 2022 Angel Wilson
Our Flag Means Death Most In Demand HBO Max
Basically all of us staring at HBO Max waiting for a season 2 announcement

Parrot Analytics has released their list of the Most In-Demand shows for the week of April 9th-15th and Our Flag Means Death is still on top. But HBO hasn’t renewed the show yet, leaving a lot of fans wondering what the heck is going on.

Our Flag Means Death first topped the Most In-Demand list during the week of March 19th-25th. That was the week of the show’s first season finale. At the time, it unseated The Book of Boba Fett, which had been on top of the list for over 3 months. Our little pirate romcom beat Star Wars! It was most impressive. Now here we are in the fourth week, still topping the chart above some pretty huge names. We’ve not only beat Star Wars, but have kept Moon Knight, a highly anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe series, from taking away our top spot.

One has to wonder why a show that has beaten back two of the biggest entertainment juggernauts ever hasn’t been renewed yet. What is HBO Max waiting for? They surely must see all this, right? Well, we have a few theories.

Most In Demand Show Our Flag Means Death

 

Waiting for the HBO Merger to Finish

HBO Max is currently in the middle of a merger with Discovery. It’s very possible that the people who would make these decisions are either too busy dealing with the merger, or perhaps are unable to make a move while it’s in progress for whatever reason. Mergers are very big, complicating endeavors so this theory makes sense.  

To be clear, though, this is just speculation, as are the other theories in this article. It’s very possible the people who would renew the show have nothing to do with it. If you happen to work for HBO and know the key players, drop me a line maybe? I’m super curious about what it looks like behind the scenes.

One thing working against this theory is that other shows on HBO Max have been renewed. They made an announcement that Winning Time was renewed just a couple of weeks back, but it’s hard to say how the timeline of that renewal shook out. 

That announcement was so poorly timed that the vast majority of replies to it were about Our Flag Means Death. The overwhelming response was at once both hilarious, and kind of scary. I feel a bit bad for the poor HBO Max social media team. But also, hopefully, they’re passing on information about this response to those who make these decisions.

Remember to be polite when tweeting at HBO Max.

Late Rise in Demand Means Longer Contracting Process

Our Flag Means Death didn’t rise in demand until the finale aired. I have speculated that this is because fans didn’t want to push a show that was queerbaiting onto their queer friends. Once they realized that’s not what was happening, they let the world know and the queer audience showed up en masse. Its rise was very sudden and surprising.

Because of this late rise, it’s possible that it wasn’t going to be renewed at the time, but now it will be. Contracts take time to write up, especially if you’re working with someone as in demand as Taika Waititi. I have no doubt that Taika loves this project and would be happy to come back, but the dude is busy and any negotiations might take some time to work out.

The only thing working against this theory is that an interview published on April 14th seemed to imply Taika Waititi and David Jenkins weren’t sure why the show wasn’t renewed yet. But it’s been about a week. Perhaps things changed? Or maybe they have been sworn to secrecy. Who knows?

It’s Free Advertising

We are, quite frankly, doing their work for them. The longer they hold out, the more we kick up a fuss and work to get a second season. I’ve personally got at least a dozen friends into the show not just because it’s a great show (it is, obviously), but because I want it to have high ratings. Those friends have in turn fallen in love with Our Flag Means Death and have introduced even more people to it. The word of mouth for this property is incredibly strong.

If they are actually doing this, it’s a somewhat dangerous game. They have to keep us engaged, but not furious enough that we cancel our subscriptions or write off the network completely. Right now, we’re dangerously close to our desperation turning into anger, so they should probably stop stringing us along soon. I’ve been a long-time HBO Max Subscriber and have been watching this show on repeat for over a month, but I’m getting exhausted. 

Please give us the goods.

Demand Doesn’t Matter, The Show is Finished

I don’t like this theory, but I have to put it in here anyway. 

It’s possible some big exec at HBO just doesn’t like the show for whatever reason. Maybe there’s some homophobia involved. Or maybe the unique brand of humor rubs them the wrong way. Perhaps Taika Waititi pissed in their cheerios or Karl the Seagul relieved himself on their Porsche. I don’t know. But it’s possible that the reason it’s taking so long is because… it’s just not going to happen.  

If this is the case, nothing we do will matter. But hey, we might as well go down (metaphorically) swinging. Here are some great links to let them know what a huge mistake they are making:

Some Parting Memes to Brighten Your Day

This is kind of a downer, honestly. This show is obviously beloved and is experiencing a surreal amount of viral buzz. And yet, we don’t have anything else to go off of. Instead of leaving you with sad feelings, I’m going to bring you some memes as a parting gift.

Keep your chin up, guys. Write letters. Tweet about it. Pull your friends in. Let’s talk it out as a crew and get a season two. Cheers!

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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