Weekly Wrap-Up
January 08 2023

The first full week of 2023 – let’s see what’s been going on in the OFMD fandom!

#1: The big news this week was the launch of OFMD on BBC2 and iPlayer in the UK on 1/4! (Welcome, new UK crew!)

In promoting the first aired episode, Samba also gave us a nice BTS video from ep9.

Kristian Nairn was kind enough to do a live-tweet of (his first watch of!) the first episode, and also hosted a live Instagram Q&A with Nathan Foad and surprise guest Con O’Neill afterward.

The live Q&A after ep1 can now be seen on Kristian’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CnAwAOmvLog/

Some highlights:

https://twitter.com/lohn__lightning/status/1610767615621832704?s=20

After the premiere came the reviews. PinkNews was just as excited as the fandom, The Guardian was mainly critical, but The Telegraph was positive, comparing the humor to the classic BBC show Blackadder. OFMDCrew were disappointed that, despite it being evident both reviewers had seen the whole series, neither the Guardian nor Telegraph touched on much LGBTQ+ discussion, or talked about the eventual romance between Blackbeard & Stede. Perhaps they didn’t want to spoil the show for those who were completely new to it and only watching one episode per week – we shall see.

#2: Damien Gerard (Mr. Teach) did a Q&A of his own on his Twitter on New Year’s Day.

#3: According to Production List, Taika Waititi’s new untitled Star Wars film began filming on 1/2. Assuming Taika needed to be on-set from day one, Taika’s schedule must be punishing, having just attended the UNICEF gala in the Caribbean on 1/29. We didn’t see him for New Year’s (as we did for Christmas – or Hanukkah, whichever he was celebrating), presumably he was having one of his famous Taika naps that weekend…

#4: OFMD continued to hit “top of 2022” lists:

#5: By 1/5, it began trickling through the fandom that the new COVID variant (XBB.1.5) had been nicknamed “Kraken” by scientists.

#6: On 1/5, the Daily Show announced that Leslie Jones was going to be the first guest host of the show (following Trevor Noah’s final appearance on 12/8).

#7: Samba Schutte finally took off from Aotearoa New Zealand with partner Aria on 1/7 to head back to Los Angeles. His choice of attire for the flight was notable… 👀

Samba looks up at the night sky. Text reads: "Aotearoa~ Ngā mihi, tahi aroha❤️ Today also marks 12 years since moving to LA✨ What a dream it’s been. Standing under the cluster of Matariki (Pleiades) one more time under the NZ sky, I only have the greatest love, appreciation and gratitude for this journey🙏🏾✨ Also Merry Christmas to my habesha friends and fam🎄"
The view from an airport window. Airplanes on the tarmac. The planes have Air New Zealand logos on their tails. Text reads: “Ngā mihi Aotearoa ✨”
Samba’s partner Ari leans their head on Samba. The two of them look like they’re sitting on an airplane. The lights are dimmed. Samba has a black hoodie or sweater on with the season 2 OFMD logo on the left breast (two skeleton mermaids swimming, and “OFMD SII” below the mermaids). Text overlay on picture reads: "Tahi aroha, one love"

Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnIN9LVS4fV/
https://www.instagram.com/stories/sambaschutte/3010718652296643675/ https://www.instagram.com/stories/sambaschutte/3010719077062243545/

#8: Rhys is back in Los Angeles. He has been doing “honey-dos” and taking his family out to see the “Stranger Things” exhibition.

Rhys and son Theo sit on the couch in a replica "Stranger Things" set (complete with alphabet and Christmas lights on the wall). Theo is excitedly pointing to something on a TV across the room.
Theo Darby makes a silly face in front of a life-size replica Demogorgon ("Stranger Things" monster).
Rhys and son Theo stand in front of the "Stranger Things" logo. Text reads: "We had a blast!"
Rhys stands, possibly mid-laugh, in front of a life-size replica Demogorgon ("Stranger Things" monster).

Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnIUytFycWd/
https://www.instagram.com/stories/rhysiedarby/3010703644598798693/
https://www.instagram.com/stories/rhysiedarby/3010704195979762923/

⚠️ Possible S2 stuff in the accordion! Expand at your own risk. ⚠️

Suspicious things continue to happen on not-David-Jenkins’ Tumblr account. Those that think this is really David Jenkins seem to be in a slight minority at the moment. But yours truly will continue to keep an eye on this blog, it’s intriguing…

https://www.tumblr.com/javiddenkins/705315103937118208/can-we-please-have-a-bts-stede-and-ed-pic
The first post is a picture from Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove), which has been confirmed as a S2 filming location. However, the “depression robe” has been photoshopped into the bottom left corner. The intriguing piece is that no one can seem to find this exact photo using Google Images or TinEye.
https://www.tumblr.com/javiddenkins/705573650132271104
A picture of four oranges on the ground, one in in the background. They sit on top of a strawberry plant which is just blooming. “Qttp” says the text – using the Caesar Cypher, that reads “look,” but no one can see anything of note in the photo.
https://www.tumblr.com/javiddenkins/705730048681967616/tell-us-something-that-definitely-wont-happen-in
Poem “The Mermaid” by William Butler Yeats. The link to Yeats leads to a historical post about the “Dutch Shipworm Epidemic of the 1730s,” which could either be an allusion to Lucius hiding in the walls of the ship.

And that’s it! Join us next week for more news on OFMD fandom happenings.
-OFMDCrew

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