Favorite Characters: Oluwande Boodhari (Our Flag Means Death)

*Oluwande-related spoilers.*

Honestly, is it even possible to dislike Oluwande? If there’s a heart of the Revenge, it’s probably him, and while he unfortunately has less to do in in the second season than the first, his presence still adds enormously to the ship.

Oluwande comes aboard the Revenge alongside Jim, when they’re hiding from Spanish Jackie after killing her favorite husband. At first, we mainly see him running interference for Jim a lot: interpreting their gestures for the crew (since they’re pretending to be mute,) helping maintain their disguise, and generally keeping them from getting caught out (well, as much as possible—Jim can be stubborn, and there’s only so much Olu can do.) We know about Olu’s feelings for Jim long before he does, but it’s clear from the get-go that he’d do just about anything for them.

But while Jim is more important to Oluwande than anyone else on the ship, he’s still well-integrated into the crew. Especially in the early episodes, we see him standing up for Stede, discouraging the crew from mutinying. He also tries to gentle intimate to Stede that he might not be cut out for piracy but offers a patient if slightly long-suffering listening ear after Stede’s actions result in the death of Nigel Badminton.

In short, he’s a good guy. He looks out for people and is generally kind to them—certainly for a pirate. It’s why, when Izzy brief takes over the ship, the crew vote to make Oluwande the captain after their planned mutiny. Olu tries to bow out, but his humility only cliches it for them. As Buttons puts it, “The only good captains are the ones that hate being captain.”

In season 2, separated from Jim, Oluwande’s gentle friendliness puts him on Zheng Yi Sao’s radar. The legendary pirate queen is posing as a soup merchant on the Republic of Pirates, and while I imagine a lot of her patrons are surly and demanding, she quickly comes to think of Olu as “the break in [her] day.” He absolutely deserves to be liked and crushed on, so I enjoy this new development for him, and he’s also able to use Zheng’s regard for him to plead for leniency for Ed’s crew when they reunite with the Revenge.

As I said, Oluwande isn’t as prominent in season 2, which is a bummer. But his inner light still comes through. When Stede’s crew tries to bring Ed’s back into the fold, Olu is a voice of reason and reassurance among a lot of anxiety and paranoia, helping Jim and the others finally feel safe on the ship again. And I love how he helps Auntie in the season finale, first realizing that she needs medical attention, and then in getting her to understand that her gruff attitude isn’t what Zheng Yi Sao needs. “Soft, Auntie,” he quietly coaches when Zheng finds them, leading to a really beautiful moment between the pirate queen and her first mate.

If (when!) we get a third season, I hope we see a lot more of Oluwande. I want to get more exploration of, and clarity for, his relationships with Jim, Zheng, and/or Archie, I want to see him more prominent in the crew, and just overall, I want to see more of him doing what he does best.

Relationship Spotlight: Oluwande Boodhari & Jim Jimenez (Our Flag Means Death)

*Oluwande/Jim-related spoilers.*

In talking about this show, I haven’t written much that isn’t related to Stede and/or Blackbeard. Not that the rest of the show isn’t great, because it is—the crew of the Revenge is filled with great characters, you could write volumes about the psychology of Izzy Hands, and the guest stars add a lot to the episodes. But Stede and Blackbeard are both just so overwhelmingly great that it can be tough to get around to talking about anything else. But again, the rest of the show has all kinds of good stuff, and it’s worth the effort. So today, Oluwande and Jim.

By the time we meet the crew in the pilot, Jim is pretending to be a man. They wear a fake nose and beard as a disguise, and they pretend to be mute so no one will suspect anything by the pitch of their voice. The only one who knows their secret is Oluwande. It’s not clear exactly when or how these two met, but Oluwande is a devoted friend to Jim. He knows they’re lying low because Spanish Jackie has a vendetta against them, so once this pair joins the Revenge with Jim in disguise, Oluwande runs interference. They share a cabin so Jim has somewhere they can relax and be themselves, if only a tiny bit, and Oluwande offers to stand guard when Jim wants to bathe.

It takes a handful of episodes before the rest of the crew learns the truth about Jim, but while the others accept them with only minimal confusion/fretting about “women” on ships bringing bad luck, their bond with Oluwande remains special. For much of the season, these two circle around each other—the pull toward romance is there, but their friendship is also important enough to them that neither is eager to put it at risk.

Things come to a head when the crew goes to St. Augustine, where Jim is from. There, they’re confronted by their past, including the nun who raised them after their father was murdered. Oluwande still wants to be supportive, going with Jim to see Nana and being there for them in a hard time. As Jim returns to the orange tree planted by their late father, Oluwande offers to be their new family. But the episode ends with Jim going where Oluwande can’t follow, leaving the Revenge to resume their own quest for vengeance.

If Oluwande was starting to confront the realization that he had feelings for Jim before, all that bubbles over after they leave. He wallows in his sorrow, constantly drinking and missing his friend/loved one. He wishes he hadn’t pushed them so much about their past, and he licks his wounds after having put himself out there.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take Jim too long to realize that revenge isn’t what they truly need, and they make their way back to both the ship and Oluwande. Things go pretty badly soon after that, but even though circumstances conspire against them, their relationship remains strong. This will give them fewer hurdles to reuniting than Stede and Blackbeard, but the going is still going to be tricky. Season 2 when???