Contains spoilers for Our Flag Means Death.

The Our Flag Means Death season 1 proves that TV has no more excuses for queerbaiting. Loosely based on the true story of Stede Bonnet — a man who left his privileged life to become a pirate — Our Flag Means Death evolves into a romantic comedy between Stede (Rhys Darby) and Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). Their slow-burn romance has been well-received by audiences, even if some initially did not believe that the LGBTQ+ relationship would happen.

Our Flag Means Death includes many common romance tropes such as caring for the other when they're sick or injured and meeting a jealous ex. Stede and Blackbeard share many small intimate moments with each other that eventually culminate in a kiss in episode 9. The show's lack of a traditional "coming out" for any of the characters was also refreshing — Stede admitting to his wife Mary (Claudia O'Doherty) near the end of Our Flag Means Death that he'd fallen for Edward Teach came the closest, but even then, the TV show put more weight behind the fact that he'd felt real love at all, and less so that it was for a man.

Related: Our Flag Means Death: The Real Pirates That Jim Is Based On

The easy way Our Flag Means Death portrays Stede and Blackbeard's relationship proves how outdated and harmful the queerbaiting excuses are from other TV shows. The slow development of their friendship-turned romance parallels many other on-screen romances, and viewers have been overjoyed with how well it's been handled. Despite how much progress has been made with queer representation, it's still far too common for same-sex relationships to remain buried in subtext or to be played off as a "bromance" rather than properly exploring LGBTQ+ relationships. Our Flag Means Death's creator David Jenkins remarked (via Collider) that "we're so habituated to be like bromance, bromance, bromance, and it's such a simple move to put them together." So many characters in past shows have developed deep relationships with each other — even including common romantic tropes to emphasize their bond — without following through, instead seemingly hoping that teasing a queer romance would be enough to entice certain viewers to watch the show without potentially alienating others.

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The humor throughout Our Flag Means Death also may have contributed to some viewers' difficulty believing that the budding romance between Stede and Teach would be taken seriously. For instance, in one scene, Blackbeard orders Stede to stab him, and the pained noises he makes lets anyone overhearing assume they're engaging in a very different type of activity. It's a funny moment, but similar scenes in other shows tend to undermine characters' close relationships with the implication that a romance between them is unthinkable. Buddy comedies often do this by paralleling romantic tropes for comedic effect, and Our Flag Means Death set itself apart by committing to what it started. Audiences are tired of being led on with promises that are never fulfilled, and the show's love story is all the more remarkable for so clearly and easily portraying their relationship.

Our Flag Means Death proves just how successful queer romances can be when they're given a chance. With the positive reactions to Our Flag Means Death it is clear that TV shows have no more excuses to resort to queerbaiting by refusing to commit either to establishing a relationship as platonic or allowing it to be more. Hopefully, Our Flag Means Death will help encourage more LGBTQ+ stories to be told on screen.

Next: Everything We Know About Our Flag Means Death Season 2