#also this made me realize that chauncey/cj should be a thing

[mossiestpiglet]

I think it’s very interesting that Chauncey is narratively treated so much better than Nigel or any of the other people killed in the season. Chauncey is written as more intelligent, perceptive, and cunning from the start, and his motivation is also entirely in revenge for his brother which is a much more sympathetic motivation than any other wealthy or state actor gets during the show. We are never shown Chauncey bullying Stede as a child and he only calls him “ Baby Bonnet” once, right after Stede signs his confession, despite the fact that he would definitely have known Stede as a child too. Chauncey’s death is also less entertaining than all the others that came before it, it’s darker, it’s more unpleasant, we feel all the ways that Stede agrees with him and maybe we as the audience don’t fully agree but we are at a point where we recognize that someone needs to tell Stede that his actions have consequences.

He and Calico Jack are something of opposites, which makes their appearance at roughly the same part of the timeline quite interesting. In the beginning of the season all of the antagonists are firmly bullies and societally powerful (rich/agents of the state), with all the bigotry that comes with that. Both Chauncey and CJ appear after the characters who fit both of those traits have died/been killed, and they each have only one trait. Chauncey has power, Calico Jack is a bully, both are more intelligent, perceptive, and cunning than anyone killed in the story before them, and even though they are both killed they are still treated more like people than anyone else the narrative kills. I’m not sure if this hints towards the introduction of a new more complicated antagonist, or if it’s to set us up to be able to interpret some of the main cast as taking on antagonist roles, it’s exiting either way.