'Black Sails' Won't Return, But Pirates Are Still Around

As Season 4 of Black Sails careens towards its conclusion, it seems like the show is focusing with a laser intensity on its finale. And as fans have known since summer 2016, Black Sails won't return for Season 5 — this season finale will be its last. And that's been evident since the beginning of the season, which has been wrapping up the show's major storylines and even killing off major characters. The show has always been set before the events of Treasure Island, but now, it's getting ever closer to the events of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel. The treasure is in place, character after character from the book has appeared, and as the references keep flying by more and more frequently, the show has been handily balancing the Stevenson inspirations with Black Sails' original characters.

Who will win and who will be destroyed among the characters like Captain Flint, Silver, Rackham, Rogers, and Madi? It remains to be seen until the Season 4 finale on Apr. 2. And while the wave of pirate film and TV has probably peaked by now, with the ending to Black Sails there's still plenty of options if you just want to see some swashbucklers on some kind of screen. If you're missing Black Sails, maybe you can check out some of these options.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

I understand if you're unsure about supporting Johnny Depp after his messy divorce, but the Pirates series has always been the best place to find big budget treatment of pirate storylines. And the theme park ride it's based on is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The Curse Of Oak Island

If you love treasure, this reality series should be the perfect solution for you. Two brothers, who have ownership of a mysterious Canadian island, attempt to piece together the truth to the urban legends about secret treasures that could be buried on their land.

Sea Of Thieves

This upcoming online action and adventure game for XBOX has been on its way for a while now. But it's going to be the perfect game for pirate fans, because it should have enough customization in order to let fans live out their own personalized pirate fantasy.

The Ship Beyond Time

This YA novel, Heidi Heilig's sequel to The Girl From Everywhere, which combines a pirate story with a fantasy setting, could make for the perfect new obsession for Black Sails fans. Don't balk at the YA designation, because it's one of the best literary genres going right now.

Blackbeard Festival

In order to represent all different ways to interact with pirates this year, I have a movie, a TV show, a book, a video game, and now... a Virginia pirate festival in early June 2017.

Treasure Island?

And there's been a rumor going around that Starz might make a Treasure Island Black Sails spinoff. Producer Dan Shotz even said, "Making Treasure Island, I think, is an interesting idea that we have definitely talked about [...] the hardest part of ending a series is you become a family. [...] So yeah, maybe some version of 'I miss you guys too much. Let’s figure out how to do this. Let’s get the band back together!'" according to Den of Geek. So there's always a chance that the perfect Black Sails replacement will come from the same exact team and the same exact network.