Despite the excellent writing on display, little of the success of Our Flag Means Death, HBO Max’s revisionist take on 18th-century piracy, would be possible were it not for the hugely likable performance of Rhys Darby in the leading role. A celebrated comedian best known in America for HBO’s Emmy-nominated Flight of the Conchords, Darby is at once a bumbler, straight man, pratfaller, and wise fool — the guiding light by which the entire program maneuvers. Importantly, and perhaps surprisingly given the size of his role, the actor plays Captain Stede Bonnet with understated humility rather than panache, content to leave the showiest bits to his castmates and to retreat, when necessary, behind his serene and winning grin. Bonnet is not, as Our Flag Means Death makes indisputably clear, a pirate for the ages. He just might be, however, the comic hero of the year.

The series is as breezy as the open sea and as savory as mutton pie. A 10-episode lark split into half-hour segments, it practically demands to be watched in a single sitting.