Behind the Scenes: Treasure Island Episode 3

John Finnegan
3 days ago
4 min read

Pirates run through a dark, rainy jungle with lanterns and swords. Text: Treasure Island, New Episodes Every Monday, OUTWRD Original.

In episode 3: Under a Black Flag, our team faced one of the toughest storytelling challenges yet: portraying Long John Silver’s mutiny in a way that respected the audience’s intelligence while still delivering tension, surprise, and emotional weight. The source material leaves much of the journey vague and compresses the drama into a straightforward betrayal. But we wanted more. We wanted complexity, ambiguity, and psychological depth.

Embracing the Villainy of Silver

The first major decision was embracing what most modern viewers already know: Silver is no hero. We didn’t want to play the naïve game of pretending otherwise. Instead, we acknowledged that the audience likely suspects or knows Silver’s true intentions, and shifted the focus to how he would go about his betrayal—not if he would betray.

To do this, we introduced a narrative framing device: a military inquiry set two years in the future. These flash-forward scenes allowed us to layer in a sense of consequence and reflection, posing deeper questions for the audience:

What really happened aboard the Hispaniola?
How did Jim fit into Silver’s plans?
At what point did things start to unravel?

By showing glimpses of the aftermath, we created new tensions. The suspense wasn't who the villain was—it was how deep the damage ran and what role our protagonist played in it.

Behind the Scenes: Reimagining the Journey

In Stevenson’s novel, the sea voyage is uneventful by Jim’s own account, save for overhearing Silver’s treachery. But we saw this as a missed opportunity. Instead of glossing over the trip, we transformed the journey itself into a crucible, both for the characters and the story.

We introduced a violent storm that batters the Hispaniola and tests the crew’s morale and allegiances. The chaos of the storm, and the need to survive, splintered the crew and gave Silver the leverage he needed to begin consolidating power. Following this, the ship was forced to dock at Port Royal, a hotbed of tension where the crew was met with hostility and abuse from the colonial army. This detour added weight and realism, while also planting seeds of resentment that Silver would later exploit.

The inquiry framing device became especially valuable here. It gave us the freedom to jump through time, covering a 15-week journey in a single episode, without it feeling rushed or like a storytelling cheat. Each flash-forward also served to highlight how choices made during the journey would echo years later, deepening the drama and layering in perspective.

The Toxic Bond Between Silver and Jim

One of the most crucial threads in this episode is the evolving (and unraveling) relationship between Silver and Jim. To avoid the simplistic “mentor turns villain” trope, we leaned into a more psychologically complex and toxic dynamic.

We drew inspiration from Whiplash, particularly the manipulative and abusive relationship between the music teacher and his student. Silver praises Jim, then undermines him. He lifts him up, then knocks him down. It’s an emotional yo-yo that keeps Jim (and the audience) uncertain of where loyalty lies.

In a key moment, Silver brings Jim to a brothel in Port Royal. There, Jim loses his virginity, an act loaded with symbolism. He’d long dreamed about intimacy with Eliza, fumbled awkwardly with a prostitute in Episode 2, and here, finally, he experiences something real… or at least, something orchestrated by Silver. This wasn’t just a coming-of-age scene, it was seduction, manipulation, and initiation. Silver gives Jim the world, then violently demands loyalty in return. It’s emotional bribery, and it complicates Jim’s sense of right and wrong in a way that will echo through the rest of the series.

Technical Challenges and Sound Design Ambition

One are that we haven't covered so far in this behind the scenes look at Treasure Island is the sound design. From a production standpoint, this was the most ambitious episode to date, as we traversed a wide range of settings and sonic textures:

The bustling harbour of Bristol, filled with dockworkers, creaking ships, and the cries of gulls.
The open sea, from peaceful waves to the violent cacophony of a storm.
Captain Flint, Silver’s parrot, constantly flapping and screeching across scenes.
The rigging, rope ladders, splintering wood, and roaring wind as the mast collapses.
Port Royal’s gritty atmosphere, from crowded brothels to the hostility of the colonial garrison.

Musically, we leaned heavily on theme and tone, especially during the mutiny set up. The score had to carry us emotionally from excitement to betrayal, from action to reflection. Every decision was made to reinforce the emotional undertow of the story and immerse the listener in a world that feels lived in and dangerous.

Final Thoughts

This episode wasn’t just about a mutiny, it was about manipulation, transformation, and the beginning of a moral unraveling. We respected the audience’s intelligence by showing them the destination early and then making the journey as unpredictable and psychologically intense as possible.

Silver may be a villain, but his power lies in how reasonable he seems. Jim’s fall into loyalty isn’t sudden - it’s slow, believable, and in some ways, tragic.

That’s the story we wanted to tell. And this episode was our first major step into darker, stormier waters.

We'll be back soon to unpack Jim's first steps on the treacherous island.

The OutWrd Team