Recently rewatched OFMD with a friend and I looove how Ed's introduction completely turns your expectations on their head.
Blackbeard is popular enough in the cultural zeitgeist that you kinda have a good working assumption of what you're gonna get, right? You expect a hyper-masculine, macho guy, super tough, stab-you-in-the-back, life-is-cheap kinda guy.
And Ed's introduction is so careful. He speaks in that soft, gravelly voice. We don't even get to see his full face. When we do get his full introduction, it's in that beautiful pan-up, with the slow footsteps and the dramatic lighting. It's seductive, almost, and it's mysterious and cool and so carefully-orchestrated. Especially on rewatches, it stands out how much of a performance it is.
And we know what to expect from this guy. The way he's teased throughout s1e3 makes it seem like they're setting him up to be the bad guy, right? It's an easy read on your first watch, and it's what my friend assumed.
And then in episode 4 we actually meet Ed. And, slowly, you start to realize this guy is brilliant, yeah, but he's also funny and goofy and he just wants someone to play with.
And then you start to get it. The whole Blackbeard thing is an act. He wants to introduce himself as Ed. He wants someone to be friends with. At the end of s1e4 when he tells Izzy he's going to kill Stede, you don't know yet that trying to force himself to kill Stede is going to trigger Ed so badly that he's going to have a panic attack, but you can already guess he's not going to to through with that plan.
It's such a clever character reveal, because it plays on your expectations - look, it says, here's Blackbeard! You know what to expect from Blackbeard! And then you get to meet Ed, and the story says the Blackbeard thing is an act, actually, and he fooled you, too.
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