I would just add to this that a lot of people find the first season a bit of a slog to get through. I know I certainly did -- took me 3-4 attempts at watching to get through it. It's very slow moving and make take a lot of patience to get through it (unless you're a HUGE fan of intensive character development at the expense of actual stuff happening). But stick with it because the rest of the series is great.
Re: Black Sails