I wonder if the problem with Saturday's episode was more the heteronormativity, as if someone, somewhere, thought that if you're going to have a mermaid story, all your sailors have to be male. Which, I hasten to add, is by no means an improvement.

(And really, given that they pulled off a request for same-sex marriage in 1969 last week, and that had historical precedent, I think they could have got away with a female pirate or six, and a bisexual mermaid, yes.)