The Last Ship debuts: Helix meets Last Resort

Hey, I caught the premiere of The Last Ship on TNT last night, and it was pretty good, even if we have seen the pieces of the set-up before.

Helix on the SyFy Channel is the most recent disease apocalypse tale on television, and Last Resort on NBC a few years told the story of an American captain fighting the U.S. and a lot of the world on his rogue nuclear-armed submarine.

But The Last Ship is a little different.  The U.S. is not (yet) the ship's enemy, but rather seems all but wiped out by the plague.   Actually, the government is all but wiped out, but some number of Americans are still alive, including the CO's family, which makes for a compelling continuing story line.

The nature of the virus is of note as well.   It's a deadly virus, already doing damage, but apparently made even more deadly by some deliberate genetic engineering.   This gives the scientist on board an interesting hand to play.  As Dr. Rachel Scott explains to the CO Tom Chandler, she is more likely to find a cure, because she has the original, unengineered virus in her possession.

But the ship - a destroyer not a sub, which is also more interesting - is beset by at least two types of enemies.  One are the creators of the genetically engineered virus.  The other are the Russians - or a splinter group from what is left of Russia - assuming they are not the same as the evil genetic engineers.

So, while the premise is a bit trite, there are possibilities here for a good series, and I'll be watching.   Hey, if it's science fiction, I'm usually more than halfway there whatever the pilot.




another biological agent on the loose ... 

#SFWApro

Last Resort 1.5: Executive Gunplay

Last Resort continues to impress as the best new show on television - taking nothing away from Revolution - and episode 1.5 was the best since the pilot.

There were two powerful stories in this episode.  One featured Grace Shepard in charge of the sub on a dangerous mission.   Although the ending was predictable - of course Grace and the sub survive - the way to the ending had some good twists and results.  James survives, and Prosser finally comes to see that Grace has what it takes.

The second story was one of the best to come down the pike in an earlly episode of a new series in quite some time.   The Secretary of Defense (Curry, played by The Shield's Jay Karnes) comes to the island for negotiation, along with Admirable Shepard (Grace's father) and Presidential assistant Amanda Straugh.  Two surprises ensue -

Sam sure looks like he's accepting the President's amended, generous offer - to Chaplin's dismay.  But it turns out that's what Chaplin wanted all along.  Pretty good twist, but the next surprise is the stunner:  when Straugh suddenly withdraws the peace offer (when she's informed of Grace's mission), and orders the US ships in the area to take the Colorado (with Grace and crew) out, Admirable Shepard shoots her dead before she's completed her command, and wounds the Secretary of Defense in the process.

Not only a brilliant, classic, punch-in-the-plexus Shawn Ryan scene, but it gets precisely at what makes Last Resort so good:  gunplay involving the Secretary of Defense, Presidential assistants shot dead, nukes aimed and sometimes fired at Washington.   You just can't find that anyplace else, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Last Resort: Best New Show on Television

Best New Show on Television: Last Resort

So my pick for the best new show of the Fall television season is: Last Resort on ABC.  Should not be surprising, since Shawn Ryan is the force behind the show, and he was the man responsible for The Shield, one of the two-three best shows ever on television, and arguably the best, period.

But Last Resort, in its first two episodes, has been non-stop superb in half a dozen areas.  The set-up has a U.S. nuclear sub ordered to fire into Pakistan - fire missiles that would kill millions.  When Captain Chaplin - played by Andre Braugher - questions the order, especially because it's come by way of Antarctic Command, only to be used when Washington has been knocked out of commission, which it hasn't - the response from Washington is to attack the Chaplin's sub (the Colorado).  The sub takes refuge on a Pacific isle, which is a little less than paradise, and the battle/standoff with the United States ensues.

What makes the show so strong is the diversity of characters, ranging from sailors and officers who support the Captain to sailors and officers who don't, plus all kinds of interesting islanders, plus a team of Navy seals who were on the sub and cannot be sure whom to support.  There's a strong female role - newly minted Lieutenant Grace Shepard , daughter of a highly ranked Admiral - who is loyal to the the Captain and a good character.  Second in command is also loyal to the Captain, and as the story ensues, we find the government types in Washington trying to manipulate his wife to get XO Sam Kendal to turn against the Captain.  One of the best parts of show is the way Washington is portrayed as willing to do anything to get the job done - the job, in this case, being something apparently evil indeed.  Not since 24 have we seen such a smack-in-the-face portrayal of the government, and it will good to see exactly who are the bad guys and who are the good guys in Washington - including the President -  as the show progresses. 

No character is unflawed, which is what makes the show so compelling.  These are not cartoon, cliched people.  Rather, in Last Resort, the story provocatively hinges on which people will be able to overcome their flaws in time to step up and do the right thing - whatever, precisely, that might turn out to be.  At present, it's clear that being loyal not to the American government but what America stands for is the honorable way to proceed.

The plot is also kick-in-the-gut with twists.  In the second episode, for example, it appears that a U.S. Delta force is attacking our people on the island.  The force turns out to be Russian, who are on the verge of overtaking our people who were sent out to stop them, despite their bravery.  Chaplin is talking to a high-placed Russian, to get him to call off the attack.  But that won't happen in time and-- just in the nick of time one of the Navy seals appears, and takes out the Russians.

There's not a dull moment, barely a moment to breathe, in the first two episodes, and I'm looking forward to more.




"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction, The Silk Code delivers on its promises." -- Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review