The Last Ship Review: 2×01 “Unreal City”

With the sobering truth of Baltimore exposed, the crew of the Nathan James may be all that stands in the way of barbaric elitism in this opening for The Last Ship.

The Last Ship — In the first half of the two-hour premiere, everyone is in dire straits as the dark truth about Amy Granderson (Alfre Woodard) and her elitist agenda is revealed. The opening is brutal and swift as Granderson’s troopers callously and violently round up the crew at gunpoint and search frantically for the primordial strain needed to make their own cure. Leaving his family hidden in the city with the wounded CMC Jeter (Charles Parnell), Captain Chandler (Eric Dane) leads LT Green (Travis Van Winkle) and LT Burk (Jocko Sims) in an efficient, swift takedown of the Olympia power plant burning bodies to fuel Baltimore’s electricity. In the process, they connect with underground resistance leader, Thorwald (Titus Welliver). Deciding an alliance is beneficial, Thorwald and Chandler agree to bring down Amy Granderson together to save the cure and everyone in Granderson’s custody.

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Aboard the Nathan James, Quincy (Sam Spruell) continues to bleed out as XO Slattery (Adam Baldwin), LT Foster (Marissa Neitling) and Doc Rios (Maximiliano Hernández) work feverishly to save him. Rios has also quietly hidden the primordial virus samples from the troopers desperate to find it. The crew, held hostage in their own ship, rely on cunning to work toward freedom. Cruz (Ness Bautista), Miller (Kevin Michael Martin) and O’Connor (Paul James) escape and begin efforts to free the rest. Meanwhile, Dr. Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra) and LT Alisha Granderson (Christina Elmore), both in Amy Granderson’s custody, begin to understand the intimate heartache of the apocalypse through they eyes of both the best and worst of humanity in crisis. The quiet horror of an elitist agenda begins to emerge and painful sacrifices to stop it mean not everyone will live to see better days in this season of The Last Ship!

The harsh reality of a global pandemic is brutal, but the capacity for darkness within mankind may be the most frightening truth of all.

Like the trapdoor spider, Amy Granderson invited the Nathan James in close with deception and stealth before she sprung her trap and her darker agenda became vivid reality. That’s the mark of a seasoned veteran, skilled in manipulation and subterfuge, and Alfre Woodard played the part exceptionally well with all its small subtleties and rationalizations. She was given great dialogue and in her efforts to justify her callous disregard of the masses in favor of those she and her elite few deemed worthy of saving, Woodward was compelling.

“I need your help to put a stop to all of this.” ~ Amy

“The only way any of this going to end, is for you to give up. As a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, I am qualified to accept your surrender.” ~ Alisha

“My surrender? No. You stay with me little girl. You watch who surrenders to whom.” ~ Amy

It’s always interesting to see how each new creative outlet treats an apocalyptic scenario. Many contain the same themes and cover the same ground. Man can become wickedly dark and self-serving when everything in society breaks down and all accountability goes by the wayside. While The Last Ship isn’t truly covering any new ground (yet) in how the dichotomy of the haves and have-nots is portrayed, they’ve certainly taken a winding detour through the heart of darkness via the metaphor of the strong becoming stronger at the expense of the weak. Literally killing the masses and burning their bodies to provide power is a harsh a decision by the writing team. Was there no other resource than bodies? Did the virus not kill off people fast enough to keep the lights on? Either way, it would seem that we aren’t meant to question the evil that Granderson and her men represent. They are vicious and cruel in their treatment once the truth is out and no amount of rationalization can fix that fact.

Despite the simplicity of the good and bad, when dropped into the setting of The Last Ship, it’s well executed. Yes, Granderson’s goons have little to no redeemable qualities, but the production value is high and the intensity is palpable. In short, the bad characters outside of Granderson may be unforgivably evil in their actions, but that simply means we’ll have a very clear conscience when the shooting starts and they don’t survive. And that’s part of what makes The Last Ship is so damned entertaining to watch.

Good men and women see what must be done. Men and women of valor do it.

Chandler and his men seem to be just the shot in the arm that an underground resistance needed at a time they needed it most. As a man of honor, Chandler is not one to sit idly by and watch while such an injustice takes place right under his nose. We couldn’t help but think that as he and his men cleared the body burning factory and watched the final bodies slip into the fire that somewhere in his mind Chandler wondered if that was the fate of his wife. And that thought would certainly drive a man to do the right thing if he already was predisposed to do so.

It would seem that many in Granderson’s camp have turned a blind eye, but that’s not something the crew of the Nathan James can stomach. Now that they are in the fray, they all seemed to take on a responsibility to “fix” whatever evils the new and not-so-improved Baltimore has been built upon. Even Tex (John Pyper-Ferguson) and Dr. Scott can’t turn away. The nobility of their Captain has bled through to that part of them that’s always been good and needs to set things right.

As both see the worst of mankind expose itself, they both take heart in the best. Was there a more emotional moment for fans of this show than a mother ensuring her child will live? That sobering thought brought the harsh reality of the new world home in a very personal and intimate way and Rhona Mitra, who at times has been stoic and icy, simply melted into the human being she keeps hidden from most. How could she not?

“I’m so sorry. I only have one more.” ~ Dr. Scott

“My baby will live?” ~ Mother

Where most have turned a blind eye or are completely in the dark about the reality of Baltimore’s power struggle, the select few that have resisted are about to get help in a big way. It’s one thing to see the worst going on around you and another to act to stop it. That’s exactly what Chandler and his men immediately committed to and in so doing, their swift retribution was enjoyable to watch. When the action slows we’ll be curious to see if the moment is reflected upon and the characters grow from the experience. In the mean time, we’ll enjoy watching the characters we’ve come to love do the right thing where many would not.

The Tower and The Dungeon.

If there was a standout scene-stealer from the first hour, it was Titus Welliver. Always one of our favorites, Welliver’s charm and sarcastic humor were a welcome addition to The Last Ship. Welliver’s charismatic presence stole nearly every moment he had on screen. Thorwald is a layered character and Welliver made it work extremely well and brought believability to Thorwald’s convictions.

As the leader of Reject City and savior of those that Granderson wouldn’t have, Thorwald represented well the honorable dungeon in the dark below the bright and corrupt tower looking down upon them. The contrast between the two societies was extremely well done and plays right into the basest human nature. Those who can take and control without compassion will almost always lord over those who cannot fend for themselves.

“Welcome to Reject City.” ~ Thorwald

“People live here?” ~ Chandler

“487 at last count. Most of them tried to get in to Avocet at some point, but were deemed not valuable.” ~ Thorwald

But the Nathan James and its crew, well represented by heroic acts on nearly every front from the lowest ranking enlisted man all the way up to the Captain, stood poised to tip the scales in favor of the oppressed and give the dungeon its day in the sun. It’s a classic story construct used in countless tales of the rich and the poor or the strong and the weak, but knowing it’s been done before didn’t make watching it this time any less intense or enjoyable. The Last Ship has a flair that comes out when wrongs need to be righted. We’d say to just ask El Toro (José Zúñiga) how that works, but then he’s not exactly breathing these days to talk it over.

FINAL VERDICT: The Last Ship opens with the sharp bite of reality in a world that’s fallen into the abyss of self-preservation. We sure as hell breathed a sigh of relief that the season didn’t end with just one hour!

Writers and Executive Producers Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane made some scenes with tough choices simply work. Quincy’s sacrifice seemed at first to be a cop-out, but upon reflection he’d put everyone at risk but himself all along and his selflessness in the face of the ultimate selfishness was a stark contrast that highlighted every characters’ stance. They’d die before letting Granderson and her muscle gain control of the cure and use it to further their elitist agenda.

At some point soon, Captain versus Father is going to come to a head for Chandler, but despite daughter Ashley’s (Grace Kaufman) odd ultimatum regarding her brother’s life there are bigger fish for her father to fry at the moment. If there was any weakness of the episode as a whole it was the storyline of the children and the 100% evilness of the villains. The latter was only mildly off where the children in danger seemed contrived to fill their screen time with something as intense as the rest of the episode.

For it’s small weaknesses, the opening hour of the second season was a fantastic episode with good action and thrills to keep us locked in as the plot progressed toward resolution. Director Jack Bender, who also Directed the second half, did a stellar job of coalescing all the elements of the first hour into a build up ready to explode in the second. The good guys and bad guys were clearly defined and the performances of Titus Welliver and Alfre Woodard in particular stood out.

The writing team has set up an ambitious scope with the entire world in disarray. We have yet to see the rest, but if Baltimore is any indication things will no doubt get worse before they get better. In the mean time, we’re still thanking our stars that the season opener didn’t end on the cliffhanger of LT Foster and her baby in danger. We wiped our brow and kept plowing on into the second episode with a deep sigh of relief that we weren’t left hanging by the last horrified look on her face! Fortunately this was a two-hour premiere and we were launched right into the second hour!

CONTINUED | The Last Ship Season 2 Premiere, Part 2×02 “Fight The Ship” Review

Questions, Comments, Concerns and My Reaction on Twitter…

• Ooo. Crafty Doc Rios. Quick thinking.
• I love the new opening. #Creepy
• Wearing “red suits” I’m surprised those two made it. lol
• That opening was brutal. I’m ready to shoot me some troopers. Now.
• The look. Good shit Doc. You know it XO.
• What the hell country are we in? Damn good question LT. Not the one you LEFT.
• Queen Bee or Queen B?
• Barbarians at the gate? But which side of that gate are they on?
• I think it’s small. There LIES your problem lady. #NoHeartItSeems
• Great metaphor. I think the heat IS about go start up any time now.
• Tear this ship apart! Find those primordial strains! ~ DarthGranderson
• I love how Tex is always making friends with people who point guns at him at first.
• Okay, that look from the teacher was just outright creepy. #NotCool
• All that smoke out of the stacks just sinks my heart. Geez.
• Possession collection bins and body assembly lines are NEVER a good thing.
• This town man. Crazy, crazy. Understatement of the year.
• And how does it feel when the bodies shoot back boys?
• I love this precision assault. Wicked shit. Bad guys beware.
• What did she say? Can you fix it? Um .. yeah, we can do that. 😉
• *Turns AC back on* Whew! Just in time to save the engine!
• My baby will live? The brutal and harsh reality of the apocalypse.
• What’s your qualification? Security. Just not yours dammit.
• The enemy of my enemy can be my friend. I sure as hell hope so.
• You got a better idea? What do you think we’re all doing down here. This isn’t bingo night?
• Dammit. Quincy’s family is always being used as a pawn.
• Goddamn coward! At some point Slattery is going unleash his inner badass and people here are gonna pay.
• For all the things he did wrong, Quincy finally did one thing right.
• Am I gonna get flamed for saying I kinda felt bad for Quincy? He needed redemption and got it.
• I am trying to DO as little harm as possible. Really lady?? Try harder.
• I am qualified to to accept your surrender. That was a silent bitch slap if I ever saw one.
• Did they just put Br’er Rabbit in the brier patch?
• Well, someone was going down at least. Nice one Tex.
• I’m giving him 20 more minutes. What? I know you’re traumatized, but get it together girl. Dad is working!
• Hurt Kara or that baby and someone who loves her is going to destroy your ass evil-doc.
• Difficult woman. That’s why you love her Tex.
• Everyone okay after that moment? No? Me either!!
• OMG .. I’m so glad there’s a second hour after THAT horrified look!!