A new factor figures into how to spread the cure.
What They Say:
Uneasy Lies the Head – With Dr. Scott on the verge of a breakthrough, Chandler and his team head out to land in search of supplies and materials for her lab.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Spending a lot of its time focusing on the President and Chandler’s attempt to salvage what he can from him after far too much exposure to Sean and the others that believe they’re the new world order, The Last Ship hit some very good emotional notes the last time around that really humanized Chandler in a way I didn’t think the actor would be able to pull off considering the nature of the show. While the show did salvage things with Michener, there’s also this sense that the character may not be seen all that much now that things have been put in their places. The series is one that manages its cast in a way that minimizes folks once they’re not useful and that’s something that I’m hoping they avoid here because having the chain of command in full function could reshape the mission here in interesting ways.
While all the focus was on Michener before, the Nathan James also brought on board Niels, aka patient zero. That was mostly ignored last time and now it’s becoming a focus as Rachel knows she needs to talk to him to get clues about stabilizing the cure and moving it forward. But she’s really not interested in that, though Chandler makes it clear that while he’s not ordering her, he’s gone the distance in talking to to Niels even though he’s responsible for his own wife’s death. So you know she can’t get out of it at that point though you certainly understand her reticence considering Niels nature and just the way he presents himself. Slippery and snake-like is essentially what he is. Bringing him in to look at her research certainly makes you leery, especially since you can see him using it against her should he get free again.
This sets us into two paths for it as Rachel ends up using him a bit to confirm her own thoughts, which leads to Chandler setting a mission to head ashore to go after some mussels she needs to help protect the cure more for what they need to do with it. The other side of it is that we get more time with Rachel and Niels aboard the ship where he’s doing his best to be all Silence of the Lambs with her. He’s certainly not subtle and that just puts us on a somewhat predictable path. The greater fun is on shore as the mission ends up coming across a lot of teenagers and some kids who are immune that have set up shop with a lot of weapons in order to protect themselves. There’s going to be a lot of little enclaves like this for quite some time to come and each will have its uses. This one is going to bring them back to an expected area though once the team takes control of the situation.
The kids are certainly interesting and seeing Chandler getting to their story through their leader, a sophomore named Diaz, works really well. Chandler’s straightforward approach to dealing with people definitely pays off well here and his interactions with Diaz presents another good angle to look at Chandler with. Working with them to set up a trap for the bounty hunters that have been part of the whole range aligning people against the Nathan James, it’s solid military material in the precision and smoothness of the job as it unfolds that I definitely like to see. It does take an awkward turn as he calls in for the bounty hunters ahead of when Chandler wants them there, but only so that he can be involved and not benched by Chandler. That makes it a bit chaotic but there’re a lot of elements in play to go after them – and one of the kids named Cody sneaking away to get involved in the fight himself as well.
Which, of course, ends badly. It’s not something you can feel too terribly attached, but you can appreciate that Chandler goes the distance amid the fight to try and save him. That makes for some decent tension along the way and it provides a good window through which to watch the action overall, especially since the Nathan James gets a few good shots in themselves. It does give Diaz a chance to shine, but it’s one of those moments that you can’t really take the pride in because of the tragedy that happens. Diaz certainly is an interesting character here though as he comes across as some of the other recent additions to show but there’s the reality that Chandler knows that his protective nature of his people is what’s really important and getting him to be a leader in that position is what he really needs to do before growing into becoming a soldier.
Thankfully, the show does spend some time with Michener as a subplot throughout it as he has to cope with his position. That has him meeting the crew at different phases and that’s difficult because as naval men they all know their jobs and exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. Michener, on the other hand, is having a hard time deciding what to have for lunch. But he has some help with that in small and solid ways with the Chandler’s staff and that plays well in the right way. It’s not given a huge amount of time as it’s balancing out against some of what Rachel and Niels are doing, but it’s good to see him really coming into his own and taking charge and adapting to the role. But part of me still feels that it’s warranted to be really wary of him even as he provides for some good ideas. I can’t help but to think that he’s still aligned with Sean.
In Summary:
Rachel certainly takes things to a new level here in her quest to deal with the virus and what she needs to do with it and what she brings about is something that I’ve wanted from the get go of the series essentially since we first met him. The show overall does some fun stuff with the land mission and how that unfolds though it just adds a new mystery with how the rank and file of Sean’s side on land are communicating. The character interactions here are good and it has a smoothness that works though the results don’t feel like they quite live up to the challenge presented. I’m really enjoying the Michener subplot though since there’re a lot of uncertainties there about just how on the level he is with what he’s doing as he begins to take to the role of President.
Grade: B+
