It’s time to go on the offense.
What They Say:
Cry Havoc – The Nathan James is trapped between a sub and the civilian blockades set up by the Immunes; Chandler sends Dr. Scott and the cure off the ship under Slattery’s protection.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While I’ve struggled with some of the world building elements of The Last Ship and how it’s presented itself, there are times when the show wins me over a lot. The previous episode did that in a big way for two different reasons. One is that I continue to enjoy the professional aspect of the crew here and what they do, both in the precision of action but also the reactions in how they cope with the fallout. The oil rig platform mission definitely brought a lot of that out. The other thing that was big for me was a strong humanizing sequence for Chandler in how he dealt with the woman hiding out on the rig. He’s generally very serious and straightforward, but getting some time with him using some humor to deal with the situation felt like some real growth for him. It made him a lot more accessible.
With the losses that Chandler’s had in the previous episode and before that, it’s good to see that as we get down to the final two episodes of the season that he’s intending to go on offensive. That has them setting a few things in motion to evade detection for a bit longer and it works well with Val reconnecting to her network and Chandler setting it so that the President and others are going to be taken off the ship in order to protect them. Turning the Nathan James from a place of safety into an offensive weapon is pretty much what it’s designed for, but it wasn’t designed to be where the President resides for the most part. The tactical aspect of it plays out well as we see the choices presented to them to deal with Ramsay and it’s amusing to see that Val will be key to it. There’s a lot of trust going into what she’s doing, a lot of risk, but Chandler tends to play it safe most of the time with some very calculated longshots like her.
Separating the crew isn’t a bad idea to be sure, though there are risks in putting the President on land with only so many people to protect him and the others. It does let Slattery take command of things and carry the weight of it in a good way since there is a whole lot to protect. It’s not a babysitting mission in the classic sense because of it, not that he’d complain much either way. It’s rare that he’s on land to begin with, and with all of them in civilian clothes as well to blend in, so it’s a nice change of pace for that portion of the crew. Unfortunately, we get some stupid material here with Rachel as she compromises the safety of the mission by trying to help some sick civilians. While you agree with the idea behind it, it’s such a risk that it really makes you frustrated with her – even if it all turns out largely well. It does at least give Rachel a chance to try her cure by touch thing, which isn’t religious at all.
Pardon the sarcasm.
The cat and mouse game between Chandler and Ramsay does work well here as it progresses since they’re doing what they can to deal with the blockade and set a trap of their own. It requires using some good tactics, and trusting Val to do the right thing as well, but the visuals work with seeing the ship traveling through the river and the tension of wondering what’s around the bend. It also raises the tension well with the makeshift sonar device they’ve crafted with what has to be done to ensure it works long enough to succeed. The show really does a solid job of keeping a good range of characters involved throughout most of the episodes. And it works well because it lets everyone be invested in the moment, whether you’re on the bridge with Chandler or dealing with the engineering folks. And the engineering folks aren’t just faceless redshirts either.
The actual combat sequence provides for a lot of fun, even if it’s the kind of hard to believe coincidence of them ending up right on top of each other. That makes for some crazy action to try and change things so they can try and get a shot off at them and it pushes everyone across the ship to perform. It also puts Ramsay’s crew into a tight spot as they’re too shallow to do much and they’ve got to hustle to get into the trench. It’s presented with some very good visuals, character moments and tension overall to make it quite a thrill piece. Just the way they present Ramsay’s crew as they dive hard and fast while having torpedoes on them makes it a thrilling sequence, even if you know they’re only getting winged by it and not taken outright. With the Nathan James getting hit as well it makes for some good response material there as well to try and make sure the ship survives and that those trapped in that section are rescued as well.
The final sequence does a good job of combining events with the land side as Slattery and his small team break off to deal with an artillery battery that’s being primed to take out the ship – which is going into shallow water to draw out the sub since they’re running out of weapons. The firefight there is solid with a kind of quick brutality and some serious wounds for Slattery’s team, though they go the distance. And they claim a pretty snazzy weapon to be able to bolster the fight against Ramsay. It’s a good element of surprise that gets both Chandler and Ramsay surprised by it and it reveals more of how each crew operates. While Chandler’s crew maintains their professionalism, Ramsay has to pretty much force everyone to maintain order with small arms as the sub itself sinks to the bottom of the river. It’s a win but it also feels like there’s going to be more to it, even with how they present Ramsay’s ending.
In Summary:
The Last Ship is all about the action here and it works exceptionally well. While there are frustrating pieces to it, more so in the first season, a lot of this season has hit a lot of very good notes across it. Building on what happened the last time around, this one gives us the cat and mouse game taken to what looks to be its conclusion. It’s not without losses on both sides, real challenges and losses, and that gives it some additional weight. The Nathan James is going to have to start restocking its crew soon though. The naval side is what wins things this time as the team’s all around really come across well while the only weak point is Rachel and what she does, which is a given in order to push her cure storyline forward.
Grade: B+
