I just came across this amazing TV series adapted from William Brinkley’s best-selling novel, The Last Ship. The season premiere actually aired back in 2014 and I was quite disappointed having only watched it in reruns, but it was rewarding nonetheless and it got enough fan support and audience share for the studio to make a second season.

The Plot

The Last Ship tells a compelling story about the crew of the US warship – Nathan James – and how it was deceptively sent on a double secret mission at the edge of the world in the Arctic to save the world from a deadly pandemic. The first mission (which was a decoy) was for them to test a supposedly new weapon, the second mission (which was not revealed until after 4 months of radio silence) was the real mission which was for the scientists onboard to find a cure for the virus infecting the whole world. Captain Tom Chandler (Eric Dane) was ordered to have 2 virologists, Dr. Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra) and Quincy (Sam Spruel) onboard which, coincidentally, were headed for the Arctic also. They were supposed to find the primordial strain of the virus and come back to the United States to develop a cure from it; however, the virus proved more lethal than they had expected and had killed off 60% – 80% of the global population, ending governments and reset the society altogether.

By the time they had the primordial strain after 4 painstaking months of searching for it, it was already too late and they were the last ship on Earth with non-infected survivors…and probably its only hope. Captain Chandler had to stand firm and made the hard choice to keep the crew in the ship despite oppositions from his Executive Officer, Mike Slattery (Adam Baldwin) as he pressed on Dr. Scott and her assistant Quincy to develop the vaccine in their make shift laboratory in the hilo bay. With the government now gone, no allies, no enemies and practically every one they meet is a walking biological weapon, the crew of the US Navy Guided Missile Destroyer, Nathan James had no choice but to depend on the wisdom of their Captain and on each other to survive.

They’ve had to scavenge food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to make it through 5 weeks at a time before going out in the “red zones” to look for these things again. They are literally on uncharted territory and every day the situation becomes more demanding than it was the previous days. To make matters worst a rogue Russian nuclear warship is also on their tail attempting to acquire Dr. Scott and her research, this time they wage wars for the cure, for survival and not the usual political games. But in the end Captain Chandler’s decision paid off and Dr. Scott was able to make a cure which they will now attempt to mass produce and cure every sick person on the planet.

Production

Famous director, Michael Bay executive produced this TV series and from the looks of it, even though there are less explosions, everything is the kind of story that you’ll want to watch. I wished that they made this into a movie though, but the story is too long to tell in only a 2-hour window in movie theaters, so going for a TV show was the right thing to do. According to rumors, the producers spends around $2.5 million per episode and I’m grateful for that otherwise we would have gotten less dramatic scenes, especially where special effects mattered the most. I hear Season 2 will be even bigger with a 2-hour pilot episode and I’m already very excited even though it’s 2 weeks before Warner Bros. Television will air it.

Cast

Performances by Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Charles Parnell and the other stars are on par with actors in box office films. It is truly one of the best TV series in 2014 and 2015 and I hope they’ll make more episodes for it, because I can’t get enough! Some of the supporting actors like Marissa Neitling, Travis Van Winkle, Christina Elmore, Jocko Sims and others made excellent performances that will really make you feel what it’s like to be a servicemen in the US Navy.

The Plot Thickens in Season 2
The last episode of Season 1 showed that Amy Granderson (Alfre Woodard) is now in charge of a small military/medical facility in Baltimore, but she is more of a dictator than a political leader that believes in the US Constitution or the people’s rights and freedoms. They were able to lure in the Nathan James and hijacked it while CO (commanding officer) Tom Chandler was on the ground looking for his family. It has become apprent that no one in the mainland USA believes  in what their country stood for, except for Captain Chandler and his crew. There are several different factions fighting amongst themselves for resources and control and this makes it even harder for Captain Chandler and the Nathan James to cure their people who have been sick for over 5 months now.

In the trailer of The Last Ship Season 2 it showed some kind of a white supremacists/neo Nazis faction operating in America and will probably get a deadly encounter with the Nathan James as well. Already there were 7 episodes that had finished shooting and I hope they’ll make 3 more to match Season 1, but whatever Season 2 has in store for us, I’m sure it will be worth the wait. There will be more new plot twists and subplots to make the story even more interesting!

Pros

More than the action and adventure, The Last Ship is about coming to terms with yourself after losing loved ones and coming together as a team to face unbelievable challenges, that without the brave and wise leadership of Captain Chandler, they would not have made it through to even 1 day. Ultimately the Captain and the crew of the Nathan James became as one family amidst the crisis and it’s quite inspiring for anyone who feels alone in this world.

Cons

It just seems too overrated that the Nathan James did not sustain any damage after encountering with formidable opponents like the Kirov class Russian Battle Cruiser in the battle of Guantanamo Bay or the preliminary attack in the Arctic. Even the crew of the ship should have had taken hits and injuries in their various missions but, as one critic has said, the character of Tom Chandler seems more like the cartoon-ish type of Captain Invincible and is somewhat unconvincing even for a TV show.

Conclusion

Well, there’s certainly a lot to like about the show and a few parts where you can excuse as less than entertaining, but overall it’s a good popcorn action flick for me. It may be best to watch it for yourself so you can decide whether it is as good as I say it is, or you’ll lean towards the cons side of the review. In any case I’m definitely watching Season 2 and enjoy it.