FINAL CRUISE: The Last Season of The Last Ship

[Aragorn]

The show ended way too quickly for a series finale. Reminded me of Voyager. They get home and then it just ends (not that I really cared since I didn't like Voyager). But this was another case where the destination was not the journey. We needed to see these characters at home, post-war and post-Nathan James, even if it's just one scene with all of them at a party or a funeral.

 

[Scout101]

Yep, felt like it needed a 5 minute epilog that showed them post-series. Took to war, show the end credits that have them settling back into peacetime. Tom teaching, Sasha there as well with the family after, Danny and Kara making a go of the family thing, Miller up on new legs with the girlfriend (?), etc. Can certainly imagine all that in yourself, just felt like a sudden stop. Or maybe to wrap up the obvious Trek comparisons, could have had essentially the same scene with them chatting about their lives as a new crew takes over the newly christened Nathan James (no DDG-151A here, but call it the 173 or whatever and move out). Another two minutes would have wrapped the series better IMO.

 

[Scout101]

And now that I'm on that subject, I gotta get something off my chest that's been killing me all season. The crew of NJ in these situations kept talking about launching torpedoes and Harpoon missiles. Hey, guys? You know NJ is a FlightIIA Arleigh Burke, right? The version with the hangars? You know what that version doesn't have? TORPEDO TUBES AND HARPOON MISSILE LAUNCHERS, because those weapons were mounted topside on the original ships that didn't have hangars, and they had to lose them to put the hangars in the design!

To be fair, she's DDG-151. Obviously the timeline is screwed up, but we're only up to around DDG-115 in the water, and FLT IIA ends at 125 (with a screwy one-off mixed in after). Nathan James would be a late FLT III or IIIA, maybe they regretted the lack of torpedo tubes and added them back into the design in case they were the last surviving Navy vessel and had to fight subs and battleships for some reason?

Edit: looked it up, it was apparently DDG-80 in the book and they didn't want it confused with a real ship so they picked a number high enough that it would last a while. For funsies, the Roosevelt (DDG-80) is homeported in Mayport FL, where they based this season, so may have even been available. And it's a FLT IIA.

Also, this may hold up longer than Last Resort, which picked Colorado as their Ohio-class sub. Name was almost immediately in use for a Virginia Class sub, may have even announced the name before the series was finished. In their defense, they picked the right naming convention and grabbed a state that hadn't been used yet, just went bad immediately...

 

[Admiral2]

To be fair, she's DDG-151. Obviously the timeline is screwed up, but we're only up to around DDG-115 in the water, and FLT IIA ends at 125 (with a screwy one-off mixed in after). Nathan James would be a late FLT III or IIIA, maybe they regretted the lack of torpedo tubes and added them back into the design in case they were the last surviving Navy vessel and had to fight subs and battleships for some reason?

Edit: looked it up, it was apparently DDG-80 in the book and they didn't want it confused with a real ship so they picked a number high enough that it would last a while. For funsies, the Roosevelt (DDG-80) is homeported in Mayport FL, where they based this season, so may have even been available. And it's a FLT IIA.

Also, this may hold up longer than Last Resort, which picked Colorado as their Ohio-class sub. Name was almost immediately in use for a Virginia Class sub, may have even announced the name before the series was finished. In their defense, they picked the right naming convention and grabbed a state that hadn't been used yet, just went bad immediately...

I couldn't speak to The Last Resort. That show pissed me off from the first ten minutes of the first episode and I never watched it. Thanks for the rest of the info, though.

 

[J.T.B.]

Edit: looked it up, it was apparently DDG-80 in the book and they didn't want it confused with a real ship so they picked a number high enough that it would last a while.

Should have been DDGN-80. Or maybe he was positing that there were no more conventionally-powered destroyers.

 

[Aragorn]

Anyone feel like Slattery was just kind of there for the final season? Granted, most of the characters are just floating around in the background until they're needed to kick ass and shout orders, but he was one of the big three. Character development has never been a strong point for the show, but they doubled down on Chandler at the expense of others.

 

[Admiral2]

Anyone feel like Slattery was just kind of there for the final season? Granted, most of the characters are just floating around in the background until they're needed to kick ass and shout orders, but he was one of the big three. Character development has never been a strong point for the show, but they doubled down on Chandler at the expense of others.

Agreed, but let's face it, Chandler was "Kirk." No matter how contrived the storyline had to be to give him the spotlight in the end, there was no way he wasn't getting the spotlight.

 

[The Wormhole]

Anyone feel like Slattery was just kind of there for the final season?

That's funny, I was only just thinking something similar a few hours ago on my bus ride home from work.

But yeah, Slattery was surprisingly underutilized this year for being the second in the main cast. Hell, for the first half of the season he's wearing the wrong rank insignia. Yeah, I know, it's because circumstances forced him to get his old duty uniform out of a display case.

 

[Scout101]

Problem was just that everyone got a ton of promotions. He was the XO, so good. and then Captain while Chandler went native, so in charge, but by the end, one of a pile of Admirals, so without much of a role to play. Too spread out to be useful, but if he wanted a role, needed to stay on the other ship (which looked like it turned out to be more of an amphibious transport than an aircraft carrier, maybe Wasp class or something?)

 

[Noname Given]

My big complaint:

Spoiler

After pretty much setting it all up, and having a nice 'Heavenly' reunion - Chandler LIVED.

 

[Admiral2]

My big complaint:

Spoiler

After pretty much setting it all up, and having a nice 'Heavenly' reunion - Chandler LIVED.

Yeah...the fake out kinda sucks, doesn't it?

 

[Aragorn]

One of the things I didn't like about this show was how little payoff there was for anything. Master Chief hides his injuries to go on a mission, it doesn't slow the mission down, it doesn't cost anyone their lives, nothing comes of it. Danny is in shock about having to shoot a little kid, completely forgotten about after the commercial break.

 

[Scout101]

Not clear what they did with that ship or why no one missed it, either

 

[Aragorn]

If anyone is curious about the beach landing sequence, they filmed an amphibious assault exercise, and then came back months later to film the actor parts, including using off-duty marines as extras.

 

[Caretaker]

Yeah...the fake out kinda sucks, doesn't it?

But if they didn't fake out, you have a Lost ending. And that is even more unacceptable to me.

 

[Pingfah]

I really enjoyed this. I mean it was unashamed war-boner, flag waving USA USA USA bullshit, but it was awfully exciting.

Great final season, could have seemed tacked on, but it was such a strong production it worked on its own.

 

[The Wormhole]

But if they didn't fake out, you have a Lost ending. And that is even more unacceptable to me.

I don't get how it would be a Lost ending. The producers haven't spent years denying this show takes place in Purgatory only to reveal that yes it did.

 

[Aragorn]

I don't get how it would be a Lost ending. The producers haven't spent years denying this show takes place in Purgatory only to reveal that yes it did.

But it didn't. Only the last season did. They even had Jack's father spell it out in the final minutes.

 

[FreezeC77]

Didn't they abandon the Nathan James because they had no weapons and lost navigation? How did Chandler get it moving again and how did the Battleship just let it get close without ever firing again at it?

 

[The Wormhole]

Didn't they abandon the Nathan James because they had no weapons and lost navigation? How did Chandler get it moving again and how did the Battleship just let it get close without ever firing again at it?

They abandoned Nathan James because it was taking on water at a critical rate and would have sunk anyway. Theoretically, there's nothing preventing it from moving, it's just pointless since they would be chased by the battleship, and even if that wasn't a factor they'd still sink before reaching anywhere.

As for why the battleship didn't fire at Nathan James as it got closer and closer, meh. Not the first time in this show this show has conveniently ignored tactics, and it's only by virtue of this episode being the series finale that it's the last time.