The Last Ship - Discussion Thread (spoilers possible)

[Scout101]

So, anyone catch The Last Ship, new show on TNT last night before Falling Skies?

Without spoiling too much, premise is that a US Navy Destoyer is up around the North Pole for ~4 months for testing/drills, and turns out that it's really a cover for a CDC mission. A plague has gotten out of hand, and when the ship breaks cover to head south again, >80% of the world is infected or dead.

Should be an interesting short-run season (10 episodes planned, I believe), anyone else tuning in?

http://www.tntdrama.com/shows/the-l...ip.html?&_suid=140354966342906168894548863386

 

[sojourner]

Well, to damn it with faint praise, I liked it better than Falling Skies' premiere.

And to quote another show, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!".

 

[Dark Gilligan]

I chose to watch "The Musketeers" instead (same time slot) and am very happy with my decision.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

It premiered to big numbers for TNT. It drew 5.3 million viewers for its initial airing and 7.4 million viewers for its total live plus same day audience. That's the best launch for a new series on cable so far this year. Renewal for a second season is assured. I wouldn't say that if this were a broadcast network show, where a big premiere rating for a new show is quite often followed by a steep drop-off and cancellation, but cable is another story.

 

[Blamo]

I was initially interested in this, then I saw Bay's name attached to it.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Bay's too busy doing movies to have much day to day involvement with the show. Bay or Spielberg don't have much to do with the shows they produce. They don't have the time. They use their names to help get these projects produced and sold to the cable or network channels. They may give ideas to the producers but not much beyond that.

 

[Gaith]

So the mole guy is... who, again? One of the guys from the snowmobiles? And man, were those Russkies terrible shots! And why is the Master Chief wearing a turtleneck under his NWUs off the coast of Florida?!

Anyhow, for what it was - substance-free popcorn TV - I like it so far.

ETA: Okay, so the mole is the other scientist.

Also: a black guy dies first, because of course.

 

[Admiral2]

So, anyone catch The Last Ship, new show on TNT last night before Falling Skies?

Without spoiling too much, premise is that a US Navy Destoyer is up around the North Pole for ~4 months for testing/drills, and turns out that it's really a cover for a CDC mission. A plague has gotten out of hand, and when the ship breaks cover to head south again, >80% of the world is infected or dead.

Should be an interesting short-run season (10 episodes planned, I believe), anyone else tuning in?

http://www.tntdrama.com/shows/the-l...ip.html?&_suid=140354966342906168894548863386

Yes, I watched Space Battleship Arleigh Burke last night, and I intend to keep watching it. I was worried I wouldn't like it at first, but unlike too many people around these parts i associate Michael Bay's name with things I like, and this ended up being one more in a long line. That's actually not a surprise. Bay's good at staging military action and drama, whether he's hands on or not.

 

[DarKush]

So the mole guy is... who, again? One of the guys from the snowmobiles? And man, were those Russkies terrible shots! And why is the Master Chief wearing a turtleneck under his NWUs off the coast of Florida?!

Anyhow, for what it was - substance-free popcorn TV - I like it so far.

ETA: Okay, so the mole is the other scientist.

Also: a black guy dies first, because of course.

I just watched this. Yeah, shaking my head at the black guy dying first. I don't know how much involvement Michael Bay actually has with the show, but I'm blaming him anyway .

Overall I thought it was decent. I'm not too sure about Eric Dane as the captain. He has the look and the hair, but there's something not quite there about his presence. I do think he wasn't bad in the high tension scenes and his confrontation, for lack of a better word, with Adam Baldwin wasn't too bad.

The story itself was decent. I can't say any characters really stood out. I mean, I like Rhona Mitra, but I liked her going into this, and I can't say I'm endeared by her Dr. Scott. The rest of the characters were pretty thinly sketched out so it was hard to feel any empathy for Baldwin's loss or the crewman's suicide.

In a way I think this show shouldn't get a season two. It seems like it should only be a limited series. I don't know how long they can stretch out this story without it getting more and more ridiculous.

 

[sojourner]

Watching Eric Dane I kept thinking, "Man, he'd make a great Dick Tracy".

 

[Aragorn]

I was entertained but it was rather silly.

The Russian helicopter hit squad can't hit a single soldier but can nick Rhona Mitra? The ship can take direct hits that don't require repairs and don't result in the loss of life?

 

[The Wormhole]

I enjoyed the pilot. Not what I'll call a favourite, but fun and decent entertainment. Bit confused, is the Russian guy they captured still alive?

BTW, has anyone read the novel this show is based on? I'm nearly finished it, and man is it different than the show. Aside from the name of the ship, there aren't any other similarities. For example, the book looks at life of a US Navy destroyer which is the sole survivor or world wide nuclear war. The book is... an experience. A chore to get through at times (over 600 pages of really small print). The novel is told from the Captain's first person perspective, and in the novel, not only is he different from the character on the show, he's quite an odd character in general with outdated ideas about women serving in the Navy and an odd love of the sea. I don't recommend the book.

 

[Gaith]

Hey, yeah, what about that Russian guy?! I assume he'll show up in irons somewhere on the ship, as they could easily have cut that bit about him being alive without affecting the rest of the scene in any way. And the skipper just happens to speak Russian? Okayyy...

 

[The Wormhole]

And the skipper just happens to speak Russian? Okayyy...

I don't really have a problem with that, plenty of reason why a US military officer would know any one of many languages. Maybe he has Russian friends or had to spend time in Russia at some point in his career for whatever reason? Now if he starts speaking whatever language is needed in subsequent episodes, it'll be stretching things a bit.

 

[Gaith]

Yeah, it didn't bother me per se, it just came out of nowhere... as did the Russian helicopters, now that I think on it. Was there a Russian ship nearby? A secret underground ice fortress?

Also, a running gag in which the skipper speaks every language ever could get pretty funny...

 

[Admiral2]

I enjoyed the pilot. Not what I'll call a favourite, but fun and decent entertainment. Bit confused, is the Russian guy they captured still alive?

BTW, has anyone read the novel this show is based on? I'm nearly finished it, and man is it different than the show. Aside from the name of the ship, there aren't any other similarities. For example, the book looks at life of a US Navy destroyer which is the sole survivor or world wide nuclear war. The book is... an experience. A chore to get through at times (over 600 pages of really small print). The novel is told from the Captain's first person perspective, and in the novel, not only is he different from the character on the show, he's quite an odd character in general with outdated ideas about women serving in the Navy and an odd love of the sea. I don't recommend the book.

I downloaded it when I realized the show was based on it. None of what you said surprises me. The book was first published in 1988, a time when not many women served aboard US Navy ships. William Brinkley was probably trying to cash in on the technothriller fever of the Reagan years and got left behind.

 

[Aragorn]

Yeah, it didn't bother me per se, it just came out of nowhere... as did the Russian helicopters, now that I think on it. Was there a Russian ship nearby? A secret underground ice fortress?

Also, a running gag in which the skipper speaks every language ever could get pretty funny...

Hey, in White Collar, Neal Caffrey went from being an intelligent con artist to a brilliant artist who can create anything and everything he needs. Why can't the skipper suddenly have the ability to speak 400 languages, absorb electricity and shoot it out his fingertips, communicate with dolphins, and be immune to the virus?

 

[Silvercrest]

BTW, has anyone read the novel this show is based on? I'm nearly finished it, and man is it different than the show. Aside from the name of the ship, there aren't any other similarities. For example, the book looks at life of a US Navy destroyer which is the sole survivor or world wide nuclear war. The book is... an experience. A chore to get through at times (over 600 pages of really small print).

I read it a few years ago and stashed it somewhere without making up my mind. I planned to pull it out again when the show came out, but I haven't seen the show. Now I'm not sure about either.

Brinkley sure manages to convey a picture of a destroyed world without hope. So much that reading hundreds of pages was just tedious. Then the hope he does provide stands out like a sore thumb. The island is totally untouched by the radiation and weather patterns that make every other bit of land uninhabitable ... why, again? And that business at the climax regarding the ship and the missiles was just plain over the top.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yeah, it didn't bother me per se, it just came out of nowhere... as did the Russian helicopters, now that I think on it. Was there a Russian ship nearby? A secret underground ice fortress?

Also, a running gag in which the skipper speaks every language ever could get pretty funny...

Well, in the book,

Spoiler: book spoilers

the ship does eventually encounter a Russian submarine,

but that wouldn't really be any help to a helicopter. Maybe there is an ice fortress nearby.

As for the captain knowing every language ever, I guess it would depend on how it's handled. It could be amusing, as you say, or it could also be completely unbelievable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

BTW, I just had a random thought about how the virus is going to be cured (speculation only). What if in the end, even after they test every permutation of whatever they found in the Arctic they discover something missing, and it turns out to be dog DNA, resulting in the SEALS's pet Admiral Halsey to be humanity's hero and saviour?

 

[Admiral2]

Yeah, it didn't bother me per se, it just came out of nowhere... as did the Russian helicopters, now that I think on it. Was there a Russian ship nearby? A secret underground ice fortress?

Also, a running gag in which the skipper speaks every language ever could get pretty funny...

Well, in the book,

Spoiler: book spoilers

the ship does eventually encounter a Russian submarine,

but that wouldn't really be any help to a helicopter. Maybe there is an ice fortress nearby.

Overthinking. All you need for an ad hoc air land base is a flat piece of ice, which the russian troops and choppers could have been delivered to long before Nathan James arrived, given that the bad guys seem to have a guy in the ship that can tell them where she's going.

the captain knowing every language ever, I guess it would depend on how it's handled. It could be amusing, as you say, or it could also be completely unbelievable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I don't know why the language thing is being harped on. It's entirely possible for the captain to "just happen to know Russian." Naval officers don't spend their entire careers locked in ships only with other english speakers. part of their career track involves rotations on land. maybe one of this captain's land rotations involved dealing with a Russian counterpart and he decided to learn the language to make the task easier. The fact that he has to face russian adversaries now is a coincidence. It's not something to bitch about.