The Last Ship - Discussion Thread (spoilers possible)

[KGator]

I saw the show and didn't think it was too bad compared to all the crap on TV these days. I also recorded Falling Skies. I had stopped watching that sometime in season 2 but thought I might give it another shot. Though I don't have high hopes.

I thought the Captain holding the breaker (or fuse, whatever it was) seemed a bit ridiculous. If you were going to do it . . . why not use some rubber gloves or something non conductive between yourself and the possible electric path.

But hey . . . its a TV show.

 

[DarthTom]

I enjoyed this show and it's a lot better than some of the other stuff on currently. Also, the general quality was really high. E.g. when they discharge the shell to shoot helicopters and the casing falls on the deck plating of the ship. Great visual, and sound for that matter - it didn't even appear to be CGI.

I'll stick with this for now. The challenge - like with the Walking Dead - is that they have to make some powerful characters or the storyline will fall apart quickly. Moving from location to location and scavenging fuel, food, and spare parts will become boring quickly without some powerful back stories to make the whole thing work.

 

[The Wormhole]

I thought the Captain holding the breaker (or fuse, whatever it was) seemed a bit ridiculous. If you were going to do it . . . why not use some rubber gloves or something non conductive between yourself and the possible electric path.

Because he's badass!

 

[Kirby]

I thought it was pretty good, and I liked it better than Falling Skies. Although I can see it going off track pretty quickly, especially if the Russians keep showing up like I think they will.
Michael Bay really needs an alias, because I was seriously not going to watch it because it had his name on it, until I saw that Adam Baldwin is on the show.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

It was enjoyable which is all a TV show should be. It'll take up the space between now and the Walking Dead's premiere.

 

[Star Wolf]

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.

I read it back then I don't remember it having the umpf of a war story that techno thrillers had. I was never compelled to reread it the multiple times like I had with the best of the genre. wasn't there a 50's movie with the same basic story of a last crew surviving the nuclear apocalypse? Only it that case the women were civilians on the beach not crew mates.

The story about a modern naval ship not by Douglass Reeman drew me in. IIRC it was before Poyer's Commander Lenson series.


I would admit I was bothered by practically the first scene with a US Naval officer saluting uncovered. And then you would think that destroyer was a battleship by the way she ignored those missile hits.

 

[KGator]

I would admit I was bothered by practically the first scene with a US Naval officer saluting uncovered. And then you would think that destroyer was a battleship by the way she ignored those missile hits.

That's true, I don't remember much in the way of damage reports or seeing actual damage to the ship in later shots. They were hit by what . . . 2-3 missiles?

Maybe they were also out testing a new age force field!

I also thought the suicide on the cruise liner was a bit forced. I remember wondering how long those people had been dead since the blood on the body he fell on still seemed pretty viscous (and was the victim suffer from wounds rather than just succumbing to the disease?). But that was just curiosity on my part. All I really kept thinking was, I hope they take the guy's gear. I mean how many protective suits and how much personal gear can there be on a naval ship? Then later they mentioned they had 80 bio suits on board.

I also wondered how many other ships would have been available. Especially the nuclear powered ships. I can see the aircraft carriers being more susceptible to infections but wouldn't the US have wanted to keep at least a few of the nuclear submarines already out in the ocean safe from harm in case they were needed later? (Nuclear payloads anyone???)

 

[DarthTom]

I also wondered how many other ships would have been available. Especially the nuclear powered ships. I can see the aircraft carriers being more susceptible to infections but wouldn't the US have wanted to keep at least a few of the nuclear submarines already out in the ocean safe from harm in case they were needed later? (Nuclear payloads anyone???)

The name of the show is, "The Last Ship," not the, "Last Sub." That will be coming up by season 3 as a spin off series should this show prove to be successful.

 

[The Wormhole]

I also wondered how many other ships would have been available. Especially the nuclear powered ships. I can see the aircraft carriers being more susceptible to infections but wouldn't the US have wanted to keep at least a few of the nuclear submarines already out in the ocean safe from harm in case they were needed later? (Nuclear payloads anyone???)

The name of the show is, "The Last Ship," not the, "Last Sub." That will be coming up by season 3 as a spin off series should this show prove to be successful.

Without giving too much away, a sub ends up being very integral to the book.

 

[tenmei]

Now if he starts speaking whatever language is needed in subsequent episodes, it'll be stretching things a bit.

He also appeared to speak Italian when they boarded the cruise ship and he and Rhona Mitra discovered the survivor.

My query was where did the nuke detonate - it appeared to be heading over southern England, and my thought was that they were trying to bomb London. But the location of detonation never got mentioned -

 

[DarthTom]

Without giving too much away, a sub ends up being very integral to the book.

I was being sarcastic of course - but I assumed as well that eventually part of the storyline is that the ship would end up meeting up with others to expand the storyline.

BTW - maybe someone can answer one part of the plot that was confusing in the pilot episode. The nuclear explosion was detonated over France - or over the ocean? It wasn't clear to me in the dialogue which.

 

[Scout101]

Yes, there should be subs out there; they're never all in port and some of the boomers would have been lurking around longer than the infection took to spread.

Looked like the missles were defeated by chaff/countermeasures for the most part, only one looked to have maybe impacted (or blew up close at least). Should have been a few other systems they could have used to cut these down from far away, like the CWIS (trashcan looking gattling gun under the bridge) for example, shouldn't have been close.

Nuke looked to be a hit on either France or maybe England? Was hard to tell from the maps in the quick glance. Around the Channel, though?

Coincidence, but ended up reading a similar story over the weekend before this aired. Omega Sub, involved a new class of sub doing Avoidance testing under the icecap for a couple weeks, they come up to find everything nuked, pretty quiet. From there, investigate the silence, some survivors, some zombie-ish creatures (victims of "radiation insanity" they say), etc. Apparently part of a 5-6 book series, never read past book 1, but entertaining how similar it was.

 

[yenny]

Yes, there should be subs out there; they're never all in port and some of the boomers would have been lurking around longer than the infection took to spread.

Looked like the missles were defeated by chaff/countermeasures for the most part, only one looked to have maybe impacted (or blew up close at least). Should have been a few other systems they could have used to cut these down from far away, like the CWIS (trashcan looking gattling gun under the bridge) for example, shouldn't have been close.

Nuke looked to be a hit on either France or maybe England? Was hard to tell from the maps in the quick glance. Around the Channel, though?

Coincidence, but ended up reading a similar story over the weekend before this aired. Omega Sub, involved a new class of sub doing Avoidance testing under the icecap for a couple weeks, they come up to find everything nuked, pretty quiet. From there, investigate the silence, some survivors, some zombie-ish creatures (victims of "radiation insanity" they say), etc. Apparently part of a 5-6 book series, never read past book 1, but entertaining how similar it was.

To me, it looks like the nuclear missile was heading in the direction of Calais, France.

 

[Zaku]

He also appeared to speak Italian when they boarded the cruise ship and he and Rhona Mitra discovered the survivor.

Yes, he translated the request of help of the survivor.

By the way, his Italian was atrocius and probably translated with Google Translate.

"Aiutami" is the literal translation of "Help me". But in that situation it would have been more appropriate "Aiuto" or "Aiutatemi".

 

[The Wormhole]

BTW - maybe someone can answer one part of the plot that was confusing in the pilot episode. The nuclear explosion was detonated over France - or over the ocean? It wasn't clear to me in the dialogue which.

Good question. The computer tracking seemed to show it approaching France. And there seemed to be enough time for it to make it over land, but who knows?

 

[Star Wolf]

Can a destroyer actually feed a crew and maintain station for 4 months without an oiler and tender support?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

So the mole guy is... who, again?

It's Ballesteros of course.

Can a destroyer actually feed a crew and maintain station for 4 months without an oiler and tender support?

With all the unmanned refueling stations out there they should be OK.

 

[Admiral2]

Can a destroyer actually feed a crew and maintain station for 4 months without an oiler and tender support?

Average deployment for surface ships is six months, and they probably took on provisions in port (they'd actually need extra for the scientists and shooters) so they should be fine on that front. As for fuel, they can stretch it by cruising slow and direct to their destinations until they can get to another fuel source

Meanwhile on the subject of similar stories, a colleague clued me in to one written and filmed in the fifties, On The Beach. Given what I found out about it William Brinkley should have been sued for infringement.

 

[Gaith]

Average deployment for surface ships is six months

It's more like 8.5 months these days, but either way, smaller ships absolutely typically hit ports every few weeks to refuel and re-stock.

 

[Admiral2]

Average deployment for surface ships is six months

It's more like 8.5 months these days, but either way, smaller ships absolutely typically hit ports every few weeks to refuel and re-stock.

True, but some smaller ships - like attack subs - can't do that, given the nature of their missions. In that case nuclear power takes care of the refueling need, but as for food they pack every space they can with enough food for a full deployment.

In this particular case, even though the crew of the Nathan James didn't know the nature of their mission, their superiors obviously did. Fuel needs are one thing, but I can't believe the higher-ups would be stupid enough to have the ship in port and not pack in enough food so that they wouldn't have to re-stock in the typical way, especially since available foodstuffs might be contaminated and therefore useless to them on their mission.

Of course, I fully understand that real-life history is filled with such higher-up stupidity, but I'm hoping against hope here...