So I finally got around to checking out “The Last Ship” (2014), and while the pilot didn’t immediately have me hooked, it seems like a decent show. I’d rate it an 8 out of 10, and I’ll probably continue watching it.
I was surprised I’d heard so little about this program … it’s a big-budget, post-apocalyptic military science fiction series, but none of my fellow horror or sci-fi nerds mentioned having seen it.
The plot setup seems like something that would please horror fans — a virus eradicates 80 percent of the world’s population, and a lone American naval vessel elects to remain at sea. (They’re fortunate enough to be carrying a civilian virologist who was tasked by the fallen United States government to develop a vaccine.) And there are hints that the show’s writers would do well scripting a frightening TV series — there are a couple of nice flourishes for a serialized horror show right here in the pilot.
But the story’s horror elements are minimized in favor of a more mainstream, safe-for-general-audiences techno-thriller. And that’s not a bad thing, because it succeeds as a such. The show is based on a 1988 novel by William Brinkley, and it’s produced in cooperation with the United States Navy. (The destroyers U.S.S. Halsey and the U.S.S. Dewey stand in for the fictional U.S.S. Nathan James.) It seems smartly scripted with respect to both virology and how the military works. I’m barely literate in either of those subjects, but what I watched seemed coolly authentic, and that entertained me and held my attention. So while I might not recommend this to fellow “The Walking Dead” fans, I’d definitely recommend it to fans of Tom Clancy.
The directing is pretty good, the story moves along quite quickly, and the action scenes in the pilot are surprisingly ambitious and effective for a TV show.
The acting, I suppose, is average — though it’s always fun seeing Adam Baldwin on screen, and the square-jawed Eric Dane seems well cast and shows promise as the ship’s commanding officer.
The dialogue and character interaction are average at best. This isn’t high art when it comes to human storytelling. There are some pretty predictable character tropes, and a few exchanges are so cheesily melodramatic that they nearly insult the viewer’s intelligence. Dane’s commander faces off, for example, against a beautiful, independent, female scientist who doesn’t like following orders … gee, I wonder if we’ll see any romantic tension there?
Still, this looks like a good enough show, if its pilot is any indication. The good outweighs the bad, and I’m glad I heard about it.
