The Last Ship

The Last Ship is an Action/Drama about a U.S. Navy Destroyer carrying a scientist who may have the cure to a devastating disease that has caused a global pandemic that has left an unknown number of the population dead or dying. With no idea of weather or not the U.S. Government still exists the ship, with no port to call home, must scavenge for supplies and attempt to keep the only hope for humanity alive. 

 

The show is produced by Michael Bay (Black Sails) and stars Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy), Rhona Mitra (Strike Back), Adam Baldwin (Chuck), and Marissa Neitling (Leverage).

 

I was able to watch the first three episodes of this series before the June 22nd air date and I thought it was pretty good. There were a few instances in the first episode where acting seemed a bit wooden, even soap opera-ish, but overall the show has a fine balance of action, drama, and with various geographical locations at their disposal the show really has an immersive quality that helps it roll along. 

 

By the second episode I was a bit annoyed with one liners. There were really only a couple, delivered with deadpan dramatics, but you could tell the show was picking up steam. That maybe the actors had overcome their rigidness that I would suppose comes with trying to tackle military roles and all that implies, while filming aboard functioning Navy ships. 

 

There is that getting past the fact that the hope of humanity is the beautiful Rhona Mitra and her knight in shining armor is Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. McSteamy aka Eric Dane. Of course Adam Baldwin (Full Metal Jacket) is a shoe in after appearing in several roles as a soldier, but even he seems like he’s downplaying his usual character type. 

 

In any case the show looks to have a pretty good budget for some awesome special effects such as explosions and gun fights. The story is a bit reminiscent of Survivors, in that a disease has crippled the planet and the survivors must find a cure while being in pursued. Let’s just hope The Last Ship has a bit more luck then Survivors did.