The Last Ship - El Toro - Review: "Welcome to the Jungle"

This week “The Last Ship” and its Navy crew head to a monkey reserve in Nicaragua to try to find Dr. Rachel Scott some monkeys on which she can test her vaccine. But during their search they encounter El Toro, a ruthless man who has taken over this area of the jungle and made the indigenous people his slaves.

The best part of the episode was without a doubt the interchanges between Tex and Rachel (a.k.a. Dr. Scott). Tex is always interested in the ladies so it was no surprise that he begins the episode hitting on her in the gym. But it quickly morphed into much more than that. Text became her supporter, her confidante, her encourager. After she tells him she doesn’t eat meals with everyone because people are still mad at her for lying to everyone, he tells her sincerely, “I think you underestimate peoples’ capacity for forgiveness. Maybe you just find it too hard to forgive yourself.” Tex is a lot more perceptive than I would have thought.

Later, as two of the Navy’s small boats head for the monkey reserve, Tex asks her if she has a special man in her life. Last week we got a hint that Rachel may have had a boyfriend she cared about. This week we learned more. Rachel says he is a journalist who travels a lot and, last she heard, he was in Beijing – but that was months ago. After she asks about Tex, he responds, “I’m a bit of a ‘Rolling Stone’ as you might imagine.” When Rachel questions him never marrying at his age, and then says she hit a soft spot, he replies, “Oh, I’m two percent body fat, honey – ain’t no soft spot to hit.” He is definitely amusing.

Meanwhile, the captain and his men head for the reserve, where they find people infected with the virus. As they hurry to put on their masks and get away, they are swarmed by the people needing help. Running back to the boats (where for some odd reason they suddenly don’t have their masks on anymore, even though they’re being chased), the captain tells Rachel her boat will have to go back to the ship because it’s too dangerous. The captain and his crew will continue looking for the monkeys.

As they make land in another area, one of the young Navy men falls into a trap and suddenly the whole team is ambushed and taken to El Toro. He and the captain clearly don’t trust each other and the captain tells El Toro they are there looking for food and supplies. (Later the captain changes his story and claims they are looking for monkeys because they think monkeys may have caused the virus.)

One thing that surprised me was how un-diplomatic Slattery and at times the captain were with this dictator. They didn’t try to pretend he was their friend or that they trusted him. Slattery first implies right in front of him they could use the Tomahawk missile on him and then tells him he must have made his money in cocaine and heroin. I was thinking, “Are you crazy? Why would you say this to a dangerous man who has your weapons?” But apparently he wasn’t afraid of that. The captain also tells El Toro that he is basically taking advantage of the people by stealing their tents while they live out in the elements. It almost seemed like they were egging him on, which I thought was pretty stupid. Clearly the man had a few hinges loose and you don’t know what you will get when you cross someone like that.

This was part of my problem with the episode. It portrayed these Navy leaders as headstrong and reactionary, not Democratic or careful. Usually the captain, though forceful, provides a balance to this but there was no balance this week. They all just plowed ahead with whatever they wanted to do or say. For me, it didn’t work. While I like the fact that they wanted to help these people in the camp, their motivations were questionable for me. The story left me a little conflicted. They wanted to intervene and help the people who were being abused and controlled, but I couldn’t decide if I felt like they should or not. Was that really their place? The episode should have made me feel like they needed to intervene. But it didn’t.

Maybe it was partially because El Toro needed to be a little more brutal. Yes, it was implied that he was abusing these young girls, which was awful, but then he was also showing the Navy grace. He was an odd character for me. I thought for not trusting the Navy, he sure let them go without much of a fight. It was too generous and trusting. And why couldn’t the native people help save themselves? In the beginning of the episode I couldn’t always differentiate between El Toro’s men and the natives so I didn’t understand what was happening. It was confusing and made his reign of terror less impactful.

The attitudes of the Navy men also made me question their motives. A lot of the time they seemed pretty arrogant. While I liked that they had a conscience and a moral guiding compass, they also seemed kind of self-righteous. The men were continuing to egg on El Toro even after Slattery and Lt. Green were tied up for trying to help the mayor’s daughter. The shallow dialogue and acting just added to everything seeming over-the-top. It came off as a little preachy to me – like the writers were saying, “We are the U.S. Navy and we will always do the right thing.” To me, it would have been more effective if they had instead shown the inner conflict of the men helping and then had them choose to step in. But instead their actions and decisions were reactionary and one-dimensional.

Though they had good intentions, that made the scenes feel manipulated. The whole “We cannot let this stand” speech in the boat held no impact for me. The men were so hot-headed and mad at this point that it seemed like they were responding out of anger rather than concern for the people. Though they clearly wanted to help the girls and people, they also seemed like they wanted revenge for El Toro’s actions. (The captain’s “We came to hunt” comment pointed to this.) And when they finally had captured El Toro, it was a very strange moment when the mayor of the old town steps forward and stabs him to death and the captain and Slattery both seem to approve. The choice just felt wrong. Up until this point the captain has made fair, intelligent, wise decisions. But this time the whole scene felt weird and wrong.

For all of those reasons, I was glad these scenes were intermixed with Rachel and Tex’s. These were the episode’s saving grace. Throughout the search, Rachel is worried about the men. She feels it is her responsibility to help them and keep them safe. When they finally hear that the team is returning, Tex is the one to bring her the news and celebrate with her. On a ship where many people still don’t trust her (which was also weird because she has constantly proven herself by this point), she has gained a true friend.

In the end, Rachel gets her monkeys and the team returns to the destroyer. But on their way there, they pass all the infected people on the beach, reaching out for help that this time the Navy cannot give. It was a poignant end to a murky episode.

What did you think of “El Toro?” Was it a good episode for you or not? Why? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

About the Author - Tonya Papanikolas

Tonya Papanikolas is a freelance journalist who loves covering entertainment and television. She spent more than 10 years as a broadcast news anchor and reporter. Now she does everything from hosting to writing. She especially loves writing TV articles and reviews for SpoilerTV.