What Happened:
After their brief interlude to Norfolk, the Nathan James crew are once again ready to hit the seven seas. While on the way to Savannah to help set up a lab that will help facilitate the distribution of the cure, the crew comes across the USS Solace, a hospital ship, aboard which is the missing bio lab from Norfolk mentioned in last week's episode. Chandler orders that the crew make contact with the members of the USS Solace in the hopes that they can add another ship to their fleet.
Elsewhere on the ship, Green introduces his fellow crew members to two new recruits, Wolf, an Australian sailor, and Ravit, an Israeli intelligence officer and diver. Burk quickly tries to cozy up to the attractive Ravit. Clearly, she is having none of it. Better luck next time, Burk!
Back in the ship's command center, Chandler learns that all attempts to communicate with the USS Solace have been unsuccessful. The crew members collectively theorize that this means everyone on the USS Solace must be dead. In light of this, Chandler and his people craft a plan to board the ship so that they may salvage its bio lab.
Once aboard the Solace, the Nathan James crew splits into two groups (Chandler, Green, Miller and Wolf on one team, Tex, Burk and Ravit on the other). Both groups begin scouring the ship for the bio lab. While on high alert for any possible threats to their mission, Tex and his crew come across a room full of dead bodies. However, it appears the deceased did not fall victim to the plague. Rather, they were executed. Clearly, something is not right on this ship...
Things go from bad to worse as Chandler and his group come upon some doctors operating on a gunshot victim in a lab on the ship. Gonzalez, an officer on the Solace, reveals to Chandler that a group of mercenaries have boarded the ship, having confused it for the Nathan James. These mercenaries are after the cure and are killing people left and right to get their hands on it. Soon enough, these mercenaries get wind of the presence of the Nathan James crew and respond in kind with gunfire. This results in a tense and bloody standoff between both forces.
The matter at hand becomes more complicated as Tex, Burk and Ravit come across a bomb during the ensuing gun battle, which the mercenaries plan to use to destroy the ship once their mission is complete. Ravit is able to diffuse the bomb, but quickly realizes that another larger bomb is ready to blow. Unable to accept that Ravit cannot diffuse the second bomb, Tex crazily grabs it and throws it off the side of the ship just in the nick of time. Thank goodness for quick thinking and even quicker feet!
The rest of the crew manages to dispense with most of the mercenaries. The climax of this standoff sees Chandler coming face to face with one of them. The mercenary jumps off the ship, thus escaping capture. After the intense battle aboard the Solace, the Nathan James crew instructs the hospital ship's crew to return to Norfolk, save for one Dr. Molaskey, who plans to stay on the Nathan James so that he may be of service to the crew.
The episode ends on something of a cliffhanger. As Chandler and Slattery make plans to question a mercenary they were able to capture, Neils is shown once again with the preacher he met up with last week. The preacher accuses Neils of setting up the mercenaries by informing the Navy crew of their presence on the USS Solace. Neils denies having any contact with Chandler's crew. The preacher tells him that he can explain himself to "The Boss." By episode's end, this elusive Boss's identity remains unknown. Barring any complications, next week's episode should give viewers the answers they seek!
What Worked:
Throughout its run, this show has had a problem striking a balance between plot and character. Too often are we introduced to characters whose backstories and personalities are not properly fleshed out. However, this episode's introduction of Wolf and Ravit represents a step in the right direction. Through just a few mere scenes, we get a good sense of who these people are. The show's writers did a great job establishing Ravit as a cold, humorless soldier and Wolf as the ship's new resident bad ass who places great stock in the idea of family. Hopefully, the show's creative team will continue to peel back the layers of these characters and others, as doing so worked in this episode's favor.
This week's episode was full of action. Although it doesn't live up to the tension of the season premiere, this week's hour moved at a fast clip and kept you engaged the entire time. This was due in part to the well-choreographed fight sequences. In particular, the scene in which Wolf takes out several guards on his own was a standout.
The use of a cliffhanger in building anticipation for future episodes was also a highlight of this week's installment. The episode's foreboding final image, which featured The Boss's submarine rising out of the ocean, was well utilized and certainly makes one interested in what next week's episode will bring.
What Didn't Work:
This episode's most major misfire was made in relation to the development of its villains. Perhaps the show's writers were attempting to convey some sense of mystery in order to give the episode's cliffhanger more impact. Whatever their reasoning, the episode faltered by not giving the mercenaries more to do than fire a few shots at the Nathan James crew. A little more character development was necessary to make this threat seem credible and interesting. By not giving these characters names, faces or personalities, the show once again fell into the trap it always seems to fall into. As Neils is introduced to The Boss in future weeks, let's hope the development of this show's villains is given more importance than it was in this installment.
Random Thoughts:
*The award for best line of the episode definitely goes to Tex-
Ravit (Upon realizing there is a second bomb): "Uh-oh."
Tex: "I hope that's Hebrew for A-OK!"
*The SFX crew on this show really knows how to pull off a good blood spatter effect. Viewers were treated to an explosion of the hematic variety twice in this episode (once when Ravit got the jump on a group of mercenaries while pretending to be a doctor and again when the crew of the Nathan James used their big guns to take some people out). I'm not usually one for blood and gore, but even I have to admit how awesome both sequences were.
*Miller and Wolf = Best Bromance Ever? I vote yes!
Overall Episode Grade: 8.5 Anchors Out of 10
Based on the events of this week's hour, last week's affair may have just been in a fluke in an otherwise strong second season! Let's hope next week's episode can continue to build off the momentum of Episode 4!
