For the last several weeks, The Last Ship has been on quite the roll, churning out one great episode after another. The show did not let up this week, as the program's latest episode proved to be quite the thrill ride up until its final moments.
What Happened:
Hoping to get the jump on Sean Ramsey and his people, the Nathan James crew heads to New Orleans, where the Immunes plan to set up shop. Chandler and his team decide to explore the area, only to come across a small army of children led by a young man named Ray. Apparently, these children were staying at a nearby summer camp when the virus broke out. Having been forgotten by the rest of the world in the midst of all the chaos, the children decided to band together to survive.
While discussing the group's struggles with Chandler, Ray reveals that the Immunes recently approached him, offering food and guns in exchange for help taking down the Nathan James. Chandler eventually convinces Ray that Ramsey's men are not as they appear. Chandler offers to take Ray and the other children to a safe zone if they agree to help the Nathan James crew draw out the Immunes. Eventually, Ray and the other children decide to take him up on the offer.
While the other children go aboard the ship, Ray stays behind with Chandler to signal the Immunes to the crew's presence in New Orleans. When the Immunes arrive to take the crew out, a firefight ensues. In the midst of the gun battle, Cody, a member of Ray's crew who sneaked away from the Nathan James and tried to join the fight against the Immunes, dies after being shot by one of Ramsey's men. When Chandler comes across his body, he is approached by one of the Immunes, who threatens to kill him. Fortunately, Ray comes to the rescue and shoots the man before he can kill Chandler. Following the battle, the crew heads back to the ship, where Chandler consoles a saddened Ray, whose eyes have been open to the realities of war following Cody's death.
This episode also contains two subplots, the first of which saw Michener still struggling with many of the issues that plagued him last week. He still has many self-doubts about his ability to lead the country. After some motivational words from Jeter, however, Michener handles himself deftly in a meeting with the crew at episode's end, signifying that his doubts are starting to drift away.
The episode's second subplot saw Rachel working with a captured Neils to create an aerosolized version of the cure. By the end of the hour, Rachel comes to realize that Neils's lungs contain the answers she seeks. Just as Neils can spread the virus just by breathing, Rachel figures out that she can replicate this in the rest of the population. Instead of spreading the virus, though, these people would be spreading the cure. To do this, Rachel reveals she must extract a gene from the virus inside Neils's body using DNA scissors. Neils refuses to let Rachel do this, as it would kill him. As it turns out, though, Rachel already completed the task without his knowledge. At the end of the episode, Neils keels over and starts bleeding from his mouth and eyes. As the virus takes over his body, Rachel watches on and does nothing.
What Worked and What Didn't:
This episode had many things working in its favor. The twists and turns featured in this installment were captivating enough to hold my interest for the duration of the crew's mission. The decision to feature a Lord of the Flies-esque army of children in this episode was also a captivating one (due in part to the fact that it was so original). However, the death of Cody fell flat, largely because viewers were given very little time to establish an emotional connection with the character. Had Ray, who had quite a few scenes in this episode, been the one to perish, perhaps the death scene would have packed more of a punch.
It was quite nice to see Michener continue to receive some character development in this episode. As mentioned in last week's review, the fact that the show's writers took so much time in studying the character was a welcome aspect of the previous episode. Through the simple act of letting the character continue on his journey of self-doubt this week, the writers added so much to the episode. It makes sense that Michener's issues would continue to plague him, even after his pep talk from Chandler last week. Leading the United States in the middle of an apocalypse is a pretty large undertaking after all. By further exploring this character's demons, the writers added a sense of realism and emotional-depth, both of which are things this show lacks at times.
Rachel's storyline in this episode was a bit problematic, as much of it seemed to be a retreading of old storylines from the first season. However, the episode's twist ending certainly made up for this fact. It was a nice change of pace to see Rachel take matters into her own hands and let Neils die the way she did. The act of orchestrating his demise was one of which the character does not really seem capable. Although this ending does not represent very consistent characterization, it still works, mostly because Rachel came off as quite the bad ass.
Overall Episode Grade: 8 Anchors Out of 10
The fact that Rachel played such a big hand in orchestrating Neils's death should prove to be an interesting development as the show heads into next week's episode. Will she be tried for this crime? Or will the crew celebrate her actions?
