Somos la sangre. We are the blood. And blood shed is the steepest price of war. One beloved character very nearly sacrificed the whole enchilada in one particularly heroic, horrific scene. A good third of the rest were left in jeopardy with a cliffhanger! There was also a tank. Basically, the show isn't holding back a thing going into its final episodes.
Chandler and Sasha are leading an attack against a top secret Cuban military location known as Camp X. The Cuban President has apparently holed up inside too, which makes it an even more valuable target. However, Team Fuentes and Team Red White and Blue are getting hit hard by the defending forces, and Danny can't run across the battlefield all day trying to save fallen soldiers. To add to the stress levels, Kara reports in they haven't been able to find their battleship nemesis yet. That's the last thing you want to lose. It doesn't stay missing long. Their command center outside Camp X is bombarded, killing most of the family that lived there. Before he died though, the boy who lived there provided some information on a way to sneak into Camp X. Delta Team checks out the intel, and there is a back door so to speak. All this plays out against the relentless battle being waged, a storm of flying dirt and bullets. With the number of explosions, close calls, and even bayonet close combat style fighting, it was nonstop action.
When a tank rolls out of Camp X, it is certain to be bad news. That doesn't lessen the shock when Miller is awfully injured protecting a comrade. (In retrospect, the foreshadowing was present in "Warriors".)
The Last Ship doesn't shy away showing the gory aftermath or Miller's distressing fear. Although the
Nathan James's Helo crew swoops in to lay down some cover fire and evacuate Miller, there's no feeling of relief yet. When Burk sees Miller for the first time in the infirmary, he's momentarily overcome at seeing his friend like this. And so are we.
For every hero, there's a stone cold crazy villain. Kelsey's phone call was from Gustavos's pal Octavio, and apparently he and Kelsey are in a relationship. So he tells her. The lady on his hit squad who gave Kelsey a dirty glance might have different feelings. In any case, Octavio tells Kelsey they just have one more job to before they leave for Colombia. The next thing we see is Kelsey walking into South Comm with hands in the air. SO MANY RED FLAGS.
Setting aside the fact that it was clearly too easy to get to the door, they proceed to handle her with kid gloves. Did you see how much meat was on that sandwich they gave her?! Half a poultry farm at least. Needless to say, her arrival there is part of a ruse that will require bringing in paramedics. Except they're not paramedics! Now Meylan, Swain, and Slattery and perhaps even the President are in utter peril. If we just pretend that security wasn't totally lax there, this is a nail-biting, frightening note to end the episode on. That evil smirk that Kelsey gave Slattery in the elevator was perfectly evil. She definitely remembers him from Alisha's birthday BBQ. The good news is that he's clearly wary of her, which may or may not give him a lifesaving edge in the next episode.
Chandler discovers the plan to infiltrate South Comm after they take Camp X (thanks to some help from Danny who gets control of the tank and Azima and Wolf's usual kickass professionalism), although it's too late to do anything about that. Out at sea, the
Nathan James has to fire blind at the enemy battleship, with no idea if they made a successful hit. It still lurks out of reach, a formidable and possibly catastrophic threat.
This may not have been the series' eleventh hour episode, but it's safe to say we have entered the "darkest before the dawn" period. There were no advantages gained, no meaningful victories, and everyone is in more danger than before. It was absolutely gripping, and it can only get more intense from here.
Also, this episode was not entirely made up of edge-of-your-seat moments. Wolf and Azima continued their proud tradition of flirting while under fire. These final episodes might not have too much space to spend on relationships of all kinds, but every little bit is rewarding.
Side note: They keep bringing up Kelsey's daughter, so I guess it's safe to say that she will escape whatever happens next at South Comm and try to kidnap her or something? And don't ask me to comment further on her sandwich subterfuge scene, because I temporarily lost my eyeballs when they got stuck in the back of my head. No way I would have left that woman to eat a crumb in peace. Going back to thinking about Wolf and Azima now.
