Summary: A fast-paced hour that reveals character, motivation, and continues to up the stakes.
If you have not seen this episode yet and do not wish to be spoiled, do not continue reading!
Recap:
With multiple warships from a number of nations closing in on the 200 mile perimeter around Saint Marina, Chaplin and the crew take the Colorado to monitor that everyone has taken Chaplin’s declaration seriously. When another U.S. ship, the Illinois, crosses the line, Chaplin employs the Perseus device, masking the ship’s magnetic signature and making them essentially undetectable. Chaplin fires on the Illinois to make his point and the torpedo hits its target but is disarmed so it causes no damage.
In Washington, D.C., some government officials have Christine Kendal in custody to talk her into convincing her husband into giving up the Colorado‘s cause for amnesty for the crew. She’s allowed to call Sam and feeds the government’s line before blurting out that none of it should be trusted. Meanwhile, Kylie talks to a confidant in the Defense Department that she’s used in the past. She’s trying to find out the truth behind Chaplin’s actions, concerned with the Perseus device her company has on the Colorado.
On the island, a 747 passenger jet crosses the perimeter and is finally scared off. Everyone is convinced that it was the type of action and enough time for a Special Forces Delta team to complete a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump into the water to infiltrate the island. Kendal and Grace Shepard go to speak with the SEAL James King at the bar to get an idea of the tactics and capability of such a force. He declines to help. Grace tries to connect with him but he pushes her away. The bartender tries to convince him that he can be an agent of peace in this struggle.
Kendal assembles his team to set up a kill zone in anticipation of the Deltas. Amongst them are two sailors guarding Chief of the Boat Prosser in their makeshift jail. He gets in their ears about their duty to the Navy. Kendal is also reluctantly assisted by Sophie, the NATO researcher who knows the lay of the island. They find a spot and set in wait for the “enemy” force.
In Washington, the government shows Christine a tape of Sam talking about being held captive in North Korea for 18 days that he’d never revealed to his wife. They try to convince her that he is disloyal but Christine doesn’t buy it. At the same time, Chaplin talks with Curry, who has now been promoted to Secretary of Defense and says that they have not deployed any Deltas. As Kendal’s crew prepares to engage the force, Nigel, the NATO satellite guy, picks up a signal coming from a ship outside the perimeter.
Kendal decides not to fire on fellow Americans and steps out to talk to them. Nigel determines that the signal from the ship is Russian and is communicating with the “Deltas.” Chaplin warns Kendal that the force is not Delta but Russian Spetsnaz. The Russians and Americans engage in combat.
Chaplin videoconferences with Viktor, an old Soviet sub commander Chaplin engaged in the past, and threatens him to get the Spetsnaz force called off. Curry overhears that the Russians have attacked Americans and intercedes, sparking a larger diplomatic issue. In the fight, Kendal asks if Grace and her crew can take the Russians on a hill to reduce their numbers. Grace attempts it but gets pinned down when one of the guards abandons the fight. Kendal orders his crew to fall back, offering to engage the Russians himself to buy them an escape. Grace tries to take the hill on her own, gets shot in the arm, and physically fights one of the Russians. He pins her and is about to stab her with a knife when he is sniped. In the distance, King takes out two other soldiers on the hill before bugging out, unrevealed. With the fighting stopped, Kendal is able to take two of the Spetsnaz prisoner.
Returning to camp in the village, Kendal reveals that 5 of the sailors were killed in the attack. One of the sailors threatens to kill the Russians before Chaplin steps in. He declares that even through events they are still American and do not kill POWs, as well that the chain of command still exists. Prosser pipes up and reveals to all that Chaplin’s son was killed by friendly fire in combat in Afghanistan just two weeks prior, trying to paint him as emotional compromised. Chaplin insists that the crew all know he is a sane and competent man, fully in control of his faculties and command.
Paul, a lawyer friend of Kendal’s employed by the shadowy government figures, comes in to take Christine home. Kylie receives a call that he Defense Department guy is in the hospital. She visits his room and runs into his wife, who yells at her for putting her husband on his deathbed and for being detached from the whole thing. Kylie searches his pockets and finds a slip of paper with the words “Order 998” written on it.
On the island, Kendal recounts a story of he and Chaplin putting to see and Chaplin having a huge grin on his face doing so. Kendal realized that Chaplin’s son had gotten back from deployment and had been on the pier that day to see his father off. As Chaplin breaks down, Kendal assures him that he knows exactly who he is and that his trust in his commanding officer will never waiver.
The video of Kendal’s debrief after his captivity reveals that he never told his wife about being captured because he didn’t want to spoil the one good thing in his life.
Review
No longer saddled with trying to present the premise of the show broadly and quickly, as well as nakedly attempting to win audiences over, this second episode of the political and military thriller settles into a solid, consistent narrative that slows down the plotting without sacrifice the pace of the episode.
While the pilot episode felt like an overly-excited 5-year-old telling an intriguing story yet at times making it feel cheesy and over-the-top in the way he’s telling the story, this hour does much to help everything seem more plausible. By focusing more on the characters, giving them some backstory that directly ties into their reactions to these events, it allows the audience to connect to the story rather than just ooh-and-ahh at the fun and visuals.
Revealing the relationship and death of Chaplin’s (Andre Braugher) son adds a fascinating aspect to the overarching plot. It not only questions his motivation for the audience, but it further waters the seeds of doubt in the sailors under his command in the story, fostering a number of possibilities. The reveal of Kendal’s (Scott Speedman) incarceration in North Korea was used to attempt to sour his wife Christine (Jessy Schram) on his loyalties. While it didn’t darken Kendal’s character, it did help to strengthen the bonds between he and Christine and he and Chaplin for viewers. This led to the touching and honest moment between Braugher and Speedman where Kendal re-asserts his trust in what Chaplin is doing.
The casting of Robert Patrick as Prosser, the Chief of the Boat, is both good and a bit troublesome. Even with a number of the “good” characters Patrick has played in his career, there has been an antagonistic quality to them that immediately serves to instill distrust in Prosser. Though the COB is making militaristic sense in his defiance of Chaplin, that aspect of Patrick’s work immediately puts him in a “black hat” here, drawing away from a more nuanced dynamic that appears to be in the writing. Patrick’s good in the role but you really do expect him to step out as one of the key gambits of the conspirators back in Washington at any moment he’s on screen.
Speaking of the conspirators, the show would do well to reveal some faces to put to this menace sooner rather than later. With a film, you can be nebulous and shadowy with the enemy for a ways into the story because the villain will be revealed and resolution will be sought within a short period of time. With TV, it will get old quickly if week in and week out, flunkies and disembodied voices are the most given. You don’t lay all of your cards on the table, but you do establish a focal point to keep interest.
Interest is exactly what this second frame of Last Resort keeps, showing more of the pedigree of its creators for telling compelling, long-term stories. The action is still present, both on a large scale that keeps the audience talking, like the Perseus device-masked Colorado firing a disarmed torpedo on a fellow U.S. ship, and a still exciting small scale that extends the plot well, like the engagement with the Delta team that’s discovered to actually be Russian Spetsnaz.
This is one that’s going to grow well and entertain for a while.
