Review: 'Last Resort' - 'Blue on Blue': A show of force
Marcus's island gets its first visitors, while Sam's wife faces interrogation
Daisy Betts as Grace in "Last Resort."
A review of tonight's "Last Resort" coming up just as soon as I call off the Cold War for an hour...
I'm very glad that ABC made three episodes of "Last Resort" available for advance review, because "Blue on Blue" is kind of a mess, whereas I found next week's more reassuring that the creative team can make this ambitious concept and these disparate parts all work together.
In "Blue on Blue," the pieces not only don't work together, most of them don't work individually. The shootout with the Spetnatz team is staged very lackadaisically (after the characters have already taken what seems a very leisurely amount of time to go out there), and that entire story hangs too much on Grace, and I don't think Daisy Betts is up to the level of many of her co-stars at the moment. The stuff with Tawny the bartender and James the guilt-ridden SEAL feels like it falls down on the wrong side of the line between making the island culture feel special and fetishizing it. And on the mainland, the material involving Sam's wife didn't click at all; at no point did it feel like any tactic the interrogators tried had a prayer of convincing her to turn Sam against Marcus.
There were some nice moments towards the end, particularly after the Cob (short for Chief of the Boat; the character's name is Joe Prosser) informs the rest of the crew about the death of Marcus's son and the role it might have played in their current shenanigans. I know that Sam tells Marcus that he believes in him, but one of the best moments in the pilot was when Marcus says, "Maybe this is home now," and there's a suggestion that he's really gone off the deep end and isn't just playing crazy, Reagan-style. I think the show works much better — and probably has longer legs — if Marcus isn't just the persecuted good guy, but someone who seizes absolute power in an attempt to do the right thing, then starts getting absolutely corrupted by it.
What did everybody else think? Reactions were all over the map last week. Are people more concerned after this one? Did anyone find "Blue on Blue" to be an improvement over the pilot?
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Next 72 CommentsTed
October 4, 2012 at 9:07PM EST Reply to CommentThis show should be a lot better than it is. The main problem is that I hate almost every character. Other than Andre Braugher, pretty much everyone else is like nails on a chalkboard except Robert Patrick, who is the only other member of the entire ship cast who is the slightest bit credible as an actual Navy officer. The women characters in particular are all horribly written, every one of them is an embarrassment. So the big villain is ... Dutch? I don't think that's going to work.
Krim Not even the weapon's lobbyist? I like how she's goes from confident to a fault to finding herself out of her depth with this conspiracy. I especially thought that verbal smackdown she gave to those ignorant weenies at the bar was a nice touch as well.
October 4, 2012 at 10:01PM ESTKrim
October 4, 2012 at 9:58PM EST Reply to CommentThey should flirt with the idea of Marcus being corrupt, and test it thoroughly, but in no way do I think it would be a good idea to pull the trigger on that. The crew is basically standing on the knife's edge mentally, and as we've seen Marcus is probably the only thing holding them together, if he slips too far there's no going back with everyone given all the other stuff they have to worry about too.
It was a solid episode, not as good as the pilot and some people are complaining that having it be the Russians was a cop out, but I think it was more important to establish how big of a geo-political dynamic all these events are having, rather then confining it to just the island relationships and the relationship with the U.S, it opens up more possibilities. Likely there will be more then enough moral dilemma's to go around with the standoff with the U.S soon enough.
Jon88
October 4, 2012 at 10:09PM EST Reply to CommentMy main concern was and is that this show will run longer than it has enough story to support. Whatever the creators have worked out already about "what's going on," I have been burned too many times by shows that went adrift (no nautical pun intended).
Craig Based on the ratings, I don't think longevity is gonna be this show's biggest problem.
October 5, 2012 at 4:39PM ESTEAS
October 4, 2012 at 11:39PM EST Reply to CommentI didn't notice a big dropoff from the first episode. I didn't even realize what the terrible action setpiece that had been referenced on the podcast was until Alan pointed it out here in his review. I guess he's right that the scene was a little slow to build, but I didn't notice it in the moment.
As others have said, it's going to be hard for this show to maintain interest on a week to week basis. You spend the whole time waiting for something dramatic to happen on the island, but if and when it does happen the story is over. So the very nature of the plot lends itself to stalling and stalling and stalling, which just frustrates the viewer.
The performances are fine, save for Autumn Reeser. Between this and her character on Entourage, she seems to believe that the only way to portray a strong woman is to enunciate every syllable so hard that her neck moves like a bobblehead.
Other Scott
October 5, 2012 at 12:03AM EST Reply to CommentConsider me a little bit worried. That looked mostly like a show that didn't really know where it was going and just tried to tread water in the most exciting way possible. Just not a particularly good episode of television.
I didn't think I'd be saying this after last week, but Revolution was better.
marjorie lewis
October 5, 2012 at 12:11AM EST Reply to CommentI love Shawn Ryan and watched the pilot with great enthusiasm, BUT this was a mess and i turned it off after 30 minutes to watch UP ALL NIGHT. (a show i don't follow but that is what else was on) I don't think i'll be tuning in next week. It's just not interessting enough and way too convoluted. I miss TERRIERS, that was a Ryan show i loved and UNDERSTOOD.
Hwat Wow, you though it was convoluted -the mind boggles.
October 6, 2012 at 5:50PM ESTthe minister Terriers was about as good as TV gets.
October 10, 2012 at 12:48AM ESTThis show is about as good as serialized drama on network gets. Yes, it's not that good (but what, you aren't gonna give Shawn another 6?), but.... what. is. better?
The Good Wife, sure. Vampire Diaries. Other than that, I got nothin. Parenthood maybe? I don't watch that, so no opinion. Some fucking procedural like CSI Sherlock Holmes? Leave that to the 96 IQ people. Grey's Anatomy? Sheeeeeeit.
Suspend your disbelief, fercrissakes. The guy above is suspending it for REVOLUTION. Now *that* takes some cognitive dissonance.
marjorie lewis @THe Minister: Yes, you are right. Better? SOA, and...well that's about it. I do like Parenthood, Vegas and Good Wife. I htink Nashville is going to be amazing, but won't know till tomorrow night. I am a fan of Mr. Ryan, I just don't like The show.
October 10, 2012 at 1:25AM ESTbitchstolemyremote
October 5, 2012 at 12:11AM EST Reply to CommentWe don't get the impression that Chaplin will go power crazy - the show is clearly playing it safer than that. Didn't feel that much of this episode worked, though it's a decent introduction for people who didn't watch last week and need to learn the themes behind the actions. Just wish Grace were more consistently written!
Our take: http://wp.me/p1VQBq-1v2
IGotThings
October 5, 2012 at 12:25AM EST Reply to CommentI enjoyed the episode, almost as much as the pilot.
BUT, I, too, feel like they have too much going on at once and the pacing is erratic so it makes it really difficult to get a firm grasp of the dialogue and the plot lines.
I will continue to stick with because I believe it has a lot of potential. It just needs to be more focused. A LOT more focused.
My favorite moments in the episode where Marcus and Sam's heart-to-hearts. They are the only two characters I feel emotionally invested in at the moment and those scenes were very well acted.
p.s. I CAN'T STAND that Kylie character. Every scene she's in is just awful.
Haik Mendelovich
October 5, 2012 at 12:27AM EST Reply to CommentWow, was this awful.
I've talked up the series since the pilot last week ("Best premier since Lost!").
Now, I'm kinda embarrassed to go to work tomorrow.
So many problems... the sub team was ready to kill the supposed Delta Force (who, of course, chose to drop from 30K feet, in broad daylight) just like that. Really?
The Super Secret Stealth Thingie made me feel like I was watching a rerun of Voyage To the Bottom of The Sea. It's a leading-edge sub... why bother?
The CIA (?) interrogation/psyops of the COB's wife... why? She's gonna call back and say, "Fakeout! These guys really are the good guys!"
The SEAL into Spetznaz plot was absurd, as was the flip from "you're in a kill zone, and outgunned" to "oops!"
And so on.
So many of the cast are too young, and too pretty. For example, how great a defective SEAL would Brian Austin Green have made?
Daisy isn't doing any better this week than last, and the bartender needs to go back to Gogol Bordello.
I may give this another shot, purely out of respect for Braugher and Patrick, who's doing a great job of channeling Colonel Ryan from The Unit, a much better show.
(BTW, when Braugher was crying so realistically, I kept imagining that he was mentally comparing Homicide scripts with LR's...)
pwt LOL at ur last sentence!
October 5, 2012 at 10:32AM ESTalbatross "the sub team was ready to kill the supposed Delta Force (who, of course, chose to drop from 30K feet, in broad daylight) just like that. Really?"
October 5, 2012 at 10:44AM ESTI don't understand your point. A good portion of the episode was dedicated to the debate over that.
"The Super Secret Stealth Thingie made me feel like I was watching a rerun of Voyage To the Bottom of The Sea. It's a leading-edge sub... why bother?"
have you ever seen Hunt for Red October? Caterpillar-drive, anyone?
albatross I should have added that I agree with you about the stealth thing. Way too silly.
October 5, 2012 at 10:45AM ESTHaik Mendelovich @albatross:
October 5, 2012 at 12:42PM ESTMy point was twofold. First, I have a hard time believing that the sub crew would so easily be willing to slaughter DF members. And, that DF would drop from a great height in broad daylight, thus giving everyone on the island a heads-up.
They would come at night, via the sea, gliders, or stealth copters.
The holes in this show would be easy to fix...
albatross Point taken about the daytime drop. Maybe civilians would fall for the ruse, but not experienced soldiers.
October 5, 2012 at 1:00PM ESTHowever, I still think they spent enough time showing the crew's ambivalence towards killing their own.
Neeraj I agree completely. The quantity of plot holes is incredible. Assuming they have an editing process then the original scripts must be even more ridiculous. Add in how they keep the C.O.B. spouting insurrection and mutiny in an open cage in the middle of the village, basically like a loudspeaker brainwashing everyone against the Captain. Also that technology lady back in DC (who I still don't know who she is) is supposedly some sort of sex-goddess genius but who actually acts like a fratty idiot.
October 6, 2012 at 11:34AM ESTIGotThings
October 5, 2012 at 12:30AM EST Reply to CommentThe "bar scenes" on the island are pretty unnecessary at the moment. But I guess they're there to set up a relationship/bond between Tawny and James that will hopefully be useful/interesting somehow. At least I hope so, anyway, because they're pretty boring and without some kind of payoff for having to sit through them, I just...don't see the point.
CinemaPsycho
October 5, 2012 at 12:54AM EST Reply to CommentHmmm. Feels like you're responding to the characters rather than the actors playing them. Daisy Betts was terrific on Persons Unknown (yes, i watched it) and her character here is supposed to be a little unsure of herself and not really trusted by a lot of the crew, and that's the character and the performance. So she's playing that perfectly well and you're buying into it but somehow blaming it on the actress.
Look, there's obviously much more going on here than has been revealed yet. It's clear that there's a conspiracy that will be slowly unraveled and the more we find out, the more what we already know is going to make sense. So why not let it unfold for awhile? Give it a minute. Lost certainly didn't make sense at first. Give it some time. Hopefully it'll get there. I'm just enjoying the ride.
andrei Aren't you supposed to be responding to the characters, rather than the actors?
October 5, 2012 at 9:23AM ESTjack_is_laughing What are talking about? Lost had intriguing characters and intriguing developments from the first five minutes. There isn't a single character on this show that has interested me the way any of the core characters caught my attention in the Lost pilot. Hell, at this point I can barely tell the characters on Last Resort apart they're all so flatly written.
October 7, 2012 at 8:10PM ESTThat said, I thought this episode was an improvement over the pilot, which was even more convoluted and plot-centric than this episode. Still, I agree, this show has a lot of kinks to work out ASAP.
guest
October 5, 2012 at 1:09AM EST Reply to CommentI loved how Leslie kept hyping up random moments in this episode: "Finish the perm, Autumn. Finish. The. Perm." and "I do not negotiate with dentists."
She's either living in an emotional intensity on par with political speeches and/or dramatizations she's watched, or she's providing for-posterity soundbites for the biopic that she believes will eventually be written about her. Or both. She's priceless.
Guest oops. I just rewatched it. "The perm must wait, Autumn. The perm. Must. Wait" is the correct for-posterity soundbite. Boy I wish this site had an edit feature....Sign me, Egg On Face :)
October 5, 2012 at 1:12AM ESTLoopyChew Speaking of egg on face, this is Last Resort, not Parks and Rec.
October 8, 2012 at 5:11AM ESTMadlyMild Unsurprisingly, I was confused by this comment, but sometime between reading it and Loopychew's clarification, I somehow decided it was about Autumn Reeser's character.
October 11, 2012 at 6:59PM ESTShe certainly does give very statement as a soundbite or dramatic speech reading.
Mr. Brevity
October 5, 2012 at 1:20AM EST Reply to CommentRelax
Sareeta I like this
October 5, 2012 at 8:42AM ESTandrei Bravo, Mr. Brevity - say hi to your brothers (Mr. Terse and Mr. Curt) for me....
October 5, 2012 at 9:25AM ESTMyk
October 5, 2012 at 2:18AM EST Reply to CommentOne question I have about the complaints about the Daisy Betts character is I feel like many would have said that about Evangeline Lilly at first as well. Even comparing the guy to Sawyer seems strange since you are comparing him to the fully fleshed out Sawyer then the Sawyer from the first episode.
Tom Galloway
October 5, 2012 at 6:57AM EST Reply to CommentNotice that they pretty much tossed out two bits from last week. 1) The President was about to be impeached...now Congress is reciting loyalty oaths? Admittedly, that was one thing that had me wondering about the long term viability of the show if Congress was already after a corrupt administration.
2) Um, the US nuked Pakistan, a nuclear power. At this point, unless Chaplin is actively shooting at the US, he should be being completely ignored as the US deals with a war with Pakistan, breaking any number of treaties involving the use of nukes, and the certainty that Pakistan is trying to figure out the most damaging way to get its own nukes into the US or our allies. At this point, the US is at Defcon One, and a single sub that's sitting things out in a lagoon somewhere is somewhere around #10000 on the priority list.
And, just for the heck of it 3) how did Russia co-opt a Taiwanese airplane? And no one in Taiwan apparently noticed? Damn quick too; looks like about 12 hours have gone by since the Crisis started. 4) Where's the court martial for the two guys who either ran off during the firefight or refused to fire. 5) If you charge at Spetnaz across many yards of open field, you're going to be dead. An unfortunate case of the trope of "Bad guys can fire off whole magazines and not hit the broad side of a barn; good guys can squeeze off random shots seemingly aimed at nothing and take out a whole camflauged unit in one clip.
mcm99 I like the show and am willing to give it time but I am a bit surprised that they did not give us a sitrep on what the ehll is going on in Pakistan. Wouldn't the natural fear be for Israel?
October 5, 2012 at 8:09AM ESTandrei ....or India!
October 5, 2012 at 9:27AM ESTCraig So many balls were set in motion in the pilot. Ignoring every one of them and instead introducing this new one-episode threat was definitely the wrong way to go. A blatant filler / stalling episode, at a point where the series hasn't even come close to earning it. Disappointing.
October 5, 2012 at 4:47PM ESTJason The nuking of Pakistan has some kind of backstory that hasn't been explained. The SEALs were on the sub after being picked up from a mission gone wrong, and drunk-SEAL was crying at the end of the pilot saying it was his fault.
October 6, 2012 at 4:37AM ESTAnd it's not out of the realm of possibility that the US government would be focusing so much attention on one rogue submarine, when that submarine fired a Trident that flew over DC and delivered a nuclear warhead off the mid-Atlantic coast.
Neeraj You make some good points about the continuity of the series. But even within this show, it was really unrealistic that the female officer apparently knew that the two soldiers were not loyal to her but still chose to be in sniper's nest with just them. She should have swapped them out for two more loyal soldiers from the XO's hiding place. (Taking a step back, it's also sorta ridiculous that the two soldiers hated her for killing their comrade who was about to kill her, and then so openly displayed that they wanted her dead -- weren't they worried she'd kill them too?)
October 6, 2012 at 11:41AM ESTjack_is_laughing Well for one thing Pakistan can't reach the US with a nuclear weapon unless they fly/ship/drive it here. The U.S. is approximatley 4x the distance of their longest-range missile. They could choose to launch a missile at a local carrier battle group on the ocean in retaliation, but that would result in their complete annihilation in all-out U.S. response.
October 7, 2012 at 8:19PM ESTSecond is that Pakistan isn't going to nuke India or Israel in retaliation. Both of those countries have the capacity to shoot back and would. Pakistan would be wiped off the map if they attacked a nuclear third party like that and they'd be completely unjustified in such a retaliation.
As for what is going on in the US, I agree that they should touch on it but the show isn't about that. As for loyalty oaths we know nothing about the politics of this fictional Congress or the fictional administration. I'm giving them a break until they give all that some context.
Sareeta
October 5, 2012 at 8:51AM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was a pretty good episode. I like the stuff with Grace's character, particularly how soon she figured out that her men were plotting to shoot her first chance they got. She's in a tough position: she wasn't respected before and is still dealing with that.
My only problem with the action sequence is we didn't see the navy seal character saving the day. Is it because of the 8 PM timeslot, budget, or did they think it would be more dramatic?
Best plot development was learning that Marcus' son was killed 2 weeks prior, which begs the question about why he's really gone rogue. Is he corrupt? I don't think so. Mentally unstable is more likely.
I'm confused why the gov't thought by revealing Sam was a POW, this would turn his wife against him. It's not very hard to believe why he would hide that from her... What am I missing?
Andrew They said the son was killed by friendly fire. I wonder if it was intentional friendly fire and part of some bigger conspiracy against Marcus.
October 5, 2012 at 9:23AM ESTJohn
October 5, 2012 at 9:13AM EST Reply to CommentOk, it was definitely a bit more uneven than the pilot was, but it was still a good episode on the whole. I certainly don't think it was a "mess." Let's get the not-so-good stuff out of the way first. Most of the stuff in Washington (with the exception of Kylie clowning the "brain surgeon" in the bar) didn't work, especially all the stuff with Sam's wife. The show needs to figure out how to write that plot better. Also, the stuff with the bartender wasn't particularly strong either.
But, I liked pretty much everything involving the actual sailors on the submarine. I thought the reveal that Marcus' son had been killed was good, as was Sam's consoling him afterward. And I didn't think the action set piece was that bad. I mean, it wasn't 24 in its prime, but it was fine. And I thought the twist that the soldiers were Russians was interesting, as that adds another direction that the writers can pursue. And even though it was fairly predictable, I did like the SEAL riding to the rescue with his sniper rifle. I like his character quite a bit. I also liked the bit at the beginning with the other submarine, even if using an unarmed torpedo as a warning shot was also fairly predictable. It was still good stuff.
So, if the pilot was an A-, this was probably a solid B or B+. At this point, I'm much more worried about the ratings than the writing.
the minister No John, we must crush this blasphemy with our ragiest of nerd rages!
October 10, 2012 at 1:02AM ESTThen we must tell our love of three years that we aren't her friend, we are her One True Love... right before she leaves for, like, the Peace Corps or graduate schoool!
Because both these strategies have proven equally effective & we are nerds & because EVIDENCE.
(Okay, this was maybe a little AV Club, but you get my point.)
tag8833
October 5, 2012 at 9:17AM EST Reply to CommentWatching this, I was strongly reminded at how inept they were at casting ladies on this show. Autum Reeser is ridiculously unbelievable as a top tier scientist, but at least she seems like a competent actress. Daisy Betts on the other hand is awful, and equally miscast, and that is a problem.
I compared the pilot to the pilot of Jericho. If I continue that comparison, this episode is more akin to the "defend a bridge in Kansas" episode, which was by far the series low point. The idea that special forces would walk through the middle of a clearing that is wooded on the perimeter was silly. Almost as silly as a super prootype stealth device.
I like the idea that Andre Braugher is a little off his rocker. I also like the idea of that becoming an acceptable fact that everyone just decides to live with.
I didn't hate the Jessy Scram stuff as much as Alan, but I don't see where it is going long term. It feels like they need to get Jessy Schram and Autum Reeser to the Island ASAP so that they can forget about trying to service so many sets of characters.
Evan Don't think Reeser is meant to be a scientist but a salesman. That's more the impression I get and I can buy it. She's willing to do whatever it takes and has no morals. Makes sense.
October 5, 2012 at 9:23AM ESTThis episode was definitely uneven but I have faith for the next one.
Jacob Autumn Reeser's a lobbyist for a weapon's manufacturer, not a scientist. So yeah, salesperson is more apt.
October 5, 2012 at 12:04PM ESTthe minister She's basically a pharmaceutical rep, except smarter & for bigger needles. Scientist? Maybe I missed something, but I'm thinkin' not so much. Not currently anyway.
October 10, 2012 at 1:12AM ESTHISLOCAL
October 5, 2012 at 9:19AM EST Reply to CommentThis show makes me feel like such a chauvanist, because I can't stand any of the female characters.
The absolute worst is the super-sexy scientist on the mainland. Dear lord, it's like she's straight out of a Lifetime movie - "she really showed those men at the bar who the REAL tough guy is!!". As if it's not straining credibility enough that a top-level government nuclear scientist is also a supermodel-level beauty who's under 30 years old.
The Daisy Betts character is less grating, but I'd still rather see her be a regular girl who's struggling with being accepted by the men on the boat, especially since they feel she was promoted too soon due to nepotism. That's much more compelling than having her be a hard-as-nails officer who don't take no crap from no man.
The bartender girl is ok, obviously the most likely character to actually be a sexy 20-something. I like how she handles James, because he thinks he's some deep dark wounded badass, but she sees him as exactly the same as the other slobs who come in and get drunk. I don't mind their dynamic, but they need to lay off her mystic "I'm so connected to the island because I'm a humble islander, not a hustle-bustle city person like you tourists".
Overall, TV needs to stop trying so hard to make female characters that are "one of the guys", just as good at manly stuff as the boys, but also super sexy and scantily clad, so that nerds will tune in each week to see some side boob. It's just so tired and played out. Write some regular female characters, that are just regular girls and women. Write a character who could be male OR female, so that their whole personality isn't based on whether they fall into their gender stereotype, or heroically break out of it. It's stupid.
dc I don't think it's your fault. I think the misogyny, if anywhere, lies in the writing team for the show -- which seems unable to write a female character that doesn't fall into one of a set of preset archetypes. The grating weapons lobbyist, is as you say, easily the worst; the writers seem to want us to actively hate her, which is a strategy that doesn't have legs, narratively speaking. But none of the women characters here are as well developed as, say, Marcus. And your last paragraph is right on point: even the Daisy Betts character, which I seem to dislike less than other people here, seems to follow a kind of tired "G.I. Jane" storyline that should be kind of old news by now.
October 5, 2012 at 3:47PM ESTI hope they get back to the sub more next week. I'm all about the radar pings and taut, cut-air-with-knife tension of the Crimson Tide/Red October/Das Boot variety. I actually enjoyed that bit earlier in the show; submarine thrillers just always seem to me to be more intelligent or compelling than SEAL/SWAT team/action stuff.
Sareeta I don't see Grace as someone not wanting to take crap from the men. I see her facing a problem I imagine many women in the military face: getting taken seriously. I'm also glad that she's not getting coddled by Sam or Marcus, but is basically told that if she wants to be respected, she needs to prove herself. I think they could ease off on making nearly the entire crew of the sub a-holes. They seemed to get along pretty well before the incident in the pilot. Now they're completely turned against Marcus and Sam (and Grace).
October 5, 2012 at 5:44PM ESTJohn Yeah, I don't mind those characters as much as you guys do. I agree that it is a bit implausible for Autumn Reeser to be playing some kind of defense contractor, and the gratuitous scene with her in her underwear was the weakest of the pilot (it also makes it more difficult to take her seriously when literally the first thing we see is her taking her clothes off, which is a failure in the writing--just introduce her at a dinner or meeting). But still. I liked her smacking down that moron in the bar ("Hey, brain surgeon" was the funniest line of the episode). It didn't seem unbelievable that some idiot who had no idea what he was talking about would just casually throw out his "cruise missile" suggestion.
October 5, 2012 at 6:11PM ESTAs for Daisy Betts, I think her character is a bit more complex than the criticism is giving it credit for. The reason that she's having trouble garnering the crew's respect isn't primarily because she's a woman. That's not to say that it isn't part of it, but I think it has much more to do with her lack of experience and the accusations of nepotism. I think an inexperienced male officer who is the son of an admiral would have nearly as many problems. And then there's the fact that she killed one of the sailors. It was justified, but still. And even Marcus and Sam are having a bit of trouble keeping everyone in line because of their controversial decision to disobey an order. Shepard is supporting them, so the people who oppose them are going to target her too, especially because of the aforementioned inexperience and nepotism.
Mike.G
October 5, 2012 at 9:24AM EST Reply to CommentThere were some things in this episode I didn't like, but this seems like the kind of show that's going to need a long leash and some forgiveness from time to time. The only thing I object to so far is Autumn Reeser's character, which seems like it takes every horrible cliche from the I'm A Strong Yet Sexy Woman From a Bad Action Movie and mashes them together into a disgusting paste. I don't think this episode quite held up to the pilot, but the fact that they introduced the Russians was great...it was a bold move for the second episode of a show that could have spent more time plodding along a more predictable path. And Braugher is Braugher. Along with Giancarlo Esposito, I'd pay money to watch him read the phone book.
andrei
October 5, 2012 at 9:37AM EST Reply to CommentOther than the shootout scene (which was on the level of John Casey in "Chuck vs. the Masquerde"), I thought the episode was solid-but-not-spectacular. My one worry going forward is that there seems to be a lot more exposition / plot development on the Washington side of things, without enough strong characters to warrant spending our time there.
That being said, does anybody really believe that the "friend" of Sam's, who takes his wife from the interrogation room, is really on her side?
Craig "That being said, does anybody really believe that the "friend" of Sam's, who takes his wife from the interrogation room, is really on her side?"
October 5, 2012 at 4:42PM ESTThe show explicitly told us he's not. Before he even went into the room, he was promising the govt. agents that he would "cure her" of her faith and love.
Susan
October 5, 2012 at 9:46AM EST Reply to CommentI think Braugher is flirting with the idea of Chaplin being corrupted by power in his performance. He almost has to-as the excellent actor he is, he would be crazy NOT to. I think the writers have given him some seeds for that, but the question remains as to whether they themselves will really make that aspect of his character more complex as the show progresses, or leave him to portray as he sees fit.
This episode was clearly not as good as the premiere-not quite as awful as I had expected, but not as bad, either. Just . . . Flat in comparison. Agree w/Alan that the revelation about the death of Chaplin's son at the end was a great moment-let's see where they take all of this next week.
Teklanika
October 5, 2012 at 11:56AM EST Reply to CommentI liked it better than the pilot. I thought the pilot was far too rushed. It felt like things calmed down a bit in this one though there are still issues:
Why is Robert Patrick making such a big deal about the guy that girl killed? He had a gun on other members of the sub and threatened to kill them! You’d think she would bring that up as a defense as it seems some of the other crew members don’t seem to be grasping that.
I think they are missing a huge opportunity to humanize the crew and focus on what some of them are going through. I’m sure the crew is an absolute mess of emotions right now. I thought they added depth to the movie Crimson Tide this way.
Network TV is just too pretty. The girl on the sub just doesn’t resemble a woman who would be on a sub. Autumn Reesner, who still looks about 16 years old, just doesn’t pass muster as some kind of super tough genious at making super secret stuff for subs. The sets and the natives are just too clean for where they are supposed to be. It’s hard not to notice that stuff.
The drunken Seal guy act is already getting old.
The ratings haven’t been great for this show as it’s already in the “likely to be cancelled” cetegory on TV by the numbers. I’ll keep watching, but I fear it may not be long for this world.
John Re: your last point, the ratings have definitely been a bit of a disappointment, and I blame that mostly on ABC for that ridiculous time slot. Not only is it up against tough competition, but it doesn't fit *at all* with the three Shonda Rhimes shows on the same night. I have nothing against Shonda Rhimes. My sister works on one of those shows. But I can't imagine there's a lot of crossover between Last Resort and Private Practice. Moreover, what are they doing putting that kind of show on at 7 p.m. (at least in the Mountain Time Zone where I live) anyway? I actually missed the pilot when it aired because I thought it wouldn't be on before 8. I can't remember the last time I watched a drama at 7, and I don't think I'm the only one.
October 5, 2012 at 6:33PM ESTSo at this point, I'm just holding out hope that it gets to air all 13 episodes. I think it will because the ratings haven't been calamitous, and it is a good show. After that, my hope is that ABC wises up and moves it to a better time slot next fall, even if it's on Friday (I think it would be dangerous to move it in the middle of its first season). Barring that, I can hold out hope that a cable network (TNT seems like the best fit) would be interested in picking it up. I know that happens extremely rarely, but it's a good enough show that I'm going to hold out hope.
Jeremy Lowe
October 5, 2012 at 2:04PM EST Reply to CommentAnyone else notice how much James the Navy Seal looks like the one and only Tim Tebow? We have taken to just calling him that during the show, since I learned his real name by reading this review. He even had the 'T' symbol painted on his face! Teeeeebooooow!
damien
October 6, 2012 at 12:44AM EST Reply to CommentI find myself confused with regards to what is going on. This state of mystery or uncertainty was an asset in the pilot to set things up. However, a whole bunch of time has now passed with various communications taking place with the 'outside' world and it's still not clear what the heck is going on.
Now, a sense of mystery is fine and dandy in 'genre' shows, like Lost say, but here we're dealing with issues of global reach, set in the 'real' world, so surely we should have a better idea of what is actually going on?
I'm willing to give it a few more eps, but the writers had better shed light on what is going on and not rely on Lost's lamentable dog-chasing-its-own-tail copybook, as that's when I'll be calling it quits.
As for the characters, there are only three so far that stand out for me: Andre Braugher, Robert Patrick and Daisy Betts (who brings calm dignity to her role).
eddie willers
October 6, 2012 at 1:44AM EST Reply to CommentThe only way to save the show is to get Jessy Schram to the island....and into a bikini.
plat0n
October 6, 2012 at 5:51AM EST Reply to Comment*Spetsnaz )
manoJap
October 6, 2012 at 6:06AM EST Reply to CommentI literally laughed out loud when the wife held up three fingers and said, "Read between the lines."
OnlyMe
October 6, 2012 at 12:15PM EST Reply to CommentThe stuff with Sam's wife doesn't make sense. I mean, from a television producer POV, it does. She's a pretty blonde woman and they want her in the cast. But from the story's perspective - why would the navy waste time and resources on the XO's wife? It seems like an incredibly stupid method of trying to get the sub back or whatever the navy is trying to do.
And the arms dealer is still not a well integrated part of the show at best and annoying, obnoxious deadweight at worst
Hwat
October 6, 2012 at 5:51PM EST Reply to CommentThe problem is too much talking about personal matters from people I don't care about. And the wife is "played" by a lousy actor, as is the female soldier (and it seems very clicheish as well)
the minister The wife is actually really good on Falling Skies. Better as a bad girl, fo sho.
October 10, 2012 at 1:17AM EST- 1
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