Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Series premiere review: 'Last Resort' - 'Captain'

What did everybody think of the new ABC military thriller?

By Alan Sepinwall Thursday, Sep 27, 2012 9:00 PM

Scott Speedman in "Last Resort."

Credit: ABC

I posted my review of ABC's "Last Resort" yesterday. Now it's your turn. What did everybody think of the show? Did the writers make good use of Andre Braugher's gift of gab? Did you think Scott Speedman was up to working opposite him? Did the story flow well, or do you feel like there was too much of a rush to get the sub to the island? Too many characters? Not enough? Once we got to Hawaii, did you start waiting for Smokey to start clicking away? Did you like how they called it "Captain" instead of "Pilot" because of the setting? And will you watch again next week?

Have at it.

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Last Resort, Shawn Ryan, Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman

Next 69 Comments

Andrew

Not sure if the stuff off the sub/island was compelling, but I liked the stuff with the sub characters enough to stick around for sure for at least a couple weeks.
September 27, 2012 at 9:05PM EST Reply to Comment
- Susan I will definitely tune in next week. I'm a longtime Andre Braugher fan, first of all, and he was incredible as usual. A few slow or predictable moments, but overall this was a really tightly plotted (and packed w/plot!) and well-paced hour. Maybe they did rush to the island a bit-I actually didn't think we'd get there until the very end of the first hour or perhaps sometime during the second episode-but I'm hooked for now. Much, much better than REVOLUTION for sure (I feel dirty just mentioning it in the same post.)
  September 27, 2012 at 9:12PM EST
- Nevadasmith Well put and totally agree. I was thrown of by La Bamba and especially don't care for the black market leader of the island. Completely cartoonish. But anything Braugher does gets a pass for at lesst a few episodes.
  September 28, 2012 at 8:11AM EST
Julius

I'm siding with Dan on this show. It should be far more consistent within an episode to be an actual good show. Andre Braugher is great but everything else about this show was bad. Everything in DC, especially the awful transitions were just really bad. The character introduction for the "Sexy but competent exposition" girl was terrible. In addition to the terrible characters the tone was a bit all over the place. The show starts with tension on a nuclear sub, then quickly bounces to a sexy political drama then a wacky beach community romp. Stick with one, if just for the pilot (it probably didn't help that I recently saw Crimson Tide but still nuclear sub tension, you don't need anything besides that for 42 minutes).

I'm sticking around for Braugher but it better get good fast.
September 27, 2012 at 9:07PM EST Reply to Comment
- Col Bat Guano Yeah, they are going to need to pick a tone. I'm not sure the island stuff is going to work.
  September 27, 2012 at 9:33PM EST
- LDP in Cincinnati Agreed. I can't believe how much praise this show is getting. As you said, Andre Braugher is great, as usual; his scenes are riveting. Everything else is so, so bad.
  September 28, 2012 at 8:23AM EST
Susan

Per Julius' comment, I absolutely agree about the exposition for the "sexy tech expert." That was absolutely ridiculous and a huge misstep. On any show, not just this one.
September 27, 2012 at 9:16PM EST Reply to Comment
- DonBoy At that point I actually said, out loud, "No. No. No." (Or, to quote a Nassim Pedrad character from Saturday, "First of all, no, and second of all, don't.)
  September 27, 2012 at 11:00PM EST
- DonBoy But to answer the basic question, I'll watch again, if only to find out what this show IS.
  September 27, 2012 at 11:01PM EST
- jenfullmoon That was the worst exposition scene I have EVER seen. And I normally don't have a problem with exposition scenes. Made no sense in context whatsoever.
  
  On the other hand, I don't know if I can come up with any better way to tell that shit to the audience, either. She...designed something super awesome for the sub, so she knows it's not gone?
  September 28, 2012 at 11:18AM EST
War Chief Shake Zula

I thought it was great and I had no major issues w/ the secondary stuff, maybe because I'm looking at how they can direct/redirect those lines back into the sub plot and characters. Overall, I'm hooked.
September 27, 2012 at 9:24PM EST Reply to Comment
MG

Not good at all. As an active duty navy sailor, we want to see our service represented truthfully. Show wasn't accurate at all. I wouldn't expect people to understand if you haven't served in the navy and wear the uniform everyday. We take pride in our uniforms and our service. A rich history of pride, traditions, and honor. Wouldn't watch this show again. Thank god I serve and understand what truly goes on.
September 27, 2012 at 9:48PM EST Reply to Comment
- GarySF As a sub movie fan but non-miliary, I'd be interested to know your specific issues if you wouldn't mind, other than the central conceit of the show about a U.S. sub going rogue.
  September 27, 2012 at 11:31PM EST
- Sareeta I'm also curious what is being misrepresented, in your opinion. I wasn't aware, until reading about this show, that currently women can't serve on submarines. Personally, I think it is a good choice to allow them in this fictional world.
  September 28, 2012 at 7:21AM EST
- MG Yes, women can serve on subs now. First female officer graduayed sub school early last year in groton Ct. I believe there were 2 that graduated last yr. I didnt like how a lower ranking officer called out at the captain of the boat especially in front of other sailors by his first name. Navy capt. Don't take any BS from anybody especially sub commanders and noone tells him how to run his boat. I know is a show but do a show where if brought into a situation, what would really happen in real life. People out thhere are going to think that's how the real navy do things. That is not how its done. A lot of my friends were disappointed as well.
  September 28, 2012 at 10:02AM EST
- PWT I completely agree! That shouldn't really have happened! And when they turned the key for the missiles, I was waiting for him to say "mark" at the end of 3-2-1. Nope, didn't happen.
  September 28, 2012 at 1:26PM EST
- mcm99 Sorry but I just don't care. They did not make this show just for the active duty navy. If they did ot would look like a boring training video. This is fiction. Drama. It is not supposed to be that real.
  September 28, 2012 at 1:50PM EST
- pwt except I am NOT active military. No one in the family even remotely connected to the military. Just a chick who knows what she's watching and would care if a dog suddenly had 6 legs or the moon was made of cheese. Ficticious drama does not equal unrealistic nonsense, unless you were watching Game of Thrones where fantasy is the nom du jour.
  September 28, 2012 at 2:24PM EST
- west coast ram @ MCM99, you didn't have a problem with LaBamba playing on the Com, or the female sailor dancing up to the Captain and placing sunglasses on his face, or the twenty something weapons expert? I know that it is drama not real life but this would be like watching a medical drama and having the surgeons cutting with a butter knife. I love Shawn Ryan's work but this needs to be cleaned up.
  September 28, 2012 at 2:32PM EST
- barbarizia Awful,awful,awful. Why does Hollywood have to embellish and misrepresent the military? As a mom of an active duty daughter in the Navy (Seabee) here is what I saw:
  Yes, the Navy does drop protocol when crossing the equator. So playing "La Bamba" and placing sunglasses is not out of the realm of possibilities. (It is also custom to get a small "chicken foot" tattoo for each time you make an equator crossing.)
  Enlisted navy do not carry firearms as a rule. Access to firearms on a sub would be limited and secured.
  Enlisted would never question the authority of any ship's captain. Ever.
  Women do not currently serve on submarines.
  A good story does not have to embellish on the great tradition of the Navy. This only shows laziness on the part of the writers. It would be so much more interesting to have them react to these unknown circumstances within the confines of actual protocol. I'll watch one more week and then I'm done.
  Also welcome any comment and corrections from actual Navy about my comments here. Love you guys!
  September 28, 2012 at 7:13PM EST
- dan Barbarizia - Women have been serving on subs since this summer, albeit not on all classes of submarines. "Last Resort" also doesn't take place in the literal present and here-and-now. There are some liberties being taken. But the women-on-subs? That's happening.
  
  -Daniel
  September 28, 2012 at 8:54PM EST
JJ

I liked it. However, it came across to me as a Military version of Gilligan's Island. But I will keep watching! (I was also a fan of the failed show E-Ring.)
September 27, 2012 at 10:06PM EST Reply to Comment
- tag8833 It is most evocative to me of a Star Trek series. Next Generation or perhaps Deep Space Nine.
  September 28, 2012 at 10:41AM EST
- VisionOn I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Terra Nova, because that's what I thought when they entered the village. The social groups are the same, they live in a remote compound away from civilization, they will no doubt have a power struggle between military and civilians, some of them will be spies, the rebel/gangsters will try to take over (and I expect form a grudging alliance), kids will get into scrapes and become friends with the cool but detached crew ...
  
  the only thing that's missing are dinosaurs and there were never very many of those in Terra Nova anyway.
  September 28, 2012 at 4:31PM EST
- JJ @Tag8833, I can also agree with your comment, although I'd go more with the Star Trek Prequel that had Scott Bakula in it.
  September 28, 2012 at 7:17PM EST
michael_romero

I'm on board (pardon the pun). I am not 100% sure how they will keep this up, and for parts of it I almost kept waiting for it to turn into Crimson Tide, but I think there is some promise.
September 27, 2012 at 10:30PM EST Reply to Comment
debbie

I liked it. The setup was complex but accessible, the characters actions made sense for the most part and I am interested in what happens next.

This means it will be cancelled for sure.
September 27, 2012 at 10:44PM EST Reply to Comment
Ted

Was great overall. The Sexy! and Sassy! technology executive in Washington as to go, every scene she was in was excruciating, but the sub and island sections were excellent.
September 27, 2012 at 10:49PM EST Reply to Comment
GarySF

Thought the pacing was good and there was lots of drama. Production values were mostly impressive for broadcast television, but I'm skeptical whether that will continue beyond the pilot. I do hope the submarine and hardware remain an integral part of the overall story, rather than a distant object in the harbor.

Someone else mentioned bad transitions, and I thought one in particular was pretty jarring. When Chaplin learns the B-1 bombers are en route, he orders the whole crew to return to the sub immediately, and the VERY NEXT SHOT shows them all aboard the sub. Not very deft.
September 27, 2012 at 11:37PM EST Reply to Comment
Craig

Loved the pilot. Glad to finally have another show fulfilling my dual needs for shamelessly over-the-top mystery and sweeping island vistas.

I'm still curious how exactly they got to French Polynesia, when the show begins (presumably) off the coast of Pakistan. I don't know how fast a sub travels exactly, but I really doubt they can cover a quarter of the planet in the short span of time the show seems to give them.

It also sort of annoys me that Scott Speedman is the focus of the poster campaign. It's not even like there's alternate Braugher and Speedman posters, and the Speedman version is just getting more play because he's young and sexy. They blatantly, shamelessly are using the young white guy as the face of the show, which doesn't sit right with me. Judging by the pilot, Braugher is CLEARLY the lead. It should be either him out front, or stick to ensemble shots.
September 27, 2012 at 11:42PM EST Reply to Comment
- Matthew Actually, the way the pilot went I'm not so sure that Braugher is fully the main character. They seemed to focus more on Speedman than Braugher, not by much, but i do think he got more focus. It was his wife that they showed, and he was in more scenes than Braugher.
  
  Braugher may be the captain of the boat and the one in charge, but it seems like as far as character focus goes(even if it is only after one episode) Speedman is just as much a main character as him.
  September 28, 2012 at 3:24AM EST
- berkowit28 Could they be on a French island off Madagascar or Seychelles? (There are quite a few.) That's just the other side of the Arabian Sea from Pakistan.
  September 28, 2012 at 8:57AM EST
- tag8833 I think that was the original version of Star Trek the Next Generation. Riker was going to be the primary focus character with Picard being a secondary character. That was, I assume, until they cast Patrick Stewart, and realized that he elevated the show so dramatically.
  
  I imagine they will make a similar adjustment here.
  September 28, 2012 at 10:47AM EST
Scott Rosenberg

I'll tune in for more, but overall I was disappointed by the show. For one, the lion's share of the actors were stuck in a charisma vacuum...not enough to buy in, at least with the exposition we were given. More significantly, though, it felt like watching Lost for the first time in the middle of a later season, if Lost was co-exec'd by Tom Clancy. We were privy to, in all of 42 minutes:
(1) shadow US government elements instigating a war with Pakistan for as-yet-undisclosed;
(2) a submarine with top secret stealth prototype technology;
(3) a Navy SEAL team operating by it's own rules with an as-yet-undisclosed agenda; and
(4) an island mob boss with as-yet-undisclosed illicit dealings.

In short, way way WAY too much conspiracy right out of the gate, to the extent that I'm almost expecting to go the way of The Event or Heroes S3-5, which is to say, awful television.

On Alan's recommend I'll be back for a few more episodes, but given the power of the premise, the creative team and Andre Braugher, a sizeable disappointment.
September 28, 2012 at 12:01AM EST Reply to Comment
Haik Mendelovich

Loved it.

For me, the best network pilot since Lost.

One big technical boo-boo. Sub-launched ballistic missiles cannot be "self-destructed" in flight. You launch, they go all the way to target.

Other than that, I'm hooked. No idea how they're gonna resolve the coup-plotlines to keep them all on the island, but I'm hooked anyway.
September 28, 2012 at 12:24AM EST Reply to Comment
- VisionOn As mentioned above, the show has very poor technical accuracy and everything about the missile was wrong.
  
  For a show that is basing itself around nuclear war and missiles as deterrents they could at least have got some basic technical facts correct. Tridents contain multiple warheads which they deploy in mid-air that are capable of striking multiple targets at once. It's not just one warhead sat on a rocket.
  
  The producers must have been watching the same dumb use of a nuclear missile in Ghost Protocol.
  September 28, 2012 at 4:37PM EST
tag8833

This pilot was really, really good. The best network pilot since Jericho. Great premise, on par with Revolution, but with a much better cast, and seemily better writing.

Andre Braugher was great. He brought so much credibility to this show, which it desperately, desperately needed.

Scott Speedman was servicable, but very bland.

Daisy Betts was not good. She is clearly in over her head in that role. Easy on the eyes does not justify lack of acting ability for such a pivitol role. She should have been cast with someone more like Rhona Mitra who is much more convincing as a female officer over on strike back.

Autumn Reeser was miscast. I mean we are talking about Elizabeth Shue as a nuclear scientist level of miscasting. I understand why they wanted to have Autumn Reeser on this show, but they needed to create a more believable role for her.

Robert Patrick was too over the top. I hope he is gone, or toned down in future episodes.

Daniel Lissing had a good screne pressence. A little trouble delivering the "I did it. I caused this". He should have gone small instead of big with it. Partially the directors fault.

Lastly, I feel like the pilot setup far too many characters in far too many places. I feel like they are going to have alot of trouble servicing all of these characters every episode. I feel like they should stick to those on the sub, and those on the island. The characters in Washington are going to be nearly impossible to incooperate in future episodes. The show would have been better serviced by expanding the roles of some of the other sub crew. Perhaps a Doctor or Nuclear Engineer. I'll bet the writers have made this realization by now, and I'm eager to see how they adjust.
September 28, 2012 at 12:57AM EST Reply to Comment
- pwt Totally agree!! Although I'm prepared to cut Daisy Betts some slack seeing as she didn't really have anything major to do this ep.
  
  Scott Speedman - he's just too pretty boy for me to take seriously. I see him and I see Felicity. :-/
  
  Let's imagine that Andre Braugher is not playing the captain. Would you give this show another chance? Absolutely not! He MAKES the show esp this too-much-happening pilot. But there's only so much goodwill the show can ride on. I miss him on my screen and I will watch a few more eps at least.
  September 28, 2012 at 1:43PM EST
Mike

The female technology "expert" needs to meet with an oncoming bus very quickly. The first underwear scene was excruciating enough - but somehow each succeeding scene she was in actually kept getting worse! I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but the pilot was kind of a jumbled mess. A pro-Reagan spiel 10 minutes in certainly didn't connect. I already dislike over half the cast. For Andre Braugher, I am sticking it out for two more eps.
September 28, 2012 at 2:01AM EST Reply to Comment
- Matthew Pro Reagan spiel? I think you are over politicizing that. That bit of dialogue wasn't there to put Reagan on a pedestal or anything it was to set up what the captain would do later in the episode. That he will act just crazy enough to get the US to back off his sub.
  
  Shawn Ryan said on twitter that the Reagan story was real. I don't think it was trying to put Reagan in favorable light, just trying to get people to have more insight into why Braugher would let the missile go all the way rather than destructing it in the air.
  September 28, 2012 at 3:29AM EST
- Brian I don't know if Autumn Reeser is supposed to be an "expert" per se - she's a weapons lobbyist. She's basically a Pharma Girl for the Pentagon. So it makes sense that she would be hot and slutty. ;) Sure, she's going to be fairly knowledgeable (she has to sell the stuff, after all), but she's not supposed to be the designer of the tech or anything. She's not supposed to be nuclear physicist (like, say, Denise Richards in a Bond movie). *That* would be epic miscasting. But I think she's fine for what the role calls for.
  September 28, 2012 at 5:28PM EST
mike

The "sexy" technology chick needs to meet her end with an oncoming bus immediately. The pilot was a mess, but she was a major distraction. For Andre Braugher, I will give this 2 more eps, but the implausibility factor, and so many unlikable characters may make keeping with this difficult.
September 28, 2012 at 2:07AM EST Reply to Comment
Kevin

I was incredibly disappointed with the pilot as a whole. I love Andre Braugher, but I agree with other posters about the lack of quality acting and writing of the other characters. The multi-conspiracy/teases just didn't resonate with me. I can't see where this show possibly goes from here. Much prefer Revolution.
September 28, 2012 at 2:08AM EST Reply to Comment
Jason

Everything on the sub was good. Everything in DC felt clunky. Shawn Ryan was tweeting that were going more for tension over action, and I felt that could have been done better if we stayed on the sub and in the dark about what was going on.

But I'm in. After the big letdown that was/is "Revolution," this hit the mark with me. It's not a home run, but it's a solid double off the wall.
September 28, 2012 at 2:11AM EST Reply to Comment
- tag8833 I agree. I think my disappointment with Revolution, perhaps allowed me to view this more favorably than I would have if Revolution never existed.
  September 28, 2012 at 10:57AM EST
troopermsu

Speedman in this role seems too sensitive. Practically whispering many of his lines. Using his higher register often. A wishy-washy character so far. But...I liked the pilot & will keep watching. It did feel rushed to me. Maybe it should have been a 90 minute pilot.
September 28, 2012 at 2:41AM EST Reply to Comment
- ghoti Scott Speedman has been whispering his whole life. It's his trademark.
  September 28, 2012 at 4:33AM EST
- Sareeta This comment made me laugh. I was thinking the same thing, but I can forgive it because he's Scott Speedman and very, very attractive.
  September 28, 2012 at 7:24AM EST
Matthew

I will keep watching for sure. This is just such an interesting premise that I have to stick with it for a while to see how it will work out. Was it truly great? No. Was it even the best network pilot since LOST? Nope(That was Friday Night Lights).

But this show probably has one of the highest degrees of difficult in terms of making it work(24 and LOST might be the only ones on it level as far as Network TV goes) that it is going to have kinks here and there. For some reason in this day and age TV shows need to be great out of the box or people won't care. When a lot of very good shows in the past actually stumbled or had very uneven first seasons. Last Resort was interesting enough, and actually good enough that I am willing to give them a full season to work it out, unless it gets offensively bad for some reason. But even if it stays only as good as the pilot I think that is still better than most other Network TV shows.
September 28, 2012 at 3:38AM EST Reply to Comment
- tag8833 I actually think that the concept has a lower degree of difficulty than something that has been done to death like some cop, lawyer, or doctor show.
  
  People will tune in because it is something different. For Example: The Walking Dead.
  September 28, 2012 at 11:00AM EST
- jack_is_laughing "For some reason in this day and age TV shows need to be great out of the box or people won't care."
  
  If they spend a quarter of their season budget on the pilot, hire a name-brand director, and promote the hell out of it, I think it's reasonable to judge a pilot sharply. Pilot used to be just pilots, and TV shows were allowed an entire first season to progress and find their way. That's simply not the case anymore. The networks have cancelled high-concept shows 6 and even 3 episodes into their first season. If the network doesn't intend to give a drama a fair chance to find itself, then why should viewers?
  September 28, 2012 at 4:26PM EST
- Matthew To TAG8833 I'm not talking about degree of difficulty to get people to tune in. I'm talking about being able to make it a quality show. It is easy to make a procedural watchable. There is a formula that you can follow that is there for you. This show is not a procedural, and even for serialized dramas is a hard plot to even nail down to make for a 42 minute episode that can stand by itself and add into the overall narrative. This isn't a cable show, it is a network show, and there really isn't anything close it, or even anything that has come before that has been close to it. I want to see how they can make a good story out of that.
  
  And to Jack is Laughing. I'm not talking about judging the pilot sharply. You can judge it harsh, but to be out after one episode if you found it interesting. That seems to be the wrong way to go. And the reason why a lot of high concept series get cancelled is because fans don't stick with it and the ratings are bad to where the networks won't justify putting money into the budget. To be fair though, a lot of the most recent high concept shows have not been good. The Event was horrible. Flash Forward was not that good either. Last Resort on the other hand while bumpy is for sure better than those shows, and should get better. This should be a show that should improve as the people involved figure it out more, and I think that is why people should give a shot. It isn't asking anyone to watch a bad show, it is asking them to watch an uneven show with lots of potential.
  
  Buffy the Vampire Slayer's first season was not good what so ever, but people stuck through with that and it got way better.
  
  The X-Files was not great in the first season, it got better for the middle seasons by a lot.
  
  Star Trek The Next Generation was complete and utter crap for 2 whole seasons, and it eventually became really damn good. Keeping with Star Trek, DS9 was average but then became the best Star Trek series later on.
  
  Now, I'm not saying people should stick with a show for seasons, but at least the initial 13 episode order if you find it interesting, and let's say half of it good, then I think people should stick around and let it get its footing.
  
  Networks are already wary about making shows like this, if they keep failing(like I said though, part of that is because a lot of them recently have been actual crap)then Networks will keep playing it safe and just rolling out CSI like shows that fit into some mold.
  September 28, 2012 at 10:10PM EST
ghoti

Whatever. It's got Andre Braugher, Shawn Ryan and Autumn Reeser in her underwear.

I have 40 minutes a week to spend on that as long as it's around.
September 28, 2012 at 4:35AM EST Reply to Comment
Sareeta

What I found most promising about the pilot was that final scene, where Marcus tells Sam maybe they're not leaving the island. I feel like there is something else triggering this action, like getting attacked by the US pushed him over the edge, but he was already feeling disenfranchised and this was his excuse to go rogue.

I think Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick have the more interesting relationship, but am still curious to see the impact this decision has one Sam and Grace. The stuff back in Washington is less compelling, mainly because I don't really like the characters they've presented. Considering the U.S. apparently fired on Pakistan, the worldwide implications should be interesting. Will this spark a 3rd world war?

The interaction with the island characters will be fun to watch, though I'm disappointed that we are apparently going to get more scenes of that Navy seal sulking around with the Dollhouse actress.
September 28, 2012 at 7:41AM EST Reply to Comment
- magbot What Sareeta said! When Braugher said in that last scene "maybe this is home now..." I had a brief moment where I thought Wow, maybe they'll take a Breaking Bad track with this character, and have him turn from honorable/principled into a crazed megalomaniac over the course of the series. That would be SO much more interesting than watching him be all noble every week, right? And who could do it better than Andre Braugher, with that I-Could-Eat-You-For-Lunch grin?
  
  But I'm sure that's way too much to hope for from broadcast television.
  
  September 28, 2012 at 9:47AM EST
- tag8833 It made me fear for Braugher a bit. They could slowly reveal his crazy over time ending the season with a crimson tide scenario where Speedman takes command.
  
  I like the captain as principled, competent, and played by an actor with Gravitas. Speedman is not up to the task.
  September 28, 2012 at 11:04AM EST
- pwt Yes, the Dichen Lichman character is way too predictable.
  September 28, 2012 at 1:47PM EST
bitchstolemyremote

Loved it. Felt appropriately epic, fast paced and filled with people I want to know more about (except perhaps Simon, the island crime lord). Am looking forward to more time on character development, though, since we still don't really know much about these people.

Looking forward to ep 2! Our take: http://wp.me/p1VQBq-1sU
September 28, 2012 at 9:02AM EST Reply to Comment
andrei

Very intriguing, but a bit exposition-dense - if any show could benefit from a two-hour pilot, it's this one. The first hour should have ended with the sub surfacing in the island harbor, leaving all of the island scenes for later.

(This was actually was one of the bits that pulled me out of the show for a moment - no way that harbor can be deep enough for a nuclear sub!)

The Washington scenes, in particular, could have used some fleshing out (pardon the pun, in the case of the technichal babe). Too many conversations were held just long enough to get the exposition out, then the heavies came into shut down the phone, or the power, or whatever. I realize that Braugher and the crew are the big draw here, but the short shrift given to the other arena does a disservice to the show as a whole.

On the whole, I liked it, and am definitely on board for a while (sorry, couldn't resist!).

.
September 28, 2012 at 9:11AM EST Reply to Comment
Melissa

It was terrible. It is never a good sign when a viewer clicks out of the show at the point the tension ramps up. Stereotypical characters woodenly delivering trite dialogue cribbed from Crimson Tide. Would this have been better if shot as a 2 hour pilot? No, it would have been 90 minutes of bad instead of 42.
September 28, 2012 at 10:16AM EST Reply to Comment
- bvg agree.
  September 29, 2012 at 11:17AM EST
fion

I really want to like this show, because Shawn Ryan plus nuclear subs sounds like it should be awesome. That being said, I wish the pilot had been split into (at least) two separate episodes, and Alan's previous comments about uneven quality going forward leaves me apprehensive.

I don't particularly mind anything on the island, but it felt like the show was cramming WAY too many characters and plot-lines into their pilot (captain?) to give any one of them the concentration they deserved. While I understand why the writers wanted to get the set-up and exposition out of the way to (hopefully) spend time with meatier stories in the future, I found the sequence in which Braugher launches a nuke at the US to be particularly mishandled.

Because, let's think about this for a second. This captain (and most of his crew) have decided to defy an order from the US government to fire on Pakistan because they weren't sure of the validity...and then, their next move is to launch a missile at Washington D.C.? The fake-out with targeting the missile 200 miles (I think) east of the coast felt like a cheap trick, seeing as Braugher's order never mentions any target or coordinates (so he had this location in the middle of the ocean on...quickdial, or something?) and the rest of his crew seems legitimately relieved when they end up NOT destroying America's capital. Didn't seem to object to launching a nuke, though. Whatever.

(Also, firing a nuke into a random plot of ocean near the US coast still doesn't seem particularly safe to me. I'd give the show serious props for having the fallout from this stunt being a destroyed cargo ship or something along those lines.)

Needless to say, I would have preferred the dramatic decision to aim weapons at the United States to be saved for a later episode, once we've already gotten to know these characters. The shot I would have chosen to end the first episode would have been the sub rising out of the water in front of the island, because that was awesome enough. Then, scrap everything that isn't on the sub itself, and give us forty minutes to get to know the few people relevant to the decision-making process, and live the drama through their eyes. The comparisons to Crimson Tide are a compliment, but, so far, Last Resort is failing to live up to them.
September 28, 2012 at 10:19AM EST Reply to Comment
belassoff

Write a comment...This may just be me, but I kept thinking this show could have worked as the next Star Trek series. Imagine if something was wrong with the Federation and a Star Trek flagship had a super secret new weapon that could wipe out the Romulan empire. Same idea, the crew goes rogue and takes over a colony or space station or whatever. I wish this would have happened because the pilot of this series was cool but it has no legs.
September 28, 2012 at 10:37AM EST Reply to Comment
- Robin I agree -- this would've made a good SF series premise, perhaps better than a rogue nuclear sub. I still enjoyed the episode a lot, but I keep thinking they are boxed into a very tight corner with the current setup.
  September 28, 2012 at 12:41PM EST
belassoff

This may just be me, but I kept thinking this show could have worked as the next Star Trek series. Imagine if something was wrong with the Federation and a Star Trek flagship had a super secret new weapon that could wipe out the Romulan empire. Same idea, the crew goes rogue and takes over a colony or space station or whatever. I wish this would have happened because the pilot of this series was cool but it has no legs.
September 28, 2012 at 10:37AM EST Reply to Comment
bvg

Didn't think much of the writing, the acting or the direction, if the pilot is the peak, I have little hope for this series.
September 28, 2012 at 1:48PM EST Reply to Comment
Swearin

"Did the story flow well, or do you feel like there was too much of a rush to get the sub to the island?"

It strained against it's 45m-ish runtime. This is the kind of show that does best with a 2 hr pilot episode, but of course, network TV doesn't really do that anymore. It seemed they jumped from happy, loyal little soldiers to almost-dead to revenge seekers to probably-dead to crazy island nation builders all one right after the other, like marking boxes on a checklist. Hopefully, now that the premise and the stakes are established, it will be a better flow.

And I couldn't help but think of the "Lost" comparison too during that last wide shot of the jungle after they took over the communications station (The Hydra, perhaps?)
September 29, 2012 at 3:09AM EST Reply to Comment
- Swearin Yeah, I meant The Flame. Don't take back my Lost nerd card
  September 29, 2012 at 3:13AM EST

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Andrew Not sure if the stuff off the sub/island was compelling, but I liked the stuff with the sub characters enough to stick around for sure for at least a couple weeks.

Nevadasmith Well put and totally agree. I was thrown of by La Bamba and especially don't care for the black market leader of the island. Completely cartoonish. But anything Braugher does gets a pass for at lesst a few episodes.

Col Bat Guano Yeah, they are going to need to pick a tone. I'm not sure the island stuff is going to work.

LDP in Cincinnati Agreed. I can't believe how much praise this show is getting. As you said, Andre Braugher is great, as usual; his scenes are riveting. Everything else is so, so bad.

Susan Per Julius' comment, I absolutely agree about the exposition for the "sexy tech expert." That was absolutely ridiculous and a huge misstep. On any show, not just this one.

DonBoy At that point I actually said, out loud, "No. No. No." (Or, to quote a Nassim Pedrad character from Saturday, "First of all, no, and second of all, don't.)

DonBoy But to answer the basic question, I'll watch again, if only to find out what this show IS.

War Chief Shake Zula I thought it was great and I had no major issues w/ the secondary stuff, maybe because I'm looking at how they can direct/redirect those lines back into the sub plot and characters. Overall, I'm hooked.

GarySF As a sub movie fan but non-miliary, I'd be interested to know your specific issues if you wouldn't mind, other than the central conceit of the show about a U.S. sub going rogue.

Sareeta I'm also curious what is being misrepresented, in your opinion. I wasn't aware, until reading about this show, that currently women can't serve on submarines. Personally, I think it is a good choice to allow them in this fictional world.

PWT I completely agree! That shouldn't really have happened! And when they turned the key for the missiles, I was waiting for him to say "mark" at the end of 3-2-1. Nope, didn't happen.

mcm99 Sorry but I just don't care. They did not make this show just for the active duty navy. If they did ot would look like a boring training video. This is fiction. Drama. It is not supposed to be that real.

dan Barbarizia - Women have been serving on subs since this summer, albeit not on all classes of submarines. "Last Resort" also doesn't take place in the literal present and here-and-now. There are some liberties being taken. But the women-on-subs? That's happening.-Daniel

JJ I liked it. However, it came across to me as a Military version of Gilligan's Island. But I will keep watching! (I was also a fan of the failed show E-Ring.)

tag8833 It is most evocative to me of a Star Trek series. Next Generation or perhaps Deep Space Nine.

JJ @Tag8833, I can also agree with your comment, although I'd go more with the Star Trek Prequel that had Scott Bakula in it.

michael_romero I'm on board (pardon the pun). I am not 100% sure how they will keep this up, and for parts of it I almost kept waiting for it to turn into Crimson Tide, but I think there is some promise.

debbie I liked it. The setup was complex but accessible, the characters actions made sense for the most part and I am interested in what happens next.This means it will be cancelled for sure.

Ted Was great overall. The Sexy! and Sassy! technology executive in Washington as to go, every scene she was in was excruciating, but the sub and island sections were excellent.

berkowit28 Could they be on a French island off Madagascar or Seychelles? (There are quite a few.) That's just the other side of the Arabian Sea from Pakistan.

mike The "sexy" technology chick needs to meet her end with an oncoming bus immediately. The pilot was a mess, but she was a major distraction. For Andre Braugher, I will give this 2 more eps, but the implausibility factor, and so many unlikable characters may make keeping with this difficult.

tag8833 I agree. I think my disappointment with Revolution, perhaps allowed me to view this more favorably than I would have if Revolution never existed.

troopermsu Speedman in this role seems too sensitive. Practically whispering many of his lines. Using his higher register often. A wishy-washy character so far. But...I liked the pilot & will keep watching. It did feel rushed to me. Maybe it should have been a 90 minute pilot.

ghoti Scott Speedman has been whispering his whole life. It's his trademark.

Sareeta This comment made me laugh. I was thinking the same thing, but I can forgive it because he's Scott Speedman and very, very attractive.

tag8833 I actually think that the concept has a lower degree of difficulty than something that has been done to death like some cop, lawyer, or doctor show. People will tune in because it is something different. For Example: The Walking Dead.

ghoti Whatever. It's got Andre Braugher, Shawn Ryan and Autumn Reeser in her underwear.I have 40 minutes a week to spend on that as long as it's around.

tag8833 It made me fear for Braugher a bit. They could slowly reveal his crazy over time ending the season with a crimson tide scenario where Speedman takes command. I like the captain as principled, competent, and played by an actor with Gravitas. Speedman is not up to the task.

pwt Yes, the Dichen Lichman character is way too predictable.

bvg agree.

Robin I agree -- this would've made a good SF series premise, perhaps better than a rogue nuclear sub. I still enjoyed the episode a lot, but I keep thinking they are boxed into a very tight corner with the current setup.

bvg Didn't think much of the writing, the acting or the direction, if the pilot is the peak, I have little hope for this series.

Swearin Yeah, I meant The Flame. Don't take back my Lost nerd card

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Andrew

Not sure if the stuff off the sub/island was compelling, but I liked the stuff with the sub characters enough to stick around for sure for at least a couple weeks.

Susan

Per Julius' comment, I absolutely agree about the exposition for the "sexy tech expert." That was absolutely ridiculous and a huge misstep. On any show, not just this one.

War Chief Shake Zula

I thought it was great and I had no major issues w/ the secondary stuff, maybe because I'm looking at how they can direct/redirect those lines back into the sub plot and characters. Overall, I'm hooked.

dan Barbarizia - Women have been serving on subs since this summer, albeit not on all classes of submarines. "Last Resort" also doesn't take place in the literal present and here-and-now. There are some liberties being taken. But the women-on-subs? That's happening.

-Daniel

JJ

I liked it. However, it came across to me as a Military version of Gilligan's Island. But I will keep watching! (I was also a fan of the failed show E-Ring.)

michael_romero

I'm on board (pardon the pun). I am not 100% sure how they will keep this up, and for parts of it I almost kept waiting for it to turn into Crimson Tide, but I think there is some promise.

debbie

I liked it. The setup was complex but accessible, the characters actions made sense for the most part and I am interested in what happens next.

This means it will be cancelled for sure.

Ted

Was great overall. The Sexy! and Sassy! technology executive in Washington as to go, every scene she was in was excruciating, but the sub and island sections were excellent.

mike

The "sexy" technology chick needs to meet her end with an oncoming bus immediately. The pilot was a mess, but she was a major distraction. For Andre Braugher, I will give this 2 more eps, but the implausibility factor, and so many unlikable characters may make keeping with this difficult.

troopermsu

Speedman in this role seems too sensitive. Practically whispering many of his lines. Using his higher register often. A wishy-washy character so far. But...I liked the pilot & will keep watching. It did feel rushed to me. Maybe it should have been a 90 minute pilot.

tag8833 I actually think that the concept has a lower degree of difficulty than something that has been done to death like some cop, lawyer, or doctor show.

People will tune in because it is something different. For Example: The Walking Dead.

ghoti

Whatever. It's got Andre Braugher, Shawn Ryan and Autumn Reeser in her underwear.

I have 40 minutes a week to spend on that as long as it's around.

tag8833 It made me fear for Braugher a bit. They could slowly reveal his crazy over time ending the season with a crimson tide scenario where Speedman takes command.

I like the captain as principled, competent, and played by an actor with Gravitas. Speedman is not up to the task.

bvg

Didn't think much of the writing, the acting or the direction, if the pilot is the peak, I have little hope for this series.

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