Recap: THE LAST SHIP – In the Dark

[photos courtesy TNT]

 

 

Episode 307: “In the Dark”
Written by Katie Swain
Directed by Steven Kane

We are about half way through season 3 and I really can’t believe it. This season started with celebrations and the continued spread of the cure. It was months after the end of last season, and it was assumed that the cure was being spread without any problems, or so the crew thought. While celebrating in Vietnam, some members of the crew were kidnapped and held hostage for their blood! Captain Tom Chandler (Eric Dane) takes back command of the USS Nathan James to find and rescue Captain Slattery (Adam Baldwin) and the rest of the crew taken hostage. With twist, turns, and action packed episodes, Chandler reunites the crew of the USS Nathan James! I’ve been here for all of it! You can read all my recaps here!

Reunited and it feels so good! I believe I’ve just aged myself with that song lyric, but it sure does feel good to have the entire USS Nathan James crew on the ship together. There is also a sadness that goes with that reunion. Crew members were lost and the letter read by Green (Travis Van Winkle) to Cruz’s (Ness Bautista) sister says it all. It was a very poignant moment as was watching Miller (Kevin Michael Martin) break down and Andrea Garnett (Fay Masterson) not really knowing what to say or do, but knowing that not saying anything and doing nothing was the right thing to do. It was a perfect scene.

Now, Takehaya (Hiroyuki Sanada) is on board and has basically decided to tell all he knows about the cure they received that didn’t work. Turns out his blood has the virus and cure. The cure just doesn’t work and nobody seems to understand why. Perhaps it was tampered with on the dock? Takehaya assures them it was not. He was in charge of it, his men distributed it. They watched everyone die.

Takehaya’s son is born on the USS Nathan James. Chandler allows him to witness the birth. The humanity and decency Chandler and Slattery show Takehaya is amazing. They know he’s not the enemy, but they also know that he knows more than he’s telling. Chandler urges Takehaya to give his son the cure. Takehaya agrees. This is another great scene by Hiroyuki Sanada.

Besides Slattery, Andrea Garnett is one of the first of the hostage crew to return to her post. It is really good to see her there working the current problem. The problem: Chinese destroyers in the water chasing the USS Nathan James. There are about four or five and they are all after the ship. It reminded me of a great game of Hide and Go Seek and Battleship. And where do they hide? In a minefield that Takehaya built! He takes the helm and leads them right out of it. One of the Chinese ships tries to follow them and … boom. The others just run off. Problem averted for now. Chandler and Slattery continue to question Takehaya. He finally tells them again that he is NOT working for Peng (Fernando Chien), but it was a smuggler that gave him the information about the crew being in Vietnam. The smuggler’s name was Wu Ming (Allen Theosky Rowe). Yeah, remember THAT guy? Neither did I, until Chandler said, “He has my watch.” Which means Chandler found the source of all these problems in episode three of this season!

Back in St. Louis, things are bad and getting worse. They have not heard a word from the USS Nathan James. Remember, they had to shut down communications because of the big Hide and Go Seek game. There’s also a great scene on the ship where they turn off all the lights and we (the audience) get a chance for our “eyes to adjust” to the darkness. It was really cool, I watched that twice. I thought, oh, that’s the meaning of the title “In the Dark”. Okay, back to the mess in St. Louis. Jacob Barnes (Devon Gummersall), the reporter, goes and interviews Dr. Scott’s killer. He tells Jacob about POTUS bringing his infected son back to his own secure location and how it ended up killing tens of thousands of people, because POTUS (who wasn’t POTUS at the time) didn’t know his son was sick. Jacob then comes back to Michener (Mark Moses) and shows him the video recording of the interview. Now, those of us that remember when they found Michener, he was in a very bad state. He was guilt-stricken and just lost. It was Chandler who was able to “bring in back”, so to speak and have him believe that he was strong enough to forgive himself and lead the country. Jacob takes the story public. Michener gives a public apology. This is when I get a really sick feeling in my stomach. Things are bad. Michener still has not heard from Chandler, he’s “In the Dark”.

Kara Green (Marissa Neitling) finally hears from Chandler and she rushes to Michener’s quarters to tell him. She finds him dead. He’s committed suicide. Oh, it was shocking … but then again, it wasn’t. It’s the end of an era and it’s definitely a mid-season cliff hanger, without the mid-season break. It’s right back to the action next week ….

What did you think of this week’s episode? Share your comments below!

The Last Ship airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on TNT.

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