The Last Ship – Review
Sometimes I encounter a television show that I like and then follow along as each season is released. Most often, if there is a series that fits with my interests, I usually discover it while it still is on the air. Rarely do I discover show years after it finished. But the Last Ship is one of those.
Despite the fact that I am still finishing a few other series, I was scrolling through Netflix and encountered this show. It was about the military. Check. It had a post-apocalyptic element. Check. It has multiple seasons and good reviews. Check.
Despite all of this, I expected it to be really bad since I was encountering it ten years after it started and had never heard of it before. I was wrong.
Here is the premise. The American navy ship , the USS Nathan James, is in the Arctic on exercise and under radio silence as part of their SOP. They also have two scientists doing some experiments in the ice while the ship does its thing. The crew eagerly looks forward to returning home.
But when they are allowed radio contact again, no one is answering their calls. What they discover is that while they have been away, worldwide pandemic has broken out, one that has a 100% death rate for all who get sick. The majority of the world is dead or dying.
Luck for them, those scientists on board were the real mission and they were looking for a cure for the “red plague” as the government had already been aware that there had been some outbreaks.
And so it begins.
It is called the Last Ship because there is no more US Navy. The American military has disintegrated, as survivors put all their energy into avoiding the plague.
As I watched it, it had a lot of the vibes of Battlestar Galactica (one of my favourite sci fi) series. What had been once part of a great fleet was not one ship, the last hope of the human race.
There are five seasons and I appreciated how they did not just try to squeeze more stories out of the same narrow premise. The situation of the post-plague world continues to evolve. They expand beyond the context of the USA and show what is happening in other countries.
The plague was bad enough but the survivors continue to face terrifying challenges. It feels like the writers had a lot of fun coming up with the next disaster and turning the world upside down.
Having watched the entire series, I concluded that the series was about the collision of the human race with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, as they face plague, famine, war, and death.
I really enjoyed the Last Ship. Some of the CGI is not great but the action sequences are well done. The stories are tense and the characterization well developed. Major characters die and the show is not afraid of taking risks.
If you are looking for a good series and can find it on a streaming service, I recommend the Last Ship. You can also purchase the DVDs from Amazon here and if you are really interested, you can find the novel that it is based on here. (These Amazon affiliate links)
