In yet another season of American exceptionalism, the world is in grave danger and only the men and women of the Nathan James can save humanity from itself and of course the virus. What virus you may ask? Didn't we spend the last three seasons hunting for a cure and distributing said cure? How could we possibly have a problem with the virus now? Well, it seems that the virus has mutated and now is attacking the world's vegetation. The problem with this is that it will effect the world's biodiversity. Animals need corn, the wheat, etc to survive so we cannot simply eat them, if they have no source of food. It's insects which are passing the red rust from crop to crop leaving American devastation and near 90%. It's a reminder of just how interdependent we all are on our little blue planet. The red plague is a mutation of the original virus which and it puts humanity at risk once more. I do believe that The Last Ship is low key sending an environmental message, along with its main agenda of reminding the viewer of just how spectacular the American military is.
It turns out that palm seed is the only hope of stopping humanity from starving to death. An away team from the Nathan James tracks down a man claiming to be selling the seeds. Unfortunately, before the crew can find out where the seeds are being kept, the man is shot.
After evac, the Nathan James heads to Spain where the crew learns that the base is being closed because of the shortages. The Nathan James seems to have picked up a new member named Rea and she gets her flirt on with Wolf and Gunderson. As the Nathan James is being resupplied, Fletcher and Sasha continue to continue to work on locating the seeds. Fletcher and Sasha figure out that Omar Bin Dalek is the one who stole the seeds and that he, is working for someone else. Unfortunately, this doesn't give them a lead as to where exactly to take the ship.
The team still very much misses Tom and Slattery admits that he has not heard from Tom in the sixteen months that he's been gone. As the food is being stocked, the crew wonders if they are holding the last apples. Burke and Carlton head to the gates to give food and water to the desperate people who have lined up outside. One of the kids kicks his tennis ball into the base and Carlton yells that the people are to be kept back. A kid slowly approaches the opening to the base, clearly nervous. Unfortunately, the kid has bombs attached to his body. Carlton is injured in the explosion and armed men storm the base determined to get to the injured man who knows where the seeds are. With their only lead dead, the team watch the video of the raid which left 12 Americans dead. It's Sasha and Fletcher who figure out that the location has something to do with Lions from the tattoo on the dead man. And since lion stands for Algeria, the team now has a direction to travel in.
The team leaves dock and in the mess a sign is placed telling staff to only take as much food as they need and to avoid seconds. They head to Algeria and Slattery informs the crew that they will have no back up again. It wouldn't be The Last Ship if the Nathan James was on its own now would it? As the ship approaches the shore, the Nathan James hits what Slattery believes to be a fishing line, only to have said fishing line knock out the engines and shut off the electricity. The emergency generators kick in but the Nathan James is a sitting duck when a missile from the land is shot at the ship. Wolf, Rea and Sasha are forced to go ashore to see if they can stop the missiles being launched at the Nathan James. Another missile is shot at the Nathan James but the crew is able to shoot it down.
Sasha, Wolf and Rea manage to find the site that the missiles where shot from however, the launcher is not there. Because crew are on land, Slattery cannot order missiles be randomly shot in retaliation for the damage that was done to the ship. Another missile is launched and while it does hit the Nathan James, it doesn't do a lot of damage. Finally, Sasha Wolf and Rea find the launcher but a gun battle breaks out. On the Nathan James, the crew finally manages to power up the ship again. Sasha's team is ordered to take cover and the Nathan James fires at and destroys the missile launcher.
Somehow, everyone manages to make it safely back on board of the Nathan James. Given the equipment and the strategy they were up against, it's enough for the crew to surmise that Omar must be working for someone really big.
Tom Chandler
When last we left Chandler, he had given up his military command in favour of anonymity and raising his children. As a crises in the world builds, Chandler is living on a Greek island with a woman he has fallen in love with, her family and his children. Tom has kept his identity to himself, not wanting to draw attention to who he is and of course what he is capable of. This means that we have two separate storylines going on. We all know damn well that it's only a matter of time before Tom gets back on the Nathan James and kicks Slattery right back into the XO position. This of course leaves me wondering what will happen to Meylan, who already has lost control of his own ship and is currently XO to Slattery.
As you might imagine, with a food shortage, things are not going smoothly in Tom's civilian life in Greece. Tom spends the day fishing with Alex, the owner of the boat, only to have the majority of their catch confiscated by Giorgio, a local mafia type guy. It's clear right away that Chandler and Giorgio are going to be in some kind of conflict. As a short cut to the conflict, after learning that Giorgio is staging fights in the community, as well as peddling drugs to anesthetize the population as to how shitty their lives are, Alex and Tom decide to steal Giogrio's boat containing their catch. It's a ridiculous way to start a conflict and something that Tom, being a navy captain, should have been smart enough to stay away from. Of course, it's Alex who pays the price for their stupid act.
With people still to feed, Tom starts working on a boat, only to be drafted by Giogrio. Giogrio takes him away to an expensive resort like place where Tom learns for the first time that Giogrio is not actually in charge but is just another wheel in the cog. Tom notices that bear pendants around the neck of Giogrio and his sister are used as passkeys to get to restricted areas. This necessitates the camera providing us with copious shots of Lucia's breasts, as though we would forget that she wears a pendant.
Having figured out that Tom is someone special but not yet nailing down his identity, Giogrio decides to set Tom up to fight. Tom looks evenly matched with his opponent but it becomes clear that skill is going to win the day. Tom of course wins the battle because Tom always wins and Giogrio gives the thumbs down indicating that Tom is to kill his opponent. Tom complies with the order to keep his cover.
That night, while nursing his wounds, Lucia, who has spent the day noticing Tom checking her out decides to make her move. At first Lucia tries to tempt Tom with the drug that Giogrio is producing for the population. Tom manages to avoid taking the drug but does his best captain Kirk, even though Lucia isn't green.
