The Last Ship Season 3 (TNT) (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

Given the extreme circumstances, I just don't believe that a respected journalist would undermine the government's efforts like that.

I couldn't buy the journalist either. He must know how bad things were and he had nothing to gain by releasing that story.

The Mission: Impossible-esque set piece of invading President Peng's residence was well done, but it seems like there needed to be more at stake than just refueling access to justify such a bold move.

There was more at stake - they needed the fuel in order to adequately search for their missing men. Without the fuel, they had couldn't really proceed.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There was more at stake - they needed the fuel in order to adequately search for their missing men. Without the fuel, they had couldn't really proceed.

Yeah, the in story explanation definitely made sense. I just figured the writers would have liked to save that move for later in the season, perhaps with the US and China at war.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

A tense hour of television, but I'm kind of hoping that they'll get into the meat and potatoes of it. The first two seasons moved incredibly briskly. This season got off to a bang, but we're over a third of the way through the season and we still don't have a real understanding of Takehaya or what his role will be once they meet.

The reporter continues to irk me: The fate of America's national heroes and flagship destroyer are on the line and he's going to threaten to compromise their mission in order leverage an interview? I also hope they figure out which regional leader leaked the story and have Chandler criticize him publicly for compromising the mission once he gets back.

Interesting insight into how the government's working, though. These regional leaders have assumed the role of governor and state legislature in their territories, and the sole surviving U.S. senator is apparently additionally operating as the U.S. Senate, holding a quorum of one to pass legislation through the upper house of Congress. I wonder if they have a gaggle of four or five surviving representatives passing the people's business in the lower house. Congressional elections are evidently imminent. Are they using the old congressional irrespective of the massive population loss and extreme migration toward the communities that have bounced back first? If not, how do they define the districts? If ever there was a time for census, it'd be now, but how would such an operation even be mounted?

At this point, I think I'd be more interested in a show reminiscent of The Postman, about the rebuilding of America in the aftermath of such devastation.

 

[Carabimero]

I think the blonde is leaking the info.

I agree about the reporter. At some point, I would think he could be held on treason charges for betraying his country, especially given the circumstances.

 

[Dheiner]

I think the blonde is leaking the info.

I agree about the reporter. At some point, I would think he could be held on treason charges for betraying his country, especially given the circumstances.

I think that as soon as this particular crisis point is passed, he, and the rest of the press needs to be reminded what Martial Law means. He needs to be tried, convicted, and executed for treason. Along with the "leader" he was getting information from. They all need a reminder that this is not the old world.

 

[NeilO]

Well, I had not expected a whole episode about mines, but it was a tense one. Nicely done in all. I hope the next episode resolves the prisoner arc.

I also agree that the reporter really does not have a clue about how to behave in the current situation. He must be taught a lesson.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I think that as soon as this particular crisis point is passed, he, and the rest of the press needs to be reminded what Martial Law means. He needs to be tried, convicted, and executed for treason. Along with the "leader" he was getting information from. They all need a reminder that this is not the old world.

The fact that Michener was only threatening martial law, and hadn't implemented it yet, tells me that one of two things is true: either 1) the remaining army and national guard forces are too few in number to adequately enforce the directives coming out of St. Louis; or 2) the national guard is really a loose confederation of territorial militias that may be more loyal to the regional leaders than to the president.

I'm curious about the situation with the banks. Somehow, it seems that Michener got the banking system back online, but -- fearing a run on the banks as soon as they reopened -- has set withdrawal limits similar to what we saw in Greece at the height of the debt crisis. Even if you get access to your money, though, you can't use it to buy essentials like food and gasoline. For those, you have to use your Rachel Scott-branded rations. I figured the currency of before would be kaput. I also think Michener's fighting a losing battle on property rights. There's a lot more property out there than there are people. At some point, squatter's rights have to apply if you want to rebuild communities.

 

[todd s]

At this point, I think I'd be more interested in a show reminiscent of The Postman, about the rebuilding of America in the aftermath of such devastation.

This. I know it may not be as action packed as having international battles with foreign governments. But, it would be cool to see how they rebuild the US. I am curious how many people in the US and the world are left.

Speaking of "The Postman". I would like to see how the world changed from where it was when the battle was over....to years later where it looks like things are back to normal with news crews with video.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

One thing that really struck me re-watching the first two seasons was how quickly the show burned through plot. Every episode moved the larger story forward in a significant way. The action and production quality has been top notch this season, but we've spent nearly half the season covering story that would have been an episode or two in the prior seasons. We still don't know what's going on with the regional leaders, why China risked an international war by trying to kill Chandler, whether the virus really mutated in Japan, what Takehaya knows and what his agenda is.

The show's making the all too common mistake of thinking that suspense is keeping the audience in the dark. As Hitchcock proved, suspense is the audience knowing something but being powerless to intervene with that knowledge.

 

[NeilO]

I am glad they finally finished the kidnapping plot. I don't think it is going too slowly, but just why the Chinese attacked right when the rescue was going on is another mystery. Did they pass on bad information letting the Nathan James get rid of the mines and pave the way to where they needed to go, or did they follow?

 

[Stan]

The fact that Michener was only threatening martial law, and hadn't implemented it yet, tells me that one of two things is true: either 1) the remaining army and national guard forces are too few in number to adequately enforce the directives coming out of St. Louis; or 2) the national guard is really a loose confederation of territorial militias that may be more loyal to the regional leaders than to the president.

I'm curious about the situation with the banks. Somehow, it seems that Michener got the banking system back online, but -- fearing a run on the banks as soon as they reopened -- has set withdrawal limits similar to what we saw in Greece at the height of the debt crisis. Even if you get access to your money, though, you can't use it to buy essentials like food and gasoline. For those, you have to use your Rachel Scott-branded rations. I figured the currency of before would be kaput. I also think Michener's fighting a losing battle on property rights. There's a lot more property out there than there are people. At some point, squatter's rights have to apply if you want to rebuild communities.

I think Michener's the weak link in this show. He just comes off as kind of a wimp, really out of place and doesn't know what he's doing. Certainly not a leader. IIRC, he didn't have much choice. After everybody died, the presidency was just handed to him because he was next in line.

Personally feel he should just step down and let somebody more qualified take over.

 

[Carabimero]

I think Michener's the weak link in this show. He just comes off as kind of a wimp, really out of place and doesn't know what he's doing. Certainly not a leader. IIRC, he didn't have much choice. After everybody died, the presidency was just handed to him because he was next in line.

Personally feel he should just step down and let somebody more qualified take over.

What should he be doing that he's not doing? He's being strong in not letting the small-picture people intimidate him. He's staying his course. One could say that takes a lot of strength.

That's the trouble with administrative or executive leaders in shows like this, when they aren't the ones making things happen. Or you have characters reacting instead of acting. It hurts the plot. The show 24 countered this weakness by planting the enemy in the white house. That's who I think blondie is.

 

[NeilO]

Thinking again - the one episode that basically just put another obstacle to be overcome and didn't advance things was the underwater mines one. As Adam was saying, in previous seasons that episode probably would not have existed.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

At San Diego Comic Con, TNT released a trailer for the back half of the season:


Very happy to see:

Spoiler

the return of Tex!

 

[Dheiner]

!!!

 

[Doug Wallen]

Wow!!!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode was one of the best ones the show has done so far. It had everything: nail-biting suspense, great human drama, political intrigue and a whopper of any ending.

When the journalist posed as a lawyer to get an interview with Dr. Scott's immune assassin, I groaned. Surely, I thought, he's going to further undermine the government by broadcasting the propaganda of an enemy of the state. But no, he did what any responsible journalist would do: Presented with a Watergate-level revelation, he did his research. Then he took the footage and his findings to the administration and asked for the president's side of the story. And there, the president made an unforced error. He kicked him out of his office, when he was the one person who could shape the narrative. In so doing, he displayed a level of instability which fully justified bringing this information to the American people's attention.

Back in Asia, it was gratifying to see that Takehaya is a much more interesting character as an uneasy ally than as a mysterious opponent. The dance between the Nathan James and the four Chinese ships truly had me on the edge of my seat.

Right before she went into labor, Takehaya's wife mumbled something about a green mist sweeping into the village. My guess is that whatever is in this green mist makes the cure ineffective in the people it comes into contact with. If the Chinese used this mist to eliminate a long time regional rival, that would be a secret worth risking war with America over to keep secret. The fact that the cure was effective on the newborn would seem to confirm that the virus has not mutated, which is gratifying as a viewer who didn't want his investment in Dr. Scott's mission over the first two seasons to be negated.

Then there's that final scene. Kara, having finally made contact with the Nathan James, goes to deliver the good news to the president. Upon opening the door, however, she finds him hung by his own neck tie from his bed post. The earlier scene with Michener asking her about Frankie was clearly meant to foreshadow this scene, but in my gut I think that was a red herring. There have been forces at work undermining Michener since the crisis in Asia began, at the very least. My guess is that they took advantage of the shocking revelation about what happened in Florida to assassinate him and make it look like a suicide. If so, it's a high risk, high reward strategy: if they pull it off, they take over the government without a shot being fired. But if they're exposed, the entire country will turn against them. Nobody will care what Michener did or didn't do at that point; he'll martyred as a new Lincoln, a president who saved the union only to be struck down by an assassin's bullet.

We've also fully moved beyond what the Constitution could anticipate at this point. The Constitution says that if the President shall die or be removed from office, the Vice President shall become President. Failing that, "Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected." The current law, the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, delegates the powers of the presidency in the following order of succession: the Speaker of the House, the President pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security. Of the people on that list, Jeffrey Michener, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was (as far as I can tell) the only survivor.

Now Michener may have chosen a Vice President, but as acting President he had no power to appoint one. Even if you read the 25th Amendment broadly, there would have been no Congress to confirm him. Unlike most presidential appointments, which require confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of a Vice President to fill a vacancy requires majority approval in both houses of Congress. And Congressional elections are still weeks away. That clause has only been invoked twice: once by Nixon to appoint Ford as Vice President following the resignation of Spiro Agnew, and once by Ford to appoint Nelson Rockefeller to fill the vacancy created by his ascension to the presidency.

So whoever sits in that chair next has no lawful basis for assuming the presidency. Sailors take an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States". Michener was empowered by the Constitution to be commander-in-chief. Whoever comes next won't be, and the United States Navy, as led by CNO Tom Chandler, is under no obligation to submit to that authority.

 

[Dheiner]

Didn't they say, last week, or maybe 2 weeks ago, that one of the regional leaders "was" the Senate? and thus could ratify things?

 

[NeilO]

Right before she went into labor, Takehaya's wife mumbled something about a green mist sweeping into the village. My guess is that whatever is in this green mist makes the cure ineffective in the people it comes into contact with. If the Chinese used this mist to eliminate a long time regional rival, that would be a secret worth risking war with America over to keep secret. The fact that the cure was effective on the newborn would seem to confirm that the virus has not mutated, which is gratifying as a viewer who didn't want his investment in Dr. Scott's mission over the first two seasons to be negated.

I was wondering why they didn't follow up on that this episode.

I didn't suspect that the suicide was murder right then, but that does make sense.

Spoiler

I see the mist is definitely confirmed and followed up later as seen in the trailer above

 

[Dheiner]

I didn't suspect that the suicide was murder right then, but that does make sense.

Were his hands bound?