Last Resort (ABC) - season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

[David Weicker]

I called this one right from the very start and said it was DOA. So far I have been correct on all of my predictions from the past several seasons when I see a show like this. The reason I am turned off by shows like this and many others are as well, is because it's nothing more than a political soap box for the premise, plot, etc. When you look at how the country voted this past election, it was nearly split 50/50 down the middle. When you have shows that have these sorts of political guises, those like myself don't even bother to watch. Personally, I don't care what side of the political spectrum you are on, but when I have time to watch something, I want pure entertainment.
This holds true of other shows too, Smallville season 10 they ruined totally due to their obvious political grandstanding. I called "The Event" from the start and several others like it from various networks. They should learn that people want to relax and if we want soap box politics we will watch Fox News, CNN, etc. for that, but leave us to be entertained when we want to be. Otherwise, those that don't share the same views won't even bother watching.

I'm curious if you watched any of this.
I didn't perceive any 'political guise' - at least not directed at either side. Yes, there is some type of power-grab/coup/coverup hinted at, but I've never seen it directed at either the Left or the Right.
As for entertainment, Kings and schemes have been fodder for entertainment going back to Shakespeare (or do you find Hamlet and Macbeth too political?)
David

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by David Weicker /t/323710/last-resort-abc-season-1-thread/60#post_4002972
I'm curious if you watched any of this.
I didn't perceive any 'political guise' - at least not directed at either side. Yes, there is some type of power-grab/coup/coverup hinted at, but I've never seen it directed at either the Left or the Right.
As for entertainment, Kings and schemes have been fodder for entertainment going back to Shakespeare (or do you find Hamlet and Macbeth too political?)
David

I didn't get any political feel about this either way. It was always just "some shady military industrial compound types" kind of show. The problem here really was the premise.. it's hard to make a show of "nuke submarine on the run" last long, before you realize that despite them having nuclear weapons, they were a slowly dwindling number. Then you throw out episodes like them being poisoned with a hallucinogen and it just read like the writers had a really good pitch "what if this happened?!?" but they didn't have much to go with it after the setup.,

 

[Jeffery_H]

I'm curious if you watched any of this.
I didn't perceive any 'political guise' - at least not directed at either side. Yes, there is some type of power-grab/coup/coverup hinted at, but I've never seen it directed at either the Left or the Right.
As for entertainment, Kings and schemes have been fodder for entertainment going back to Shakespeare (or do you find Hamlet and Macbeth too political?)
David

Yes, I did watch the first few shows, but dropped it quickly because I could tell from just the pilot show what the soap box theme was for this. It was nothing more than an allegory for promoting their personal politics. While a success, it was like the "West Wing" which most called Hollywood fantasy, as a far left show. I can't discuss personal feelings of politics as it's against forum rules, only in the context of shows like this. But obviously I was not the only one that felt this way or the show would still be going on. It has nothing to do with the likes of real culture such as the literature you mentioned and a far leap from what I had stated. Just read what I said in context without assuming, obviously fine works such as Shakespeare are loved by most everyone including me.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I didn't get any political feel about this either way.  It was always just "some shady military industrial compound types" kind of show.   The problem here really was the premise.. it's hard to make a show of "nuke submarine on the run" last long, before you realize that despite them having nuclear weapons, they were a slowly dwindling number.  Then you throw out episodes like them being poisoned with a hallucinogen and it just read like the writers had a really good pitch "what if this happened?!?" but they didn't have much to go with it after the setup.,

I agree. I actually wouldn't have minded at all if this only ran 13 episodes -- if they writers had gone into it knowing they only had 13 episodes. I think that could have been a great story, and avoided episodes that were a stretching like the one you mentioned where the water supply was poisoned. If it was a hit, they could have made a sequel series dealing with the aftermath.

It was nothing more than an allegory for promoting their personal politics.

So what allegorical statement was the show making? It certainly wasn't cheerleading the United States as all that's good and just and pure in the world, but nor did it seem like it was trying to draw specific parallels to any real world administration or events. The presidential administration depicted in the show, to the very limited extent we've seen it, was in far more dire straights than any recent administration has been it at any point. Nor has the show been afraid to question the decisions made by the protagonists that got them to this point.
What we have instead is a pilot that set up a very extreme situation as the premise and then let events play out from there. Not really any different from a Tom Clancy thriller.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Just curious, what political agenda do you think this show has been pushing? I've been watching, and besides the "bad government/conspiracy" (which is quite the generic threat) angle I didn't pick up on any real word political issues being forced into the show.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I haven't commented on this show because I never saw a second of it, but the previews looked like our "heroes" firing on US Marines. That may not be accurate, but the possibility was enough to keep me away. When we have men and women in combat zones around the world, I'm not interested in yet another Hollywood property casting them as the bad guys. Again, that may have nothing to do with the show, but I wasn't interested enough to find out.
Plus, I secretly want any Braugher/Romano/Bakula project to fail so we can have a resurrection of Men of a Certain Age (tongue in cheek, as I know that will never happen).

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Sean Bryan /t/323710/last-resort-abc-season-1-thread/60#post_4003098
Just curious, what political agenda do you think this show has been pushing? I've been watching, and besides the "bad government/conspiracy" (which is quite the generic threat) angle I didn't pick up on any real word political issues being forced into the show.

frankly, I don't think the show had thought far enough ahead to figure out any sort of government angle.

 

[DaveHof]

I pulled this show from the DVR one episode before it got the axe. My main issue with it was the very limited information that was provided about the situation in Washington, that led to the crisis with the nuclear sub. I understand the desire to unravel such things gradually over what is hoped will be several seasons, but it left too big a hole in the story. I really didn't see anything overwhelmingly partisan on either side of the political/military fence, outside of the cliches of some politicians being lying weasels.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by DaveHof /t/323710/last-resort-abc-season-1-thread/60#post_4003227
I pulled this show from the DVR one episode before it got the axe. My main issue with it was the very limited information that was provided about the situation in Washington, that led to the crisis with the nuclear sub. I understand the desire to unravel such things gradually over what is hoped will be several seasons, but it left too big a hole in the story. I really didn't see anything overwhelmingly partisan on either side of the political/military fence, outside of the cliches of some politicians being lying weasels.

I admit, this part baffled me too. They talked about how they had nuked Pakistan, but then that was the last you heard of it. Which was pretty shocking considering Pakistan absolutely has Long Range Nuclear Weapon technology, you'd think nuking Pakistan would be the start of.. well, some pretty horrible stuff but the islanders just want to go about smuggling, it seemed.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Is anybody else still watching this? With only one more episode to wrap the series, it has been pretty good so far, and has sure gotten a lot more complicated over the last few episodes. Sure, there have been a lot of holes in the story telling, but no show is perfect. Lost was a great show until they tried to tie everything up neatly.

 

[spshultz]

Yup. Still watching it and still enjoying it. When I first saw the previews for it, I was ready to write it off. It just didn't look like my type of TV program. But, I gave it a go and have not missed an episode yet. Hopefully it has a somewhat tidy final ending.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's a shame they couldn't have let them know about the cancellation before last night's episode went into production. They could have had the coup be successful and sent the last episode getting the crew home.

 

[Josh Dial]

We're banking the episodes on the PVR. We'll watch or not depending on whether there are indications of a proper ending. I'm done trusting show-runners and stakeholders that "oh, don't worry, we're totally going to give the fans an ending they deserve!" I'd rather trust you fine folks.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Sean Bryan
Just curious, what political agenda do you think this show has been pushing? I've been watching, and besides the "bad government/conspiracy" (which is quite the generic threat) angle I didn't pick up on any real word political issues being forced into the show.

I haven't really noticed anything. I didn't realize it was canceled. I've been enjoying it. That's too bad as we will now have an unresolved cliff hanger. When they know shows are canceled why can't they at least have the writers throw together a treatment explaining how it eventually ends?

 

[David Weicker]

I haven't really noticed anything.  I didn't realize it was canceled.  I've been enjoying it.  That's too bad as we will now have an unresolved cliff hanger.  When they know shows are canceled why can't they at least have the writers throw together a treatment explaining how it eventually ends?

We don't know for certain that there will be an unresolved cliffhanger. There is still one more episode, and many things could happen

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

There's a lot of unresolved storylines still in play, so to wrap it all in one episode seems like a stretch. We have a mutiny to deal with. The XO has to learn about his wife, but only after he's slept with the French chick. The fate of conspirators has to be revealed. The Chinese need to get involved. I say we let Chaplin launch all his nukes at random targets, leaving the island as the only inhabitable place left. Then have Gilligan and the Skipper show up to show them all what island living is all about.

 

[David Weicker]

There's a lot of unresolved storylines still in play, so to wrap it all in one episode seems like a stretch. We have a mutiny to deal with. The XO has to learn about his wife, but only after he's slept with the French chick. The fate of conspirators has to be revealed. The Chinese need to get involved. I say we let Chaplin launch all his nukes at random targets, leaving the island as the only inhabitable place left. Then have Gilligan and the Skipper show up to show them all what island living is all about.

I'm assuming that when 'Daddy' gets on board the plane, he'll be greeted by Greg Itzin

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I sort of got the impression that when Daddy thought he could extricate his daughter from the coup, he was willing to sit back and let things play out. Now that his family's in danger, he might just take down a president.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Series Finale tonight.

 

[mattCR]

They would NEVER do this, but the finale I'd find most interesting is global nuclear war breaks out, and the Island becomes one of the few places not directly touched .. and barely survivable in the post nuclear holocaust.