TV Review: LAST RESORT (2012): Season 1, Episode 1: Captain

Last Resort Season 1 Episode 1 Captain Review. Last Resort (2012): Season 1, Episode 1: Captain may be the best new show of the season so far. I have not seen every new show that is premiering this season but this one is being pushed hard by ABC and with good reason. They have certainly taken a queue from AMC and upped the grit and language that is delivered on the station through Last Resort (last seen on NYPD Blue).

There are some Crimson Tide moments underneath the water during Captain as well as political intrigue above it. Both are interesting and both feed off of one another in certain scenes.

The issue of women serving aboard submarines is handled through Lt. Grace Shepard (Daisy Betts) and other female crew members on the USS Colorado (a United States Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine). The sensitivity questions were funny and the disrepect shown to Lt. Shepard was real, necessary to see (this most-likely happens), and added to the tension and drama during a few of her scenes. It also serves Ms. Betts’ character and makes Lt. Shepard into a character on the series and not the embodiment of a political issue that walks and talks.

The comradery between the Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) and XO Lt. Commander Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) is good, palpable as is the distain COB Joseph Prosser (Robert Patrick) has for certain crew members, especially later in the episode.

The standout in the episode is the drama i.e. the fire order the USS Colorado receives through a secondary line of communication. What seems like an ordinary order turns into an unprecedented situation for the lives of people in government (Lt. Shepard’s father Rear Admiral Arthur Shepard [Bruce Davison] and the sub-tech lobbyist Kylie Sinclair [Autumn Reeser]) and most especially for the people on the USS Colorado.

I loved seeing the government’s men in the homes of the crew members of the USS Colorado so quickly, sitting there listening, recording, detaining.

What does the President and his administration have against Pakistan? Who knows but I can’t wait to find out.

The Sainte Marina island crime boss (Sahr Ngaujah) I thought woud be an empty character but by the end of the episode, it turns out that he was not. How did he capture two of the USS Colorado’s crew members? Why would they be allowed to walk around by themselves?  Whatever the answer to those questions are, I am looking forward to seeing how he uses his captives in future episodes.

The President Ronald Reagan crazy discussion at the beginning of the episode I thought was just two people talking. It was very gratifying to see it actually used at the end of the episode in a constructive way.

Sainte Marina as one of the show’s main locations will have many ramifications as will the presense of Navy SEALS on the USS Colorado and subsequentially on the island.

Last Resort did everything right in its first episode. Lets hope the trend continues.

For more Last Resort reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Last Resort Page.