Last Resort
Episode 11: Damn the
Torpedoes
By: Carlos Uribe
Last
Resort is a show about a nuclear submarine that defies the United
States governments after elements of the military decided to destroy
Pakistan.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
The
Chinese have become allies of Chaplin and they are now going to
supply with him food and medicine. The obstacle is that the Chinese
aren't willing to defend their supply ship with an escort and the
Americans are sending a Destroyer to stop the ship. Marcus has to
take command of the submarine in order to ensure that the supply ship
arrives to the island. The big question becomes if Marcus is willing
to fire on an American ship in order to achieve his goal. The
commander of the destroyer doesn't believe that because he has read
Marcus' works and attended a lecture by him. The commander believes
that Marcus would never fire on an American ship because he's too
by-the-book. The commander turned out to be wrong. Marcus was willing
to sink the American ship in order to let the Chinese ship through.
Lucky for him, Grace and King were there to ensure that one of the
torpedoes would be weakened so that it could serve as a warning shot.
Marcus being forced to fire a shot at the destroyer helps to show
just how dedicated he is to ensuring that the island survives and it
helps to create a lot of tension for the viewer. This weekly
“adventure” was fine but what was happening around it was a lot
more interesting.
For
instance, Cortez gets instructions to kill Marcus when she reports
that he has made a deal with the Chinese. The question instantly
becomes if she's going to actually go through with the command or if
she'll be loyal to her commanding officer. This is a big decision for
her but the series made one fumble in presenting it. Cortez is a
character who we've barely spent any time with and she hasn't been
developed well enough for the decision to have total impact. That
this was even an internal conflict for the character wasn't really
explored until the end of the episode. She chose to be loyal to
Marcus but there is no reason provided on why
she chose him over her orders. Her attempt to explain why she became
a spy was character background but I'm talking about where a
character is emotionally and mentally. This plot was still great in
building tension because it was a potential ticking bomb but it could
have had a lot more impact if we had gotten to know what was inside
Cortez' head this whole time.
Cortez
might have decided to join Marcus' side but the forces on land are
slowly forming against him. They are being led by the COB, whose
ensuring that their plan for mutiny doesn't lead to Marcus' death.
The COB's goal is simple: change the command so that he could serve
his country and allow his men to go back home. Their plan is
discovered by Sam who is given a choice. He can chose to go along
with the plan and betray his best friend and father figure or he
chose to be with Marcus. If this had been just two episodes ago, he
would have easily picked Marcus. Christine's “death” has changed
things for Sam as he has lost his wife. He might be telling Marcus
that he doesn't blame him for her death but it's unknown if that's
true. Sam agrees to join the COB's plan as long as Marcus doesn't die
but it wouldn't surprise me if he was covertly going undercover. This
entire plot helped build narrative momentum towards the last two
episodes while making one question where Sam's loyalties currently
lie. He might have really believed in Marcus but losing the one he
loves has shaken him at his very core. Overall, a great plot
development that complicates things.
While
Sam plans the coup to overthrow Marcus, Kylie is in the middle of a
coup to overthrow the President. The idea is simple: the President
and Vice-President will both be arrested and the Speaker of the House
will take the reigns. It's a wonderful constitutional crisis that I
hope the series will actually try to explore with the last two
episodes it has left. The entire plot basically has two parts:
convincing the Speaker to go through with it and then actually
planning it. They even seem to get the secret service to go along
with their plan. There's a small part where a general freaks out
about this treasonous act but he's killed by the end of the episode.
Overall, it's nice to see the plot develop on the home front and I
have to admit I'm a little pumped for it.
Damn
the Torpedoes is a fine and thrilling episode of Last Resort. It has
a great weekly adventure with a lot of tension while the Cortez plot
helps to add to the sense that something could easily go terribly
wrong. The series as a whole could have handled Cortez being a spy
better as we could have gotten to know what she was going through but
it still managed to use her to build up the adrenaline. The coups at
the island and back in the United States is carrying the narrative
momentum towards the final two episodes. Overall: a great way to
begin the end of the series.
Other Notes:
Serat
is hoping to steal the Chinese as an ally by making them aware of the
rare earth minerals. Serat might think he's a genius, but he clearly
didn't think this through. The Chinese don't have to negotiate with
him when they can just take the island by force once Marcus is gone.
Idiot.
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