Last Resort
Episode 13: Controlled
Flight Into Terrain
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
writers had an impossible task when it came to this episode. They had
to turn an episode that was meant as the half-way point within the
first season of the show into a series finale. This meant they had to
wrap up as many plots as they could while delivering emotional
closure to the fans. They had to do this within one hour. This task
becomes more complicated when you consider just how many plot threads
the show was juggling at the end and that most shows that get a
finale have at least a few episodes to build into it. Adapting this
episode into a satisfactory conclusion would be a challenge for any
talented writer. That they managed to most succeed at this task is a
feat in-itself. This might not have been the perfect series finale or
the one they were planning. It might have jumped between some plot
points but it did wrap up the narrative in a masterful manner. That
the finale managed to end on a pretty strong note to provide the
emotional closure is a sign of great skill. To conclude it all, this
episode might have gone through half a season's worth of television
into one hour but it managed to condense it into an entertaining
thrill ride. It would have been nice if the series had been able to
survive for at least a few seasons but at least the ending we did get
was a pretty satisfactory one. What's great is what providing such a
great ending to the series does. It turns it into a season of
television that will provide no closure and give people pause before
tuning in into a mini-series that any fan of television should watch.
It turned the series into a naval story of how the officers refused
an order into a gripping tale of the fascinating Marcus Chaplin. It
turned Last Resort from a great short-lived show into a television
classic.
It's
impressive how almost all the plots on the island managed to come
together. When it's revealed that Anders didn't steal the submarine
for fun but to give it to the Chinese, the whole situation becomes
clearer. Serrat allies with the Chinese envoy in order to exploit the
island but he helps capture the communications outpost on the island.
Anders is able to turn the COB's mutiny into his own advantage.
Allowing the Chinese envoy to be the master puppet allowed the show
to take multiple plot threads and merge them into one almost
seamlessly. It makes perfect sense now why he's helping Marcus as he
was playing a long con game into getting the sub. The island plot
becomes not just in ways to undermine the Chinese envoy at the
communications station but also in defeating Anders at the submarine.
It basically allows all the characters who had been turned against
each other by the situation to come together to take down one bad
guy. Having a bad guy to take down such as Anders allowed the show to
clarify the line between good and bad. A line that became necessary
so that the series could basically wrap up the plots. It's to stop
Anders' plan that Sam is able to get the air force to perform a
strike on the submarine rather than allow it fall in enemy hands. The
submarine's destruction removes any leverage that the naval officers
had and it forces their return home. Which is perfectly fine because
the bad administration had been taken down by this point. The one who
doesn't go is Marcus. He ensures that his submarine is destroyed by
being in it. The finale ends with Sam talking about what kind of man
Marcus is while he's being blown up. The last shot we see is a chuck
of the submarine falling into the bottom of the ocean. The speech is
amazing as it helps to finish the series by trying to explain what
kind of man Marcus was.
The
island is wrapped up pretty magnificently but sadly the other plots
aren't. Let's talk about Kylie. She spends the whole episode when
she's given a conundrum. She has to kill her boyfriend to get into
the inner circle. She doesn't want to do this for obvious reasons but
her boyfriend encourages her to go through with it. He wants to die
as a martyr so that Kylie can get close and bring them down from the
inside. He does end up dying and Kylie is able to close the episode
by shooting the president. We have no idea what happens to her after
that (probably killed by secret service) but she does allow Christine
to revel the truth about Pakistan to a group of reporters. So what's
the problem with Kylie's story? As interesting as it might have been,
it was moving far slower compared to the rest of the episode and it
actually felt like it was stalling at a few points. Considering how
fast everything else was moving and how much ground the finale had to
cover, it's a bit surprising how slowly this plot moved. It simply
feels like if the show had trimmed a few of the scenes in her plot
then it could have been a bit more slick without actually taking out
plot points. Making them a bit shorter would have allowed the show to
cover a bit more in regards to the other stories.
So
what is the ending we got for our characters besides Marcus and
Kylie? Tani and King are able to reunite in this episode when she
stops James from killing the Chinese envoy. Her reunion with him is
sudden and a bit forced. Sophie doesn't get together with anyone as
she's forced to end the show merely looking at a television image of
Sam. It's a bit sad and it makes sense for the character. Sam does
reunite with Christine when she's rescued by Hooper. Christine's
rescue doesn't make a lot of sense and it's not really explained how
it happens as the show had to rush through it. Grace doesn't really
get an ending but she seems to have earned the COB's respect, which
is basically what she sought in the pilot. The only ending I have a
problem with is Tani and King because of how forced their
relationship has been from the very beginning but the other ones are
fine. Christine's rescue might have been rushed but her reunion with
Sam still felt emotionally satisfying. The only wish I had was if
Grace and the COB could have been shown drinking together at the
end-at least they would have fit into the ending montage then.
Controlled
Flight Into Terrain proved one thing: Last Resort was a thrill ride.
There may have been some points where the ride hit a few bumps but it
was mostly exhilarating to watch. I have a feeling that watching the
series in a marathon would be a lot of fun especially as it gets
closer to the ending. While the show could have certainly used at
least one more hour (if not a few seasons), it was great to see
almost everything actually be wrapped up.
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