The Last Ship (TV series)

Cast

Eric Dane portrays Commander, later Captain, and finally Admiral Tom Chandler, who serves as commanding officer of USS Nathan James and later as chief of naval operations and an instructor at the United States Naval Academy. Rhona Mitra plays Dr. Rachel Scott, a paleomicrobiologist who develops the vaccine against the virus, appearing in seasons 1 and 2. Adam Baldwin plays Commander, later Captain, and finally Admiral Mike Slattery, the executive officer and later commanding officer of Nathan James and chief of naval operations; originally from Chicago, he previously worked as a homicide detective with the Chicago Police Department, and his son died from the virus while his wife Christine (Ele Keats) and daughters remained missing as of season 4.

Charles Parnell appears as Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell "Russ" Jeter, the senior enlisted sailor and unofficial chaplain. Travis Van Winkle plays Lieutenant Daniel Joshua "Danny" Green, leader of the Naval Mountain Warfare Special Forces Unit, who by season 5 is a member of Delta Team. Marissa Neitling portrays Commander Kara Green (née Foster), starting as a combat information center officer and tactical action officer, later serving as deputy chief of staff to President Michener in St. Louis during season 3, returning as TAO in season 4, and becoming commanding officer of Nathan James in season 5.

Christina Elmore plays Lieutenant Commander Alisha Granderson, an officer of the deck who is stabbed to death in season 5, episode 4, by her girlfriend, a spy for Gran Colombia. John Pyper-Ferguson plays Ken "Tex" Nolan, a private security contractor and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who joins the crew at Guantanamo Bay; he finds his daughter in the season 2 finale but learns his ex-wife was killed by looters, and he is killed in the season 3 finale stopping Allison Shaw.

Jocko Sims plays Commander Carlton Burk, head of visit, board, search, and seizure teams, who becomes executive officer in season 5 and is killed in the penultimate episode.

Development and production

In July 2012, TNT commissioned a pilot for a show adapted from William Brinkley's 1988 novel. Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane wrote the pilot, with Jonathan Mostow directing. Production used several San Diego locations, including the museum ship USS Iowa in San Pedro to double as a Russian vessel, and the USS Russell, USS Halsey, and USS Dewey to portray the fictional USS Nathan James. The RMS Queen Mary, a former ocean liner docked in Long Beach, also featured heavily.

All five seasons were filmed at Culver Studios in Culver City. Channel Road Productions and Platinum Dunes handled production, with Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form, Steinberg, and Kane involved. TNT ordered ten episodes in May 2013, and the series debuted on June 22, 2014, at 9:00 pm EDT. A thirteen-episode second season was greenlit on July 18, 2014, premiering June 21, 2015.

Another thirteen-episode third season was ordered on August 11, 2015, originally set for June 12, 2016, but delayed after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting because its premiere episode contained a similar mass shooting scene. On July 31, 2016, TNT renewed the show for a ten-episode fourth season, which began August 20, 2017. A ten-episode fifth and final season was ordered on September 8, 2016, shot immediately after the fourth and premiering September 9, 2018. The series concluded on November 11, 2018.

Reception

Critics gave the first season a Metacritic score of 60 out of 100, which falls into the "generally favorable reviews" category. Across all five seasons, Rotten Tomatoes reports an 83% approval rating, with the site's consensus noting that the show offers "movie-sized action sequences and a pretty cast" for "smooth sailing," even if it feels familiar. Entertainment Weekly's Ray Abdur Rahman commented in July 2015 that the second season grew more compelling by showing how the pandemic had reshaped the United States.