When last we left the U.S.S. Nathan James:
- Danny had a fever that we were falsely led to believe may have been the infamous world-destroying virus. In the end, he was fine.
- Dr. Scott's work on her vaccine prototype is going slower than she had previously anticipated. Many of the monkeys she has used as test subjects have died and began disposing of them by dumping them overboard in the middle of the night. She was seen by several crew members and they weren't very thrilled about it.
- The crew's anxiety about the dissemination of information grew to the point that paranoia and talk of a mutiny against Commander Chandler abounded.
- Sixteen crew members asked to be relieved of duty, but were ultimately persuaded to re-enlist.
- Quincy has been officially deprived of all chess-playing opportunities due to bad behavior. Furthermore, his haircut is still absolutely horrible.
In the "previously on 'The Last Ship'" segment that kicks off the episode, we're reminded of the intense stand-off Commander Chandler and his crew had with the Russians a few episodes back. Hopefully that means this episode will be more action-oriented, as opposed to us sitting around for an hour watching the crew put out fires in the engine room. Only time will tell...
Our episode begins in Oslo, Norway, six months ago. Two scholarly scientists sit at lunch in a park arguing about the virus. The younger man (who may be the scientist we saw aboard the Russian ship a few weeks ago) says that he has been successfully experimenting on himself, much to the disgust of his older counterpart. (If this is, in fact, the scientist we saw with the Russians, it seemed that he was immune to the virus; he was shown working on rats in his lab without any type of protective suit.) The older man gets up and storms away just as the younger man's wife arrives at the park. She consoles the younger scientist before outlining her upcoming trip to several different Western European countries. She tells her husband that she feels like she is "coming down with something." The man looks lost in thought. Ominous...
We cut to Guantanamo Bay - aboard the nefarious Russian ship - and it is the same young scientist that we just saw in the park! The Russian Admiral, Ruskov, informs the man that their ship is back up and running. Dr. Scott can't have gotten far and they will catch up with her in no time, he says. The toothpick-toting truth-seeker wisely assumes that Scott would need monkeys to continue her search for a cure, pin-pointing Puerto Rico or South America as likely destinations for the Nathan James.
Back on the Nathan James, Dr. Scott tells Commander Chandler that she has discovered a human gene in the virus. She claims that this allows the virus to stay "one step ahead" of her and also makes the disease much more lethal. She also admits to only having two monkeys left for trial. Cue the five-second intro video.
Danny seems healthy as a horse again; he can do two and a half pull-ups. (Hey, that's probably more than I can do.) Mike comes in and talks to Danny about his relationship with Foster. He explains the punishments being put in place for the two ex-lovebirds and tells Danny that there needs to be complete transparency about the situation for the rest of the crew. Danny seems hesitant about it, but Mike hits him with a witty one-liner: "You're a leader. Lead."
In the radio room, Lt. Granderson and a kid named Mason stumble across a Jamaican distress call. The woman on the radio says that she was on a fishing boat, is the only survivor and is running out of water. Mason thinks he knows the voice. Chandler mulls around the idea of hopping on the radio to see if they can contact the girl. Mike interjects that breaking radio silence would, effectively, broadcast the Nathan James' location to anyone in the world who was listening. Despite that sage advice that will undoubtedly come back to haunt Chandler and his crew in the most Russian way possible, the commander decides to attempt communication with the stranded Jamaican girl. Within a few seconds, contact is made. Chandler tells the girl, Bertrise, that he is a fisherman named Joe Brown. After a bit of investigation, it turns out that the girl's alleged location is 280 miles away from the Nathan James. They decide to search for her, like the good Americans they are.
But guess what? The Russians overheard the radio call and, according to the quotation marks used in the closed captions on the screen, they don't believe the transmission came from a fishing boat. The Russians also got the girl's GPS location and they're pretty sure the transmission came from Commander Chandler. They're hesitant to pursue the situation, however, because they don't want the so-called fishermen to know they're in the area. Then Ruskov puffs on a stogie like a stereotypical communist villain.
The American crew is preparing a team to depart for the location of the stranded survivor. Danny has a little pep talk with some scrub named Cossetti that apparently nobody trusts. (He was likely one of the would-be mutineers from last week's episode, but they didn't make a great point about naming those 16 fools, so it's hard to be too sure.) Basically, Danny tells Cossetti to suck it up because nobody will be able to babysit him if he goes on the excursion. Cossetti says he won't let them down and Danny comes off looking like a champ. That dude has really stepped it up since ditching his loser girlfriend. I'll hand it to him there. A couple great episodes for the pull-up pro. Chandler is pleased and so am I.
The Americans send out a couple boats to locate the girl, which they do quickly and efficiently, as one might expect. Meanwhile, the Russians have also sent out a couple boats to mask their true location. Chandler and his dual-boat squad approach the Jamaican fishing boat, hopping on board with masks securely fastened. There doesn't seem to be anyone aboard. Guns at the ready. This is not going to end well. Chandler, Tex and Cossetti head down into "the hole," where they find several dead bodies with mutilated faces. They yell for Bertrise, but, as Tex astutely points out, "There's nothing but death down here." A shout from above announces that the Yankees have got company! Two boats are approaching. It's the Russians - and Ruskov tells his men that he wants his nemeses alive. Cossetti finds Bertrise hiding behind a blanket in a corner of the boat. She seems scared and disappointed that Chandler and his crew were not really fishermen. Cossetti falls behind and Chandler and Tex are forced to leave him behind with the other boat. The Russians open fire on Tex and Chandler and Mike frantically calls for the Nathan James to send a helicopter as backup. Tex struggles to hit his mark, finally bringing down a Russian assailant. Chandler cranks a hard right and Tex knocks out the rest of the Russians with a bigger gun - but their boat received a lot of damage and is taking on water. Thankfully, the other Russian cruiser got to the Jamaican boat too late and was unable to apprehend the girl or chase down any of the Americans.
Quincy is pulled out from his cave, looking as sour-faced as ever, and Mike forces him to help translate any Russian overheard on the radios. Quincy agrees to help, on one condition - he wants to make sure that Ruskov, his blackmailer, dies in the end.
We cut back to Chandler and Tex, who are now floating in the water. Apparently they didn't want to sink with their boat, so they've decided to go for a little swim. They estimate that they're about 10-15 miles away from the fishing boat. They seem to be a bit out of luck, however, as Chandler removed the tracking beacons from their suits, as not to be intercepted by Russian technology. They do have their radio, however, and Tex suggests that the only chance they have of being rescued is calling in for help. Hesitantly, Chandler gets on the radio, calling his ship by name, and tells them to cease and desist any rescue efforts. (Who does he think he is with this "cease and desist" nonsense? San Diego Comic-Con?) Tex is not thrilled. Chandler argues that any further communication would be a serious risk for the Nathan James and that this was the correct call in their present circumstances. He says there is a reef to the north and the two begin doggy-paddling for their lives.
Mike, Danny and the crew of the Nathan James express frustration with Chandler's lack of coordinates and Bertrise is brought on-board by Jeter, who introduces her to Dr. Scott. Meanwhile, Ruskov dines with Quincy's family. A girl, his daughter, who we haven't seen before looks like she is preparing to eat those monkey brains from "Temple of Doom." Ruskov pulls the "starving children" card and threatens to send her back to the brig. He demands gratitude from his captives and gets a little touchy-feely with Quincy's wife (who married WAY above what she probably deserves, by the way). A Russian officer tells Ruskov that they intercepted Chandler's "final transmission" and Ruskov tells the man to send a drone to investigate.
The drone, which Tex says sounds like a lawnmower, finds Chandler and his southern companion. In turn, the Nathan James locates drone and promptly launches a missile at it. Radar, radar, rader... Russians on the bridge looking nervous... BOOM. The Americans shoot the drone out of the sky. Chandler says, "They shouldn't have done that." What a martyr. Ruskov is oddly pleased with the situation. "Now we know that they will do anything to save him," he says - something that makes the Americans more vulnerable than he anticipated.
Chandler and Tex take a break from their swimming lessons to shoot the proverbial breeze. At long last, Tex admits that he likes Dr. Scott - in fact, she is the only reason Tex came on the mission. He wanted to impress her since Chandler wasn't making a move on her. Chandler has a good laugh. It kind of seems like they're both intoxicated or something.
Dr. Scott is running some tests on Bertrise. She says that post-virus myths have run rampant about men in suits with guns. She says the legends say that the men in suits come to kill people, not to save them. She tells Scott about how her village and her family died from the virus. Everybody was wiped out except for her. "Why didn't I die?" she asks, with tears running down her face. "Because you're immune," Scott responds as test results flash on her computer screen.
Night has fallen and Tex is losing faith in Chandler's quest for the reef. He has grown so pessimistic, as a matter of fact, that he nearly begins falling asleep. Chandler continues to search his soul aloud, telling Tex that he joined the Navy to spite his Army father and that he is afraid of losing his family to the virus.
More soul searching is happening aboard the Nathan James, as Danny and Cossetti ponder where they went wrong on their mission. Cossetti feels like his little stumble may have cost the commander and Tex their lives. The helicopter has come back, unsuccessful. Jeter tells Mike that Bertrise is immune to the virus. Some genetic testing may be the break Scott needed to continue her work on the vaccine without monkey test subjects.
Quincy overhears some Russian chatter on the radio. He says the Russians believe that Chandler has drowned. Mike is skeptical of Quincy's bilinguality. That's not a word, but I don't care. Mike predicts that Chandler would have made his way for the reef - and rightly so. As the helicopter refuels, he tells the bridge to have the pilots make way for the reef in hopes of finding their beloved leader and his perverted friend. Incredible. They found them. Who would have guessed? "Don't tell me - you're pissed at (Mike) Slattery now," Tex quips. That's right. Adam Baldwin, the great American hero, has done it again.
BUT WAIT! My gosh, it wasn't their helicopter! Back on the Nathan James, video feed from the American bird shows a bit of wreckage, but no survivors! So whose helicopter is it?? THE RUSSIANS! Oh freak!
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Wow, what an ending, huh? I can't say that I saw that one coming. Well, maybe I did. But then I didn't. And then it happened anyway. Niiiiiiice... Let's take a second to review what we learned:
- Bertrise is immune to the virus, which may provide Dr. Scott exactly what she needs to continue her work on the vaccine (and discontinue her monkey murdering).
- The Russians have found what seems to be, at this point, the greatest American vulnerability - their love and respect for Commander Chandler.
- And Chandler and Tex were rescued at sea - by the wrong country! They're now hostages of Admiral Ruskov and his dastardly Soviet ship.
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It looks like next week the Russians are going to try a power play, holding Chandler hostage in hopes of an exchange for Dr. Scott. What did you think of this week's show? I thought the cliffhanger was fantastic and I'm looking forward to the next show. For now, you can leave a comment below or something, but we'll have to wait another week to see what happens with our intrepid crew. We'll catch you next week for another episode of "The Last Ship."
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