With Rachel close to a breakthrough, Chandler and Slattery lead a small team into the jungles of Nicaragua on a mission to find monkeys for her vaccine trails. While there, they find much more than they bargained for when they run across a former drug kingpin who will stop at nothing to maintain his stranglehold on his oppressed society.
This week's mission includes Chandler and the crew heading into the jungles of Nicaragua in order to find monkeys for Dr. Scott. While there, they get their first real glimpse of the world that they are fighting to save. Because what is a world worth fighting for if it's morally corrupt one like this small community? That's the question Chandler and his team are faced with and ultimately they decide to liberate the people of this community. Sure, they struggle with whether or not to kill the tyrant after he surrenders - but the town's oppressed mayor solves that problem for them.It's a very interesting moral dilemma that the show needed to present around the midpoint of its run. So far, The Last Ship has dealt with the necessities of the crew and retrieving the supplies necessary for Rachel to create the vaccine to the deadly virus. We've (somewhat) come to know the people aboard the USS Nathan James. Now, the scope needs to be expanded to showcase the world around them -- and not just the other people attempting to make a vaccine. The Russian threat is important for the serial arc of the season. But recognizing the personal toil this disease has brought to society and being reminded of what the crew is fighting to protect is also very important.
So while there was perhaps too much exposition alongside this episode - needing to explain the red/green flares multiple times, Rachel and the other unit going out and back for no real reason - this was probably the most enjoyable and relatable episode of The Last Ship yet. The show is steadily improving over the course of the season. It took the time to go small. To showcase a simple mission-of-the-week that everyone would agree with when it came to discussing the moral implications. El Toro was designed as a mean bad guy who needed to be taken down in order to ensure the survival of this community. That's what Chandler, Slattery and Danny decided on and then carried out in a well executed way. The show didn't need to go big with dazzling visuals in order to convey the feeling of liberation - which was probably good for the budget as well. So now, Rachel has her monkeys and the team is back on the open waters headed to who knows where.
Some more thoughts:
- "El Toro" was written by Hank Steinberg & Cameron Welsh and directed by Paul Holahan.
- It seems that Tex just wants to creepily flirt with every woman abroad the ship. Last week was Kara and this week is Rachel. It attempts a sweet ending where he comforts her with the information that the team is returning with her monkeys. But it still wasn't necessary or even earned.
- The final confrontation with El Toro was a bit awkwardly staged. At first, I thought it was Danny who drove the knife into his back. It wasn't until I saw the bloody knife in the hands of the major that I truly knew what happened.
- In case you hadn't heard, TNT renewed The Last Ship for a second season last week! That season will also include 13 episodes - up from the 10 produced for this summer.
