Last Resort

Having finally gotten around to watching the whole series, and reading some of the reviews here, I've noticed a kind of love it or hate it attitude toward the show, without much in between. The love it camp usually cite things like acting, writing, and production values as reasons for watching. The hate it crew seems more concerned with what they see as the completely unrealistic scenario of a nuclear missile submarine crew ever disobeying an order to fire, and are offended by what they consider unpatriotic actions. I'm going to side with the first group, but for different reasons, and as for the second, maybe this show was never intended to be entirely realistic. Maybe it was intended to raise questions in viewers minds: In today's world, how far can we trust our governments? How far can blind patriotism guide our choices? Should soldiers always follow orders, even when they know in their hearts they are wrong? After the US went into Iraq, hot on the trail of non-existent WMDs, and with mounting evidence that they knew there were none all along, should we believe them next time they decide to use military force? At what point do people of good conscience start to question what they are told, and then how far will they be willing to go to uncover the truth?



Maybe the producers thought they'd play a what-if game, pitting a lone submarine commander against the whole Washington establishment as a way of raising ethical questions, and exploring grey areas, in which none of the players are squeaky clean, but at least some, on both sides, are willing to stand by their principals, whatever the cost. Like Star Treks' "Kobayashi Maru" exercise, it presented a no-win situation as a test of character, and then observed how each character responded. While the scenario may have been over the top, it ultimately made for great drama. And for those who didn't like the choices the characters made, what would you have done differently? Would the world, as presented in the show, have been better off if the captain had just fired his missiles and kept his mouth shut? If the show succeeded in getting you to stop and think about such things, and perhaps even about what CNN is reporting from the "real" world, maybe that's all it wanted to do.

When I first read about the premise -I was quiet excited and eagerly awaited it's arrival.

When I finally got the pilot -I had to pause it every few minutes so I could recover from particular severe bouts of cringing, eye rolling and sighing.



Right off the bat -I expected the reason for not launching after receiving an authenticated and valid launch order would have been substantial and feasible, instead it is a technicality in the method of transmission and even when it is confirmed by voice -they still don't launch -apparently because of the love and brotherhood Americans (let alone the US military) feels for Pakistan -after all it is not like US pays them to be 'kind off allies' or that they harbored bin laden...



The cherry on top was becoming Mr Island Dictator and then launching a nuke at DC, by this point they are not insubordinate or even conscientious objectors -they are nuclear armed traitors and at best hostage takers (at worst terrorists).



Would it have been so hard to have the president (or someone else very powerful) to directly (and thus illegally) order the nuking of Pakistan and then try to cover everything up and get rid of the evidence of the order?

Then our traitors_I mean protagonists would have been the 'good guys' even if no one else knew it.



I'm not going to talk about acting or cinematography because I'm at the point where I will settle for a good plot and dialog -anything else is a bonus.



TL;DR?

It is a terrible show that had a good marketing campaign and that should only be watched by people that think that reality tv is real -aka people dumb/ignorant/shallow enough to accept the flawed/infantile plot and the dreadfully cliche laced dialogue.

Really don't understand their reasons for cancelling this show when there's been so many great political suspense dramas out there such as: 24 and Prison Break. Some are saying it's too un American. Well the war in Iraq was un American just like so many other wars fought in other countries by the United States of America.

The show's tag line is "Honor in Defiance" as if disobeying an order to fire on the enemy could be considered even remotely patriotic. The plot is infantile at best; even with a good dose of suspension of disbelief, accepting the premise that the highly trained crew of a nuclear US submarine would doubt valid launch codes because they're transmitted on a backup channel is laughable. Launch orders with valid codes would be obeyed if they arrived by carrier pigeons landing on deck. Indeed, this show would be ridiculous was it not for the disturbing anti-american message. To reinforce this, even China, a country with a record of egregious human rights violations is portrayed as being more diplomatic and reasonable to the mutineers than our own government. This is basically a liberal, leftist, poorly writen show, and I'm glad it's finally cancelled.

Man i was really getting into this show. After an awesome pilot it kinda lost its way for a few episodes but towards the end picked up again. And if you read the interviews with Shawn Ryan after the finale it seemed like it was going in a really cool direction.

Normally I don't go for this sort of drama but show was kinda awesome. It was well written, the actors were good and it really got you hooked. It had the drama and the action.



So when ABC cancelled the show it was ruined. So many different storylines was going on and I just knew it couldn't end well. The writers did the best they could with the little they were given but the final episode felt so rushed. Since none of the storylines came to an end in the 12th episode it was obvious that the 13th and last would be a pretty messy episode. Nevertheless it gave some conclusion.



The only problem is that the last episode is the one I remember the best. It should be the cherry on top or whatever. And it wasn't. And now I judge the whole show by it. So yeah, a great show - kind of...

Cancelled this show that I was a great fan of and watched each show and read over the reviews over the world wide web sense the pilot to be one of the greatest tv shows watched that was up to-date and could be really going on in today's times and than to be canned by ABC only proves that the company is run by BOOBS. ABC is known for being a political opinionated company and if their friends in the Government says it's to realistic to can it, they will even though it had a 90% good rating on the internet and had so many people watching it around the world not only on tv but on their pc's. ABC---YOU AGAIN PROVE AGAIN FOOLS RUN YOUR COMPANY.

CANCELLED ALREADY?????

Hands down, my favorite drama of the year.

I watched and DVR'd _Last Resort_ RELIGIOUSLY and was awestruck to find the BOOBS at ABC canned an excellent series. Personally I could ONLY see it lasting 2 seasons (running out of ideas etc) an am happy the writers knew in advance EP13 would be the last and gave some closure

I cannot say the same for _FLASHFORWARD_ which had an INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY to keep the series alive. F**G ABC!!!

Not sure why - but you'd never leave your top 3 officers (& COB) on shore away from your ship. A skeleton crew but with enough technical ability & leadership to handle emergency situations. Also the current Navy uses a BUDDY system when ashore. My son spent almost 9 years in our (GREAT) Navy and when visiting foreign soil they were required to travel in 3's. Not sure if you'd want to blow up a ship with several nuclear weapons on board - not a great idea.. OK I'm a whiner - but I'm still sad to see it end.

I'm really going to miss this show. Can't understand why it wasn't a bigger hit.

Had a very good cast and story line. Always looked forward to watch this every week.

Maybe if we get enough request for it's return............. Who knows it's been done before.

This episode was full of action and great decisions making by the Captain. Let's not follow it up with the Captain being afraid to make decisions and looking weak. "Last Resort" could be really good as long as its does not become too much like "Lost." The interactions of the Navy personnel, and the native people on the island should not be over done. I'm afraid with the kidnapping of the two service members it's headed that way. I hope the writers do not shoot the show in the foot before it can got off the a good run.

I love the way the characters are intelligent, have there own motivations, and aren't wishy washy from episode to episode. They all have there moments of doubt, but they are realistic and complicated, as oppossed to being whatever the writers want them to be for that episode. (i'm looking at you, OUaT) Talk of stats being off or 'that's not how we do it in the navy' don't concern me, because this isn't a reality show. It's scripted programming, and I care more about the interactions and dilemas of the crew, islanders, and other characters introduced than the capabilities of a nuclear missle's operational range when fired from a sub. I was sad to hear this was cancelled, and even sadder to see it go :(

I very much liked the first several shows because it was still fiction but somewhat believable. But the writers have really strayed with the heart of a military man. The Captain and XO would never be at odds and the COB would never so much as question the Skipper of a Naval vessel. With all the believable directions they could have gone splitting up the brotherhood men have in the military is the worst direction they could have gone. Good luck with the show but I am moving on.

When the show first started I was not a viewer. With shows like Arrow and Elementary Last Resort became lost in a season where titles like Sherlock Holmes were being thrown around. Having watched all the episodes I now find the show pretty damn good. Yes there are plot problems, but none of the problems are unsolvable. I find the acting of all the cast to be above par and worth Honorable mention. This show is worth keeping and I think if you give this cast a second season they will prove a worthy show. I think this show could really find an audience with the disenfranchised citizens of this country that find the world they live in today to be confusing and overly secretive. There is an audience for this show but the way it was marketed did not bring in the proper viewing audience. ABC you have spent money on longshots before. I am here to tell you that this is one of those longshots that will pay off in season 2. Do not cancel it please. These actors have shown a lot of acting chops so far give them a second chance.

This is the only show that is action packed and interesting enough for my husband to sit and watch with me. He hates sitting through commercials so we DVR and then watch. I will watch anything Andre Braugher is in. Love him. The supporting cast is wonderful and it keeps you guessing as to what is going on. Writers know what they are doing. I haven't seen confirmation on cancellation, only here, so I am crossing fingers it is not a done deal yet.

It seems like ABC has made a bad start. ABC needs to make a big change in plotting a story, they have to do a lot more better than this JOKE.

This is by far one of the best shows on TV. It figures when the network finally gets a good show on the air they decide to cancel to make room for another idiotic reality show. This cancellation won't give me any reason to watch this network now. Pity.

This and Revolution are the only new shows worth watching in years. Apparently CBS has intelligent people doing their programming decisions since it got the green light for a full season. If only ABC had such intelligence, maybe then they wouldn't always be dead last in ratings. I mean come on, you put the show up against BBT and it did fairly well which is AMAZING. Are you people just plain stupid or what?

it never ceases to amaze me how networks think that Crap shows get to live decent shows get canceled just because they didn't have a million viewers.



Just another reason the country is going to we can't just have shows with quality.

My favorite new show of this season - so of course ABC cancels it. Well written, thought provoking, intelligent - in other words, inaccessible to the average American TV viewer. Shame on you, ABC.

I loved the show I have jobs and when I got home I had it rec on my DVR so now that I know it been canceled by ABC Im mad because like I just told u all I loved it and they can not live the show the way it end I will love to see it back on

Disappointed. Last Resort is the only thing I watch on TV, and then ABC cancels the show in the middle of the first season. This was my first TV show addiction, so I feel like this is the ultimate buzz kill. This show has everything you could ask for- nukes, espionage, hostages, sex, drugs, violence, and Navy SEALs shooting terrorists. AND ITS CANCELLED?? I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA!! C'MONNNNN MAAANNNNN!!!!!

I dont spend hours watching TV but I have found myself addicted to the 'Last Resort'

This show has outstanding acting, great storyline, characters, action. But I guess ABC wants instant gratification these days. What a shame. My husband and I didn't watch Lost until season two through word of mouth. There is so much to watch these days, not all shows take off immediately. But the networks want to treat them like the opening weekend of a new movie. No wonder there is so much crap on TV these days. How extremely disappointing. ABC, you suck!

What a fantastic series and such a shame it was cancelled. Lots of strong roles including some excellent female role models.

Well written and plenty of cliff hangers. I just thing the show was too intelligent for the average US viewer, plus the attack on US soverign soil was too much for people to accept. I mean the elect president corrupt? NO WAY!! once again a excellent show was cancelled for the wrong reasons. Maybe more peanuts should be sent or maybe some tinned tuna! I dont know..

This show had potential but it was cut in its prime. US views need a big kick up the *** for this heinous act against entertainmet!

I have just read Jim Suttons review and I think he has hit the nail on the head, this show offends a core of US residents who have biased and even bigoted political opinions.

What a very disappointing ending if this is how the show is going out. The pilot was fantastic (best of the season as far as I care), and while the rest of the season has been not as good as that, I've still enjoyed it. Please give us a decent ending if cancelling the show is how it is going to be :( I hate shows that just end with no proper finishing story.

This is a reoccurring thing, my fav maiden show gets cancelled every year without fail :(

It is awesome and also it's not out in Australia but its out in us and its awesome and I love it

This is a great show. I don't understand how a show can have so many viewers and such a low rating - makes no sense.