The Last Ship Review: Devil May Care (Season 3 Episode 4)

Sometimes, you can feel compassion for the most seemingly evil of villains.

That happens, if only for moment, on The Last Ship, “Devil May Care.”

Because the bottom line in this world, where a virus is still the worst enemy of them all, is survival. And learning that Takehaya’s motives for stealing blood are based in desperation makes things a little less black and white.

Just a little.

Meanwhile, Chandler is able to reason with President Peng when they realize they have a common enemy — and that enemy is Takehaya.

Chandler always seems to make the right move when it comes to this sort of thing. The plan he and his team — which at the moment includes Green, Wolf, and Sasha — put into place to get to Peng is almost like a beautiful dance.

Those scenes are often among my favorites — watching the good guys pull off something cunning and complex. There’s such satisfaction any times the heroes succeed, and even though in the bigger picture there’s still a lot more to accomplish, those little victories give us hope, and they keep us coming back.

It’s one of the reasons The Last Ship is so enjoyable to watch, and even though there are moments when you might forget to breathe or when you have to shield your eyes (seriously, with the whole blood thing), it’s easy to watch when you know those little victories are coming.

We have faith in Chandler and faith in the Nathan James.

As usual, Chandler starts by taking an approach that is peaceful, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready to fight. After all, he does have a Wolf by his side.

Even Peng points out that Chandler is too noble, and Chandler agrees with him. That’s precisely where Wolf comes in.

Wolf: No one ever accused me of being noble.

Ultimately, they form an alliance, and the Nathan James sets a course to start searching for the member of their crew that have been kidnapped.

But look, it’s never going to be that easy. After all, we’re only a few episodes into the season, and if there’s anything we can count on when it comes to The Last Ship, it’s that the crew is going to encounter a few obstacles before reaching their goal.

In this case, it’s mines. In the ocean. That surround the ship.

Basically, it looks like they are screwed.

Because while Slattery is indeed a “clever son of a bitch,” giving coordinates of their location rather than his serial number in the hostage video, Takehaya isn’t so easily fooled.

It’s brilliant, and really, we knew Slattery would have a plan. His plan is one that proves how well he and Chandler understand each other, and it might have worked if Takehaya hadn’t gone back and re-watched the video.

Back at home, President Michener and Kara are dealing with the way all of this looks in the public eye.

Michener is under scrutiny, and you can’t help but feel bad for him. He’s smart enough to let Chandler do what he needs to do, but the public isn’t quite so understanding. The good news, though, is that other leaders in the country are showing their support.

Then there’s this journalist.

He makes a good point that it’s difficult to trust the government after everything the country has dealt with. Of course it’s hard to trust again, and it seems pretty realistic that the rest of the country would feel the same way.

But this guy is crossing boundaries in a despicable way, and it’s going to mean more trouble at home than there already is.

We’ve watched Michener become thrown into this leadership role, and he’s done well, but he still has a lot to learn. Hopefully, he’ll have the opportunity to continue to grow as a leader and to inspire some trust in the government again, but something tells me if that doesn’t happen soon, he won’t be the president for much longer.

Other Thoughts:

• Kara is amazing so far this season, and she’s proving what a strong leader she can be. I hope that’s something we’ll continue to see.
• I continue not to trust Sasha, especially after this episode.
• Chandler gives some of the most quotable lines. Like this one: “Dying has never been a part of my operational plan.”

What did you think of this episode of The Last Ship? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Last Ship airs Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.

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