The Last Ship Season 3 Finale Review: Don’t Look Back (Season 3 Episode 13)

How’s everybody doing out there? Are you okay? No?

Me either.

Of course I expected we’d lose a character on The Last Ship Season 3 Episode 13, “Don’t Look Back.” With all that gunfire and the simple fact that it’s a season finale (and that the show has been renewed), it only makes sense that there would be a casualty or two.

I just didn’t expect that casualty to be one of the most beloved characters on the show.

But let me back up a bit, because The Last Ship gives us a pretty incredible Season 3 finale from start to finish. It’s got all of the action we look forward to regularly from this show, but since it’s a finale, it takes it all up a notch. It’s fun to watch, and it’s satisfying to see the good guys prevail in some major ways.

Ultimately, through the suspenseful moments and watching our heroes defeat their enemy, there’s still that feeling of hope. There’s still that feeling of satisfaction.

I could watch this sort of thing all day: Chandler and Slattery leading their teams of good guys and succeeding, complete with one-liners like “smile for the camera” and “rise and shine, asshole.”

What happens is more complex than that, though. Chandler, who I’ve said on many occasions is portrayed as this perfect sort of hero, is finally put in a position where he’s forced to compromise his values.

It’s no secret that he’s been struggling as a leader, but he’s always made the right calls. He’s always gone with his gut and done the right thing, even if that right thing meant breaking the rules.

Once his children are brought into the mix, that starts to change.

Allison has found his weakness, and kidnaps his children so that she can trade them for Chandler himself. Of course, family comes before anything, and he’s more than willing to sacrifice himself for his children.

He has friends who are willing to back him up in the process, including Tex, for what appears to me a perfectly orchestrated plan. The kids are taken safely off the plane, but before the plane is allowed to take off with Chandler, Tex gets himself back on the plane with guns blazing.

Meanwhile, Slattery’s method of combat is a love of country.

He uses his words to begin to convincing the soldiers who they should really be fighting for, playing to their values and their patriotism. The fact that is works gets at the heart of what The Last Ship is about in the first place, and that’s the very thing that Chandler is having trouble with.

Because when Chandler trades himself for his children, he learns that Allison and her minions murdered his father. Tex comes to the rescue once to save his life and help defeat the enemy once and for all, and again to try to keep Chandler from making a mistake that will change his life forever.

He’s the voice of reason when Chandler finally has a gun on Allison, telling him that she isn’t worth it, and he shouldn’t kill her. He might have talked his friend out of making that choice, except that it’s in that moment he collapses from fatal wound.

One by one, Chandler is losing everyone he cares about. His wife, Rachel, his father, and now a loyal friend and partner.

And that sets him over the edge.

It’s still satisfying to see it happen. Chandler has the chance to kill his enemy, similar to the way Takehaya had the opportunity to kill his. There’s something gratifying in that, even though it means a drastic change for Chandler’s character.

By the way, this isn’t the first time Chandler turned away from his ship and his duties. He did it before, when he had every intention in Season 2 of staying with his family rather than continuing to fight. But, being the hero that he is, he was convinced he had to be a part of something bigger, and that he had to lead.

This time feels much different, though, particularly because of his send off. And this time, his crew seems to understand — particularly Slattery.

Tex’s death serves as a catalyst to make this change for Chandler, and in that way, I get it.

But couldn’t there have been another way?

While this finale still gets a good rating from me, I have two chief complaints, and one of those is the death of Tex. Partially, that’s because I’m heartbroken over seeing a favorite character die, but it goes a little deeper than that. Tex was a symbol, and he added something to the team that was unique. I see the purpose of his death for the story, but I’m not convinced that the catalyst had to be such a beloved character.

Especially after the fact that we already lost Rachel Scott last season.

On the other hand, I’m glad Tex returned and was afforded a goodbye, even if that goodbye is a hard one.

My other complaint is that there are so many moments, including Tex’s death, that don’t feel quite as fleshed out as I wished they would have been. I’m not saying we need to spend half an episode on Danny holding his child or Tex dying, but even a few more seconds on moments like that would have made this episode even more powerful.

I’m excited to see what’s next, though. We’re going to continue to see Chandler’s character change, and I think the possibilities of that could be really interesting. We’re also apparently looking at a time jump when we get to Season 4.

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

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

The Last Ship returns next summer to TNT.

Follow us on Twitter @TellTV