The Last Ship: Adam Baldwin on That Emotional Ending and Saying Goodbye to Such a ‘Special’ Show [Exclusive Interview]

The Last Ship went out with a bang, quite literally, wrapping up the fifth and final season of the post-apocalyptic series. 

While much of the crew managed to survive, including Tom Chandler and Mike Slattery, the ship itself goes down once and for all, but not before taking out the enemy’s battleship, thanks to a risk taken by Admiral Chandler.

I spoke with Adam Baldwin about the series finale, what it was like filming the final episode, and where we’ll be able to see him next. You can read the first part of our conversation, where he reflects on the series overall here.

Baldwin said he thinks audiences will be satisfied by the way the show ends for a few reasons, including “Chandler’s near-death experience,” and the fact that he has “a lot of resolution to the folks that he’s known and loved and lost along the way.”

“To see his growth through the series is one of the most profound parts of the show. To see where he started to where he finishes up, and then he heads on off over the horizon, as the rest of us do,” Baldwin said.

He also agreed it’s fitting that the USS Nathan James was sunk in the finale.

“I think it’s the finality of it. It buttons the show and we can move. And it’s appropriate that the ship goes down, I think in the end. She served her purpose. She’s outlived her usefulness and [goes] out in a blaze of glory. You know, there were times when I was asking the producers, ‘Come on, let Slattery just get blown up really good!'” Baldwin laughed.

“They had other plans for me. Yeah, I think it’s an appropriate end.”

One of the most emotional scenes on the episode is when the crew members are forced to abandon ship. Filming that was emotional behind the scenes as well.

“There was a lot of desperation,” Baldwin said. “We’ve been together for more than five years — five and a half years on the show — and while we were filming those sequences, the sets were being struck. So it was, in an actor’s world, the show is actually ending, so it has that sort of finality as well, and you’re saying goodbye to friends that you’ve known for five years, because that’s just the nature of the business. You’ve worked together for five years, you’re family, you work together every day five days a week. And then well, ‘See you down the road. See you on the next rodeo.’ But that could be months or years down the road.”

“Those of us who are grizzled veterans appreciate that, and so that’s the thing I tried to impart to the younger actors on the show is [to] really appreciate this while it’s happening, because you don’t get a lot of special shows like this where you actually get to work with the Navy, and wear these costume uniforms, and ride on Navy ships, as it were, and be a part of something bigger. I think it’s something bigger than just a television show. This is the department of the Navy, and it’s special so appreciate it while it’s happening.”

As for whether or not the actors have been able to stay in touch, the answer is, well, a little.

“We have text chains of jokes that go back and forth, but LA is pretty spread out, so unless there’s a specific reason to drive over the other side of the hill and get together, it rarely happens. But we all have our own lives. We’ve got families. Some of the folks have had children while we were on the show, and my kids, they’ve been growing up through the whole process,” he said.

“That’s just the way it is. And we’ve all got to find other jobs and move on to the next thing. We’re gypsies. We’re circus players. We’re rodeo clowns.”

Speaking of finding new jobs, The Last Ship may be over, but there are plenty of upcoming opportunities to see Baldwin on the screen. 

“After we wrapped, I worked on three things. One was a memorial for my dear friend Lee Ermey. He passed away unexpectedly. He had a show called GunnyTime, which is basically weaponry in Arizona,” Baldwin said. “It’s a fun show. It’s history of certain weapons, and we go out to the Arizona desert, and we fire off at targets and things and explain their significance in wartime. So we finished up that show — that was one of his dying wishes was [for] his show to be completed.”

“I did a western. Vincent D’Onofrio directed it, called The Kid,” Baldwin continued. “I’m not sure when that’s going to come out — maybe sometime next year. And another thing was something called The Legend of 5 Mile Cave which is for the Inspiration Networks. It’s another western. I like to ride horses occasionally.”

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If you haven’t already, you can read the first part of my conversation with Adam Baldwin here.

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