The Last Ship Series Finale Review: Commitment (Season 5 Episode 10)

If you expected this show to go out with anything other than a bang, then I’m betting you aren’t disappointed.

The Last Ship Season 5 Episode 10, “Commitment,” isn’t necessarily a perfect finale, but its ending is masterful and incredibly satisfying. 

Much of the episode is focused on the battle that happens on land, bringing the theme of this season full circle as it shows the horrors of war in a way that’s a bit difficult to digest.

How appropriate that this airs on Veteran’s Day, because it certainly gives one pause to consider the gruesome realities of war.

It’s also not just the Navy and the Marines, but a reporter is there to capture the events, risking her own life to do so. It’s nothing if not powerful and heartbreaking. 

There are countless casualties as the episode moves forward. Wolf is seriously injured, but thankfully, we do get to see him kick ass one last time before he goes down. It’s amazing how much this man can survive.

Gustavo is killed, and there’s some sense of poetic justice that it’s Danny who takes the shot. What Gustavo doesn’t get, is the face to face he wanted with Tom Chandler all along. Even when he knows he’s defeated, he wants Chandler there, but he’s not given that. 

What happens at sea, though, is by far the most interesting and most significant part of the finale, and the part that truly ends the show. While they’re focused on another ship, Nathan James is struck by the battleship Tom had been hunting.

Sasha had concerns about Tom’s obsession with that “monster ship,” but it turns out his instincts were right along. This is something I wish had been explored further, along with Tom’s relationship with Sasha, which even as the show ends feels… thrown in? 

The very real battleship comes out of nowhere, and the ship is damaged so badly that the crew quickly realizes there’s no saving it. It’s going down.

Kara makes the call for everyone to abandon ship, and it’s striking how emotional that decision is. Tom, Mike, Jeter, Kara — the looks on their faces and everyone else’s would make you think they’d lost a loved one.

And the fact is, they have. Nathan James is a character all its own, and it’s beaten the odds more than once. To let it go feels unthinkable, and it’s heartwrenching to see everyone evacuating the ship.

There’s one, though, who doesn’t abandon the ship immediately, and that’s Chandler, because he has another plan. Kara may be the current captain — and that’s been one of my favorite things about this season, because she’s freaking amazing — but in our hearts, this has always been Tom’s ship.

There was a part of me that believed he would go down with it, but what happens, I think, is better. 

He steers the James so that it will crash into the battleship, possibly sacrificing his own life, and we don’t fully understand his fate right away. You could interpret the next pieces in a few different ways, as we see Tom revisiting characters who have died over the course of the series.

It’s a beautiful farewell to the show. Tom sees Rachel and Tex along with so many other crew members, including this season’s large number of recent ones. Rachel is fleeting, which feels appropriate, but Tex is there to actually speak with Tom. Words cannot express how very, very happy it makes me to see Tex back on the screen, and it’s in such a meaningful way.

It’s closure for Tom, and it’s a way to say goodbye. The ship is about the people, after all. 

Tom has been such a dedicated leader and a hero, and even as he’s started to break down, he’s stayed focus on his responsibility and his duty to the ship, not only because it gives him a sense of purpose, but because he is that hero. His character has evolved so much since we first met him, and this ending allows him to come full circle.

It’s only fitting that he allow the ship to have one more victory and go down in such an honorable way, rather than just sinking, defeated.

I can’t imagine what could be next for Tom’s character, but somehow, in all of the tragedy, the battle is still won and there’s a feeling of hope as the final credits roll.

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

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The first four seasons of The Last Ship are currently available for streaming on Hulu.

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