Last Resort (New TV series - Spoilers!!)

How many of you watch the TV show Last Resort?

It's from the makers of the TV show Lost and there are a lot of mysterious subplots.

It started off as a military drama where a US submarine gets called treasonous when they don't fire nuclear missiles at Pakistan based on some questionable orders. The US Navy apparently tries to sink them for disobeying orders.

However, at the same time the sub picks up some mysterious US special ops SEALS who seem to hold a secret and were on a mission that may be an embarrassment to someone in the US government. These SEALS don't seem to have a comaraderie with their fellow sailors on the ship and one wonders if they are actually SEALS.

To add to the mystery, the US submarine takes refuge on an island paradise controlled by a well connected drug runner. While in the middle of nowhere, they seem to be well supplied on the island which is also, strangely, an outpost of the UN.

Just when you think it's shady at best to be sharing an island with ruthless bad guys, there's something or (somebody) extremely valuable on the island which may be bigger than the submarine, secretive SEALs, or even US Navy. We can figure whatever it is, it's not only of interest to the bad guys and will make anybody in the US government do anything and betray anyone to get it.

Basically, it's taken a turn from the normal military fare and may go supernatural or just plain weird, like Lost. Anyway, I am hooked.

Any other fans out there of Last Resort?

mscriv said:

My wife and I have been watching the show. I'm not yet getting the supernatural vibe that your picking up. It's been good so far.

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I think with the Lost founder in there, it's going to be far more than just a sub hanging around a drug dealer's island. Whatever the kingpin is digging or searching for, it's worth him to kill anybody who gets in his way. As if the drugs he sells and the seemingly abundant lifestyle he has is not enough, he's looking for something that may give him absolute power.

My early guesses are something like a UFO with a lot of scientific secrets, or a vast source of unlimited energy, or something biological (like a doomsday virus or pathogen or even miracle cure).

And not only do we have the powerful and sneaky drug dealer, there's probably the US government officials or big CEO or something who wants in on what is on that island. I know the network will keep it a guarded secret and will only let out so much every season. It reminds me of Fringe which had us all speculating on the romance between the two main characters on one hand and the question of who is running the show in our universe. If the producers of Last Resort are smart they will throw in some slow burning romance in there which may even trump what happens on the island with their big secret.

The whole thing is still predictable and I say the lady who runs the bar is going to get with the Navy SEAL guy and the XO of the ship (who has a wife back home) will get with the NATO station lady (who may have something with evil drug dealer).

ucfgrad93 said:

My wife and I are really enjoying the show. Can't wait to see what is going on in the government. We are also watching Revolution, anyone else watching that?

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They don't show much of it but there seems to be a lot of corruption. The Admiral, the arms dealer, the DoD head, and others could be the good guys or bad guys and it's too early to tell.

Tonight I want at least a hint to the possibly sci-fi, religious, political, bio-terror, pot of gold, or otherwise totally unexpected "riches" that lie on the island. For all we know, Jimmy Hoffa could be hiding out there.

TomCat said:

Well, it's tough to beat Andre Braugher, number one (he carried Homicide on his back).

The pilot was pretty good, but a little too involved. I think they ramped up the complexity a little early.

Reports are that the second ep is way over the top and unfocused, and I hope this does not cost it viewers; I've been a little reticent to view it myself for these reasons.

So I guess the strategy here is to power through ep #2 and pray for better down the road, assuming the pilot was to your liking.

I'm not sure why Hollywood has not learned the lesson that conspiracy is both boring and that serialization asks for a lot of work from the viewer. Sometimes its just easier to put on a CSI and let your mind blank while they do all the work. Especially for network TV where they have to stretch 22 eps over 9 months, and it becomes easy to lose the thread. Cable has a much better approach, 10-13 eps over 14-15 weeks; if the ratings are good run another 12 6 months later or a year later. This is how Suits and Justified hold an audience. Lost blew it by stretching 50 eps over 6 years.

Remember X-Files? Ran for about 135 episodes over 7 or so seasons, and all of the ones that were self-contained and episodic were terrific (with about 6 of those being as good as TV ever has been). But all of the ones that were serialized and about the overarching conspiracy, were as boring as it gets.

Those who do not learn from the failures of the past are condemned to repeat them. Good luck to Last Resort, and I hope they learned that lesson.

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I hear what you say. The show is definitely set up to be a long unraveling. If we know what it's all about in season one, there won't be a season two. Fringe has become very involved and I think it lost viewers.

The best types of shows are ones where it's very quick like Big Bang Theory, Friends, 30 Rock, New Girl, etc. While there may be some building, long plots, most of what is there is fully self-contained. A non fan could come in on any show like these popular series and enjoy it without knowing anything about any of the characters.

mscriv said:

No dice. I'm still not getting a sci-fi/supernatural feel from this show. I interpreted the whole "something secret is on the island" to be more of the old nature vs. industrial and commercialism routine. Sure there is probably some sort of "treasure" in terms of a natural commodity or rare resource, but I don't think it's something magical or mystical. With the build up the show has generated so far taking it in a supernatural direction like "Lost" would just be a quick jumping of the shark that would cause it to quickly lose viewers.

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Last night's show was pretty simple fare and a departure from anything weird or mysterious. I think like Fringe they will have those regular shows mixed in with the "evil mysterious bad guy" leader of the island. Somehow that thug will hold all the keys.

Just like Fringe had the others, Last Resort will have that unknown treasure on the island. Fringe, a great show btw, had the mystery of the others in the background for a long time until they became the whole show's game changer. There are only so many more times that they can use a crafty US Navy under the control of a shadow or corrupt government try to take the island. It may eventually turn out that the US Navy and those in the US government really want something on that island. The game changer, as it seems in these types of shows, is an unknown and in this case on the island. I still don't know if they are looking for a natural resource, a person, or something not of this earth.

Until then, fans of the show will be speculating like crazy. It could also be a vehicle to keep us coming back as there may never be anything on the island and the rest of the shows could be pretty conventional without anything really weird.

Here's how I would tie it in altogether (as of now in the context of a sci-fi show):

The shadow government in the US (corrupt officials) are really aliens. Either the ship's Captain who has apparently nothing to lose, or the XO who was held in North Korea, or the COB are an alien, or maybe all three. Obviously, like almost any alien TV show, the aliens can come across as humans without being detected. What's on the island that the bad guy (drug lord of island), and maybe others, are looking for are of great interest to those aliens. ??

The US government, who are already occupied by aliens, went in to destroy Pakistan because they were one of the last governments left who were under human control. The aliens have their secret home base within the Antarctic network who originally gave the order to the submarine to nuke Pakistan. The US Navy SEAL team in the early part of the series that was taken into Pakistan by US government had the job of doing intel on "where" the last good human resistance was hiding out in that country. Often special forces or special operations go in first before an attack or airstrike. Their missions are so secret that the operators themselves have no idea why things are being done. My guess is that the lone SEAL from the mission, the petty officer, is a good guy and has some important, yet limited information. The barmaid lady he is in love with is, well, an alien who may be good or bad. This leads to the last point which is there are good aliens and bad ones, as well as good human and bad ones.

The arms dealer lady stateside has a technology on the submarine which could be key in finding the lost treasure/person/thing hidden on the island and the US government knows it and will try to capture or destroy the sub at all costs.

Possible alternative to sci-fi theory, the natural resources theory

Natural resources theory:

The US government has become increasingly corrupt and the populace is on the verge of rebellion. Gas is at $8 dollars a gallon and we are in another recession.

There is something on that island which holds the key to clean energy which is feasible, and maybe some sort of bio-fuel. Of course, there are countries who want that with the US among them. For some reason, this has something to do with Pakistan who has just been nuked by two missiles.

The French lady on the island, as well as the drug lord who runs the island (and now the XO of the sub) know that this natural resource is the game changer in the next recovery of the world's shabby economy. Basically, whoever gets there first will be in the driver's seat. The XO knows there is something there but his goal is more to get home safely and probably leave the fighting over resources to governments and criminals.

The US submarine being there is both a hindrance to the US and the drug lord and both will try and kill the Captain and his crew. Being the the sub can swim around cloaked in a sonar dodging technology, and that the sub has nukes, makes stopping the submarine close to impossible. The best bet for corrupt US officials or drug dealer on island is to turn some of the crew. The crew, always on the verge of mutiny, is without many resources or cash and both the US government and drug lord have plenty of that where it came from.

I can't wait for tonight to get more clues as to what the heck is on the island which can render the founder rich and/or powerful.

So far from the show, we know that Pakistan was attacked by the US, the US tried to sink the submarine as well as invade the island, the Russians sent in a team to attack island and maybe for more than just acquiring the submarine, and eventually maybe the Chinese? (see 2:17 in video). There's definitely something there that the whole world is interested in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n0fGJu3gnI&feature=related

This could be a very short series with the sub itself and new technology as the main object. If it were just that, as long as the writers did give it a good beginning, middle, and end, it would be nice. I think some shows like Lost or Fringe either grabbed you or didn't. I liked Fringe up through the alternate universe but it's lost its eerie factor when it's just us against the others.

Dollhouse was a good one but didn't end as well as it could have and didn't explain what was going on that much. The acting on all those shows is great and that may be all that keeps them alive. Unless they reveal something interesting (and quite big) in Last Resort pretty soon, I think it will lose its viewership quickly.

So somebody came onto the island and drugged everybody via the water supply with a powerful hallucinogenic drug in order to get something there, and maybe not the submarine.

There could still be a tie in with the hostages in Pakistan who were to be taken alive by the SEALS, but then were ordered to be eliminated.

There seems to be nothing more to the story other than the attackers who drugged the whole island and submarine crew are probably not US government and seem to be some sort of outlaws possibly tied in with the island mayor/drug lord and a larger criminal syndicate. They seem to want specific information from the French lady on the island and not really anything of the sailors stranded there and thus no interest in the submarine. The French lady did tell the Sam the XO that there's something "big" on the island. I suspect it's something lucrative and everyone wants a piece.

The only thing we know from the mass drugging and hallucinations from that drugging of the island is that any hidden attraction the French lady and Sam the XO had are now out of the bag. Sam seemed a little attracted to French lady and may feel guilt and long for his wife back home. The only thing holding back the relationship between Sam and the French lady was the lady's distance she kept. After this episode, any barriers to that came down in the last scene from last night's episode.

She (and the drug lord of the island) hold the secret to this whole show and what's so darn important on the island and maybe Sam the XO will get a hint as to what that can be if his relationship with French lady progresses. Like any good show, we are left hanging with a few clues but more questions.

So on the island, Petty Officer Cortez is the CIA mole who stole the skipper's nuclear launch key. The druglord is getting the chief of boat rehooked on painkillers as well as having several of the crew hooked on a whole host of drugs and it probably won't be long before he starts getting some of their loyalties. And perhaps most importantly, the resource on the island worth a lot of money are rare earth minerals but that's to be kept quiet at all costs. The navy SEAL slept with Grace Shepard the Lt. on the ship but it's hard to know if there's a triangle forming in the future between her and the lady owner of the bar.

On the homefront, the coverup of the government is unraveling in the press and it appears the arms dealer lady in Washington is attempting to help the XO's wife (who could be ported to island by help of the
CIA if the XO cooperates with them and betrays the skipper.

ucfgrad93 said:

Hope you all didn't get to into The Last Resort. According to USAToday, it has been cancelled after the first 13 episodes end in either December or January.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2012/11/16/cbs-cancels-partners-sitcom/1709707/

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That's too bad. I hope several things are wrapped up:

1) Will the XO go back to his wife or hook up with French lady on island?
2) Will the crew be considered heroes or traitors?
3) What will become of the evil drug lord?
4) What exactly is the rare earth mineral on the island many are willing to kill over and who will get control of that fortune?
5) Why was Pakistan attacked and what role did the navy SEALS have in it?
6) Who are the bad guys back home in DC?

Peace said:

I hope they end it the way it should be done.

They nuke the island and everybody around it.

BOOM !

End of story.

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Apparently the cancelling of the show was nuking it.

I always look forward to Thursday nights just for this show. Being that they are already halfway into the season, they have probably already filmed all the episodes or at least written them with no budget to veer too far off the script.

It will probably end with only some of the questions answered except for two things being they will probably still be on the island (like Gilligan season after season) and they won't find the rare earth mineral that would make them all very rich, and probably a go to sovereign nation with both resources in the world market and nukes to boot.

Had the show evolved, some of the good guys will become bad guys and vice versa as this is common fare for TV, and there will be some unforeseen romances.