Last Resort is an American military drama television series that aired on ABC from September 27, 2012, to January 24, 2013. The series was created by Shawn Ryan and Karl Gajdusek, and produced by Sony Pictures Television. On November 16, 2012, ABC announced that the series would not be picked up for another season, and the show finished with its original 13 episodes.
Contents
Plot
When the crew of the U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Colorado (SSBN-753), pick up a U.S. Navy SEAL team off Pakistan's coast, the Colorado receives an order to launch nuclear ballistic missiles at Pakistan.
Colorado's Commanding Officer, Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher), asks for confirmation of the firing order because the orders were received through a legacy Cold War secondary communication channel, only to be used in the event that Washington, D.C., has already been destroyed. After confirming Washington's continued existence and refusing to fire the missiles until the command is sent through the proper system, Chaplin is relieved of command by the Deputy Secretary of Defense William Curry (Jay Karnes), and the Colorado's second in command, Lieutenant Commander Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman), is given command instead. When Kendal also questions the orders and asks for confirmation, the vessel is fired upon by the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN-786). Two nuclear missile strikes are subsequently made on Pakistan by other U.S. submarines.
Realizing they have been declared enemies of their own country, the Colorado seeks refuge on the island of Sainte Marina (a fictional French island located in the Indian Ocean) and commandeer a NATO communications and early missile warning facility. When a pair of B-1 bombers is sent to attack the submarine and island, Chaplin launches a Trident nuclear missile towards Washington, D.C., to impress upon the national leadership that he's serious. The B-1s turn away at the last minute, but Chaplin (who has altered the missile's final target coordinates) allows the missile to visibly overfly Washington, D.C., and explode 200 miles (320 km) beyond in the open Atlantic, the explosion clearly visible from both Washington and New York City. Via a television feed to the media, he then declares a 200-mile exclusion zone around Sainte Marina.
Now, the crew must find a way to prove their innocence and find out who in the U.S. government has set them up, so they can finally return home.
As the series progresses, Chaplin finds himself having to become a reluctant ally with China, while trying to keep his own crew, led by Chief of the Boat Joseph Prosser (Robert Patrick), from rebelling against him. He must also combat the schemes of the local drug lord Julian Serrat (Sahr Ngaujah). The series also follows the efforts of Kylie Sinclair (Autumn Reeser), a weapons designer back home who allies with Christine Kendal (Jessy Schram), the wife of the Colorado's XO, to discern the truth behind the nuclear attack on Pakistan and the Colorado's fugitive status. An ongoing subplot involves a Navy SEAL named James King (Daniel Lissing) who, wracked with guilt over his role in the events leading to the nuking of Pakistan, cultivates a romance with one of the island's residents (Dichen Lachman) while surreptitiously aiding the XO.
The series concludes with a series of mutinies, ending with the Colorado destroyed with Chaplin still on board, the surviving crew returning home to the United States, the President assassinated, and the full story made public when Kylie Sinclair arranges for proof of the president and his administration's traitorous activities to be handed over to the press.
Cast and characters
Main
Andre Braugher as Captain Marcus Chaplin, Captain of the USS Colorado who questioned orders to fire nuclear weapons and promptly was declared a fugitive. He is a widower who lost his wife Angela to cancer; he has two sons, one of which he is estranged from and the other, Jeffrey, was a Marine who was killed in action the week prior to "Captain". At the end of the series, CAPT Chaplin went down with his ship, scuttling the Colorado to keep it out of the hands of the Chinese.
Scott Speedman as the Executive Officer (XO), Lieutenant Commander Sam Kendal
Daisy Betts as Lieutenant Grace Shepard, boat's navigator and daughter of Rear Admiral Arthur Shepard (a longtime friend of Captain Chaplin). An Annapolis graduate and sexual assault survivor, LT Shepard remains loyal to CAPT Chaplin and the Colorado up until its destruction. At one point, she had a one-night stand with SO1 King.
Robert Patrick as Command Master Chief Petty Officer Joseph "Joe" Prosser, Chief of the Boat (COB) of the USS Colorado. He attempted to mutiny against CAPT Chaplin in order to return home, but was double-crossed by his own men who sought to sell the Colorado.
Camille De Pazzis as Sophie Girard, French commander of the NATO Communications Facility. She is romantically pursued by Julian Serrat while harboring her own feelings for LCDR Kendal.
Dichen Lachman as Tani Tumrenjack, owner of Sainte Marina Bar, with whom SO1 King strikes up a relationship.
Daniel Lissing as Special Warfare Operator 1st Class James King, a United States Navy SEAL who was on the mission in Pakistan that went south. While on Sainte Marina, he occasionally found himself working with the Colorado crew, particularly LT Shepard (with whom he had a one-night stand) and LCDR Kendal.
Sahr Ngaujah as Julian Serrat, the local despot on Sainte Marina
Autumn Reeser as Kylie Sinclair, a Washington lobbyist for her family's weapons manufacturing company
Recurring
Michael Ng as Chief Sonar Technician Cameron Pitts
Jessica Camacho as Petty Officer 1st Class Pilar Cortez, a member of the crew who is later revealed to CAPT Chaplin to be an embedded CIA operative put in place just in case a nuclear sea captain goes rogue.
Will Rothhaar as Petty Officer 3rd Class Josh Brannan, a crew member who serves as CAPT Chaplin's inside man during a crew mutiny; he is killed protecting the Captain.
Daniel Bess as the Communications Officer, Lieutenant Chris Cahill
Michael Mosley as Senior Chief Nuclear Machinist's Mate Hal Anders, the senior nuclear engineer aboard the Colorado until he is relieved of duty and dismissed from service for raping a native girl. He later leads a mutiny with the end goal of selling the Colorado to the Chinese and is shot dead by CAPT Chaplin.
Michael King as Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin Hawkes, a sailor aboard the Colorado who deserted the ship, returned, and was party to Hal Anders' mutiny.
Omid Abtahi as NATO surveillance technician Nigel
Bruce Davison as Rear Admiral Arthur Shepard, Lieutenant Grace Shepard's father
Jay Karnes as Deputy Secretary of Defense, later promoted to Secretary of Defense William Curry
Ernie Hudson as Speaker of the House Conrad Buell
Jay Hernandez as U.S. government lawyer Paul Wells
Gideon Emery as CIA operative Booth
David Rees Snell as Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Barry Hopper, a member of SO1 King's SEAL Team who made his way stateside to provide proof of the conspiracy.
Development and production
ABC greenlit the pilot in January 2012, allowing filming to begin. The show was filmed in Oahu, Hawaii, and produced by Sony Pictures Television. Thirteen episodes were ordered, and on October 19, 2012, ABC ordered two additional scripts for the series.
On November 16, 2012, ABC announced that they would not be taking on Last Resort for a full season, but would air the 13 episodes that had been produced. They also passed on producing the two additional scripts that had been ordered.
On November 21, 2012, the producers revealed they had been given sufficient notice of the network's cancellation plans so they could "tweak" the final episode to function as a series finale and give the fans some closure.
International broadcast
In Canada, the show was simsubbed on Global. Sony's AXN channel aired the show in Asia from October 2, 2012. Within Oceania, Australia aired the series on the Seven Network from February 20, 2013, and debuted in New Zealand on Four on May 14, 2014. Last Resort aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sky1 from October 30, 2012.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 79% with an average score of 7.3 out of 10 based on 42 reviews. The website's critical consensus is, "Last Resort is a top-notch conspiracy thriller, with cinema-quality production and riveting action sequences." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 74 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Cancellation and future plans
In an interview on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, Shawn Ryan expressed disappointment but acknowledged that the cancellation of Last Resort was not a huge surprise. He said, "Our ratings had been on the cusp, or really below the cusp, for a few weeks now. It didn't come as a huge shock." He pointed out the tough competition, stating, "We're up against The Big Bang Theory, The X Factor, NFL games... it's a brutal time slot." He also explained the strategic placement of the show in the 8 p.m. Thursday slot, stating, "They thought [Last Resort] was a big, bold concept that would attract people." However, he added, "The addition of weekly NFL games... may not have been fully accounted for."
Regarding the future of the series, Ryan revealed that they had ambitious plans for the second half of the season. The last nine episodes were set to shift from survival to exploring how the island became a symbol for a certain group of people. New characters, such as Marcus's surviving son, would have played key roles. Ryan mentioned, "We had definite plans on where we were going to go," with storylines like Christine's rescue and the discovery of valuable minerals on the island. These developments would have expanded the narrative into more complex territory.
Andre Braugher also expressed his frustration with Last Resort's abrupt cancellation, saying, “It ended abruptly, and we had to scramble to create order where none existed.” While disappointed, he added, “Better to end like that than just be told to go home and leave it incomplete.” He also acknowledged, “I had a lot of hopes for that series, but it never came together as it should have.”