The Last Ship Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Solace
Elizabeth Harlow
at
.
Updated at
.
The Nathan James and her crew return to the open sea in The Last Ship Season 2 Episode 4 as they pursue a hospital ship carrying the missing level four lab from Norfolk. Of course, nothing is ever easy in a post-pandemic world.
The NSU team, supplemented by two new members recruited at Norfolk, finds that the hospital ship Solace has already been boarded.
While the team attempts to evacuate the ship, the hostiles prove to be more than mere pirates. By the end of the hour, it's clear that they are connected to the group of naturally immune that Sorensen has joined up with.
There wasn't much forward movement for the overall plot in "Solace," as storytelling was (once again) sacrificed for gun fights and explosions. While in the context of a single episode, that's fine, but it's a habitual problem on The Last Ship. The result is that despite all the action, not much happens.
At the end of "Solace," the cast was only marginally ahead of where they started. The only net gains were the addition of a new doctor to help Rachel, and the knowledge that they had a new enemy to worry about. And they're nothing to laugh at.
Ding-dong! Hey, US Navy, it's bad luck for you happening on this ship, but this is the end of the line for you. Because we know how to fight better than you do. And if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you're gonna get.
British hostile
Part of the reason that I'm annoyed with the slow pacing is that the big bad of the season has me intrigued. It's obviously an extensive network, and not just a lone ship or warlord like we've seen previously. It raises so many questions.
I'm dying to find how the group's reach spread so far. And is the rhetoric about destiny a calculated move, or do the leaders of this group really believe? How will they respond to Sorensen being patient zero? I want answers!
We did find out that the group Sorensen connected with is tied to the mercenaries that attacked the hospital ship, and it seems clear that the British submariner's brother is "the boss."
Outside of the action on the Solace, there was the shallow introduction of two new characters who joined the special forces team. Special Chief Wolf Taylor is a wet-dream of a commando, and Lt. Ravit Bavis is...Israeli? Both are hot. But there's nothing to make us more curious about them as people, or their lives before the Nathan James.
Personally, I prefer my eye candy to have some depth of character. The best part of these new additions is how others react to them. I was dying over Miller's hero-worship of Wolf, and the way Foster turned the tables on Danny was amazing.
Lt. Kara Foster: I saw your new team members.
Lt. Danny Green: [looks at Lt. Ravit Bavis] Come on. Jealousy is a useless emotion.
Lt. Kara Foster: I agree. I'm just saying, all the girls are talking about the man from down under.
This season seems aimless compared to last year, which had a clear goal of finding a cure. Dr. Scott's video logs give us a general idea of the crew's objectives, but it's vague. Beyond continuing to produce and spread the cure, what is the point of heading to Florida to meet her mentor? Why does that require an entire ship?
The previews look promising however, so let's hope that the Nathan James rights its course and steams full speed ahead. The Last Ship Season 2 Episode 5 will give us more background on the leadership of the naturally immune, and hopefully a few of the moral or ethical dilemmas that drive character growth.
What did you think of "Solace?" Watch The Last Ship online and join the discussion in the comments!
Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.
