What would you do?

That's the question posed by Quincy after Chandler accuses him of taking the fate of the world into his hands on The Last Ship Season 1 Episode 3. 

Quincy isn't a Russian in disguise, nor is he an evil-doer by nature. As a scientist, he made the choice to share information with a Russian equal when the epidemic threatened the world and governments were playing chicken, effectively stopping progress by their unwillingness to work together.

When all hell started to break loose, the admiral of the Russian ship took Quincy's family hostage and demanded Quincy deliver Rachel Scott, the primordial virus and all of their findings over to the Russians in return for the safety of his family.

Of course, none of this went very well. Chandler was pissed that Quincy didn't just tell him what the hell was going on so they could have gone in armed with knowledge, perhaps not only rescuing Quincy's family, but saving the lives of two men who were lost while Chandler and the admiral played blind man's bluff over who would give first.

There were tense battle scenes and ridiculous emotional drama that really needs to go. The Danny and Kara relationship isn't working. Danny almost blew the operation because he wanted to protect Kara, even though she can hold her own quite well. Let's hope his show of breaking up with her was for good. If he can't accept they're both in the line of fire, then he needs to back off.

The meat of the hour was whether or not the Russian admiral really had a piece of the equation that Rachel needs to create her vaccine. With the introduction of Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Girls, Rubicon, Damages) as a seemingly American scientist isolated behind a plastic curtain, I'm guessing the Russian wasn't bluffing at all.

Is the as yet unnamed man patient zero? All indications so far (and there are few, granted) seem to point to his infection. The Russians look at him like a circus freak, he's isolated, knew of Rachel's work and, as the credits rolled, he appeared to be infecting a mouse with his own breath. 

Can you think of another reason he would have opened his mouth wide and dramatically blown his breath onto the small creature? He also noted that he needs more mice. If he's attempting to find a cure and infecting them himself, they'd probably go pretty quick. 

So it's definitely not the last we've seen of the Russian ship. I expect it will continue to trail the USS Nathan James and that the Russian will stubbornly refuse to share information with Chandler, making it a constant battle of wills as Chandler tries to rescue Quincy's family and the admiral tries to secure Rachel so she can have the one man alive who has been infected with the virus and lived to infect an entire planet.

The story may be far more complex than that, but I feel pretty solid about my conjecture at this point. The complexity of the situation would probably impact the longevity of the series, so here's hoping it's really not quite as simple as my speculation, because it could get frustrating knowing the only reason the cure is at a standstill is because the friggin' Russian refuses to tell Chandler the truth.

What are your thoughts? Hit the comments. If you need to catch up, you can watch The Last Ship online via TV Fanatic.

Is the isolated man patient zero?

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.