All the talk by many characters about Vellek being mad – it turned out to be true.

We found out more about what motivates the loony doctor on The Last Ship Season 4 Episode 8.

In short, Christos is an hallucination. Vellek's favorite son was apparently killed in some kind of street crime.

Now Vellek keeps him alive as his imaginary lab assistant, and his other, less favored, children, Lucia and Giorgio, live with it.

Does this make Vellek a more sympathetic character? It would if he wasn't intent on using the world's food supply to achieve global domination.

Curing the Red Rust is a magnanimous thing. Curing it to take over the world, not so much.

This episode we got to see how well developed Vellek's plan is. An entire island of retired fighters as guinea pigs is thinking big. And baking the nostos into the food is ingenious. Think of the franchise possibilities.

I wonder what an African flax seed plant tastes like. Tofu? In that case, perhaps the nostos is necessary to kill a discriminating palate. Is it gluten-free? Again, nostos may help.

Can something that is developed in a lab be considered organic? I suppose it depends on what Vellek put into it.

Poor Fletcher had no idea what he had landed in the middle of. A mad scientist who was going to save the world's food supply aided by his imaginary son, a homicidal second son and an aggressive daughter who has taken over the Greek Navy.

No wonder he wound up dead in the sea.

He thought he could sway what he perceived as an abused Giorgio over to his side and convince him to betray his father...for Vellek's own good, of course.

He just didn't realize that Giorgio had been playing second fiddle to a figment of his father's imagination for some time and had become resigned to his role in the family.

Fletcher did seem a little bloodthirsty, killing Dimitrios and the Greek guard in order to find some way to slow down Vellek. But I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures.

He tried to redeem himself with the crew of the Nathan James, especially Sasha, by contacting them with what information he had about Vellek's plan. Granted, they had figured out some of this on their own, but it's the thought that counts.

Sasha seemed sad that she had doubted Fletcher, and that she knew she would never see him again.

I think Fletch died a hero. He was following orders, even if they conflicted with the Americans' orders, but in the end, he tried to battle the bigger threat: Vellek. He just chose the wrong avenue, Giorgio, to do so.

The away team had an interesting mission, trying to hack into Vellek's communications network on what should have been a deserted island. 

They were right to be surprised when they found a handful of guards running herd of a large group of drugged fighters.

I loved the look of Sasha's face when Danny told her that the infiltration of the house had to be boys only. They certainly needed the girls and their sniper rifles to cover their hasty retreat, though, didn't they?

Ares ended up being the hero of the away team's mission. He not only gave Danny the information he sought about the mind-control drug but also took bullets so they could escape.

I enjoyed when the alarm sounded and Danny, Miller, and Wolf could cut loose on the guards in the cafeteria and stop acting passively.

The good news is that Master Chief Jeter will finally have to get treatment for the injury he has been ignoring for two episodes. Hopefully, he will be OK in the end.

Actually, this episode showed precious little of the Nathan James' command: Tom, Slattery, and Meylan. It was a nice change of pace to concentrate on Vellek's family and the supporting characters from the Nathan James.

I figure what's next for the ship and its crew will be a showdown with the Greek Navy. Sure, they will be outnumbered, but when haven't they been since this outbreak began three seasons ago?

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As the season winds down, watch The Last Ship online to catch up.

Did Fletcher redeem himself in the end? What has the command of the Nathan James learned which will help them overcome Vellek?

Is Vellek bad or just in pain?

Gather all of your thought and comment below. The best part of this is hearing from you!

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.