Our look at the new action series line-up continues. Last Resort launches on America's ABC network this month. Will it run deep but aim high?
No, Last Resort is not a revamp of the old Jonathan Ross show, but, instead, one of the new TV season's leading lights in the action genre.
The American nuclear submarine the Colorado is celebrating picking up a team of black-ops Navy SEALS from an unknown mission and crossing the line of the equator when it suddenly receives orders to fire a nuclear missile at Pakistan. Given the tensions that we are told have been rising in recent months (the series being set in a very near future/alternate present), the message isn't totally outside the realms of being genuine, but Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher – of House, Homicide: Life on the Streets etc fame) is perplexed why the apparently official message has come through an electronic route that was always meant as an official back-up if Washington and the US government ceased to function. His request that the orders be sent through the normal channels or some clarification given is met with the voice on the other end of the line relieving him of command and putting his second-in-command, XO Sam Kendal (Underworld's Scott Speedman) in charge. Kendal is good friends with Chaplin and is about to finish his tour of duty to head home to to his wife. While he assumes command, he is also not willing to simply fire on Pakinstan without some further confirmation. The response… a missle is launched at the Colorado, with the intention of sinking the vessel. The Colorado has no choice but to dive and try to outrun the missile… but the casualties are significant and the mood of the crew fractured.
As a limited nuclear strike begins in Pakistan, Chaplin, Kendal, the surviving crew and the Navy SEALS find themselves at odds over what to do next. Did America just fire on its own men? Is it a misunderstanding or something more? As reports of their demise filter through to Washington and their distraught loved ones back home, the Colorado limps to the nearest land-mass, an island and NATO listening post called Sainte Marina. Here they will not be safe for long and must quickly assess their next move. To the chagrin of some, Chaplin announces to the world that America – or any other country – attacks them at their peril. Sainte Marina is now a nuclear-powered and very pissed-off island nation.
The deep-running premise of Last Resort is 'high-concept' to say the least, but however unlikely it may be, there's no denying that the pilot is executed in ruthless, snap-salute style, combining the tensions and rigour of a military story with enough network-friendly wild-cards to keep you on your toes. Think The Hunt for Red October mixed with dashings of a darker JAG or NCIS. Definitely more skewed to a traditionally male audience than any of the pilots we've covered so far, this is a opening salvo that creates momentum from the very first scene and generally keeps it going until the end. By the time the credits roll, there's a handful of characters we're already invested in and yet we're not sure what any of them will be doing next.
There is a danger that after such a strong start, with requisite action, tension and niftily directed by Bond's Martin Campbell, the drama will fall back into more formulaic weekly outings. While the characters and their desperate situation intrigue us for the moment, it wouldn't take much for them to revert to familiar stereotypes and some of the formualic beats (the gruff Navy SEAL captain (played by T2's Robert Patrick), the greiving wife, the troubled politician etc) could still go either way.The inhabitants of the island community (including Dollhouse's Dichen Lachman) are less well-drawn but they have little time for formal introduction and we'll probably learn more in subsequent episodes. It will need a steady hand on the rudder to keep it all as compelling… thankfully that comes in the form of Shawn Ryan (creaor of the much-lauded The Shield, the under-rated The Chicago Code) who knows a thing or two about tight and tough ensembles.
Network-designed for primetime, this is a promising start with something for everyone and one of the few series that seems not to be set around an already obvious well-worn theme xeroxed from an existing hit. Yes, there could be some choppy waters ahead or even some becalmed momentum, but there's an equal chance this could develop nicely and with a certain edge… and the pilot gives us enough of a depth-charge to make us want to see how the Colorado and the new nuclear nation fare under pressure…
9/10
