A quick review of tonight’s “Last Resort” coming up just as soon as the pen is mightier than the sword…
Like most “Last Resort” episodes, “Christmas Liberty” was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the hostage situation on the boat felt like a bit much even for a show about a nuclear submarine gone rogue in the middle of a war with Pakistan. On the other hand, I was very glad to see Pakistan itself become the center of the story, as the nuking of a country should ultimately be the bigger deal in the global scheme of things than the shenanigans Marcus is up to as king of the island. The moment where the Pakistani admiral said he drew inspiration for this act of terrorism from Marcus himself was particularly strong, as it showed just how thin the line is between the theoretically righteous act of rebellion that Marcus has committed and the murder of innocent civilians the admiral was responsible for. And given that the show won’t be continuing past these 13 episodes, I was glad to get a pretty full explanation of what the SEALs were up to and why James spent the first half of the season getting drunk at Tani’s bar.
Plus, even when women are being shot and thrown overboard, and Christine is being kidnapped to parts unknown, you’ve still got Andre Braugher doing Andre Braugher things, like the marvelous reaction to Grace producing the launch key at the most necessary moment (and Marcus understandably assuming that she’s the CIA mole), or simply his pained response to the first civilian death. As with “Homeland,” which has gone down its own narrative rabbit holes at times this season, great acting forgives an awful lot. And Andre Braugher is Andre Braugher.
What did everybody else think?