Violet recaps Season 1 Episode 6 of The Last Ship, titled Lockdown, where one of the crewmembers comes down with an illness that might be the virus! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts on the episode.
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Episode Recap of The Last Ship, Season 1 Episode 6: Lockdown
- Chandler informs the crew of what happened in Nicaragua, despite the officers advising him not to, and announces that Dr. Scott is getting close to a vaccine, so they are setting a course for home.
- Chandler is discouraged by Dr. Scott’s setback, and advises her to dispose of the dead monkeys at night. Chandler stops the ship in case they have to head back to Nicaragua for more monkeys. Meanwhile, Quincy tries to convince Bacon that the Captain is hiding something.
- More monkeys die. Crew members see Dr. Scott dumping bags off the ship and wonder what she’s up to. Meanwhile, Danny collapses, and it looks like he may have caught the virus, though Dr. Scott insists that he’s not infected, because she tested everyone before they boarded after Nicaragua.
- Chandler has Slattery put the ship on lockdown, closing all hatches, securing all ventilation, and passing out CVR gear. Kara runs all the way to the other side of the ship to get to Danny, saying that if he has it, she has it.
- Danny’s blood test shows that he has Dengue fever, which is not contagious, though the next 24 hours are crucial for him. Chandler reprimands Kara privately. Later, Chandler and Dr. Scott get into an argument, and Dr. Scott tells him he needs to learn to trust her.
- Quincy continues to try to get into Bacon’s head, telling him that the monkeys that Dr. Scott has been testing the vaccine on have been dying, and making him worry about the virus spreading through the ship. Tex visits Dr. Scott to give her encouragement.
- A group of 16 crewmembers whose enlistments are up submit a request to leave the ship. Bacon is part of this group, and Quincy wants to try to go with them.
- Chandler calls everyone onto the flight deck, has the crew approach Dr. Scott’s lab so that she can explain her progress on finding the vaccine, then he delivers an inspiring speech, telling the crew he will share everything with them from now on. He also announces that a boat and supplies will be waiting in the morning for those who choose to leave.
- The 16 crewmembers show up the next morning and request to re-enlist. Chandler swears them all in.
- Danny pulls through the worst. Chandler assigns Kara her punishment. Chandler also visits Quincy and takes away his chess privileges with Bacon.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 1 Episode 6 of The Last Ship: Lockdown
I feel like this is another of those “much ado about nothing” episodes. The episode tried to make it seem like there was a lot of suspenseful stuff going on when there wasn’t really. The hype just felt really fake and unnecessary. They make this big deal about “oh my gosh, the monkeys are dying, you have to be super secretive about when you dump the bodies.” And then they make even a bigger deal out of crewmembers seeing her dumping the biohazard bags. Is the crew really that much in the dark about what’s going on? Are they really that dumb? I mean, they know that Dr. Scott is working on creating a vaccine, and that they went to Nicaragua so they could get monkeys for her to test the vaccines she comes up with, right? Wouldn’t it be logical that the vaccine wouldn’t work on the first try, and that some of the monkeys would die? I really didn’t understand what the big deal was.
Then they make this big deal about Quincy whispering in Bacon’s ear. At first I thought it was because he wanted to get back into the lab to help Dr. Scott, which he’s done before and is actually helpful, but then it turned out that wasn’t it. Did he really have this whole elaborate plan for the crewmembers to request to leave the ship so that he could go with them? That seems really far-fetched to me. And where were those guys even planning on going anyway?
I also didn’t understand how Kara knew that Danny was sick. Maybe I somehow missed when Slattery made the announcement, but the only name I caught was when he said “circle Williams,” whatever that means. Danny’s last name is Green. It sounds like that direction was to quarantine a certain section of the ship. Could be wrong though. In any case, it was dumb for her to run all the way across the ship if she really thought she might have it. So much for trying to be discreet about the now-over relationship. Why not get into CRV gear and then go over there? Speaking of the CRV gear, didn’t they mention in an earlier episode that they didn’t have enough suits for everyone on the ship?
Anyway, I was not a fan of this episode. Too much bothered me in it. Not to mention we were confined to the ship after last week’s fun field trip episode, so this was kind of a downer for me.
Josh’s Thoughts: The Last Ship , Season 1 Episode 6: Lockdown
Chandler and Dr. Scott really mishandled everything in the beginning of this episode didn’t they? Secretly dumping bodies overboard, making everything sound peachy when it isn’t–what was he going to do if this ruse actually last longer? Eventually he would have to explain things aren’t going well, which certainly would have more of the crew against him.
Despite all that, I am not sure why some of the crew thought about abandoning ship. The safest place is aboard that ship, especially considering they are probably the only lab outside if the Russians working on a cure. But I am glad to see this conflict come up in the episode. It was only a matter of time before some form of mutiny would begin. The disappointing part is how short it lasted though. Perhaps in the future a longer last mutiny or rebel group will develop on the ship, threatening to take over. That would be a great storyline I feel. Very similar to a story-line in Battlestar: Galactica but a very effective one.
I am surprised how quickly Quincy’s chess partner was listening to Quincy’s blabbering though. The guy is clearly a traitor and that soldier should have recognized the play Quincy was working on. I kind of wished Quincy would have been tossed overboard when Chandler came to speak to him. I guess that is not the noble way Chandler would react though.
Overall I am still really liking The Last Ship. The one suggestion I would have would be to develop multi-episode story archs. Each “problem” that comes up for the most part lasts that single episode, and it is over. I want stuff to be messy! Not something that resolves in the course of 45 minutes.
Scenes from The Last Ship, Season 1 Episode 7: SOS
Here are scenes from the next episode of The Last Ship, titled SOS:
