Topic 'Re: Last Resort' in forum 'Anime/Sci Fi' - dslreports.com

Re: Last Resort

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:00:44 EDT

elwoodblues posted :

The gaps between episodes is one of the things that killed Firefly. Networks seem to enjoy starting up shows and then stranding people mid way through. You just cannot do that with a serial. Doctor Who can do it because while each series/season has an ongoing plot, you can still watch an episode on its own.

It started with Lost, one of their first modern prime time serials. They came back from the Christmas break and started airing random shows... well that just doesn't work in a serial,thus the long breaks between shows now.

They're like the Maffiaaa, they are stuck with one business model and can't seem to break out of it. The 22 episode season is dead..
--
No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake.......

Re: Last Resort

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 04:54:19 EDT

Kearnstd posted : The gaps between episodes is one of the things that killed Firefly. Networks seem to enjoy starting up shows and then stranding people mid way through. You just cannot do that with a serial. Doctor Who can do it because while each series/season has an ongoing plot, you can still watch an episode on its own.
--
[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

Re: Last Resort

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:10:36 EDT

elwoodblues posted : Pushing 22 episodes you're right, give it 12 or 13/ season, that's a different story.

Re: From ESPN's TMQ (with spoilers)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:25:24 EDT

Snakeoil posted : *shrugs* Sure it had factual errors that you could drive an oil tanker through at high speed.
But then again what show on TV doesn't have factual errors?

If the writing had been better, and they had a whole season to fill out the plot, then the story may have made more sense.
But I think I read that they had filmed episode 9 when they learned the show was canceled, so they were determined to wrap it up, during the last 4 episodes.

At least they didn't have a guy placing a coffee cup on a string and tying it across the width of the sub to show the effects of compression depth.
Though I am curious about that. Do the new subs compress the way the old WW2 subs used to when they hit the bottom end of their operation depth?

About the only reason why I liked the series was because it wasn't a reality show, or a forensic procedure show, or a cop procedural show.
--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.

From ESPN's TMQ (with spoilers)

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:12:26 EDT

footballdude posted : "Last Resort" Even Had a Scene Where a Dropped Wrench Gives Away a Submarine's Position: The submarine conspiracy show "Last Resort" just sounded the diving horn for the final time. Viewers never found out why the sinister United States president wanted to fake evidence of nuclear terrorism in Pakistan; why most of the military went along with an obviously crazy plan to stage a nuclear first strike on Pakistan, then immediately destroy the American submarine that launched the missiles; why the order to launch came through a 50-year-old Cold War backup system, which is what alerted the noble captain of the missile submarine Colorado that something wasn't right. What was the point? Viewers never learned. At least the evil president got it between the eyes just before the credits roll.

As previous items noted, many episodes featured the Colorado acting like a World War II submarine, not a modern boat. The series finale included lots of gunfire inside a submarine, yet no one's ears ring. Seconds after automatic weapons blast away in a submarine corridor, the characters converse normally. Why there were so many small arms in the first place was puzzling: Does a United States strategic missile submarine really carry infantry weapons and "battle rattle" for every member of the crew? The final fight to oust the mutineers turned on a fuse ignited by a crew chief's Zippo. I don't think I want to be aboard a submarine on which crewmembers have cigarette lighters.

At one point the Burke-class destroyer Patrick Lawrence, under orders from the White House conspiracy, confronts the Colorado. Why is a U.S. navy vessel named after a 19th century British general? The destroyer's captain acts as if he is sailing to certain doom: Viewers are told the Colorado can easily sink the destroyer while being invulnerable to the surface ship. But the Colorado is a strategic missile submarine, engineered to hide, not to fight other ships: Attack submarines are the ones that fight other ships. And modern destroyers are mainly submarine hunters! Burke-class vessels carry antisubmarine rockets and a helicopter specialized for long-range antisubmarine warfare. If a USN strategic missile submarine and a USN destroyer located each other with intent to fight, chips might go on the destroyer.

Plot holes were numerous. Once the Colorado parked off an island in French Polynesia and declared the island sovereign, why did the crew leave the boat, live ashore and interact with the islanders? This would be certain to cause trouble -- indeed, about half the material of the series was friction between crew and natives. The Colorado is said to be Ohio-class, a series designed to stay submerged up to three months. Even if the Colorado needed to surface by the island to take on supplies, the captain could have maintained discipline by having the crew live onboard. Instead there is drinking, fighting and conspiring ashore. A crewman rapes an island woman, then the captain (extremely implausibly) punishes him to banishment in the jungle. You didn't need to belong to the scriptwriters' guild to know that guy would show up later with a gun.

The male crew members on "Last Resort" were GQ handsome, the female characters were lookers: it's television. When the mega-babe lieutenant stripped off her fatigues for a love scene, she was wearing a black lace bedroom bra. Do women serving aboard submarines really pack lingerie from the Victoria's Secret catalog?

Audiences learn that a CIA officer of uncertain loyalty is embedded with the submarine's crew. She communicates with someone in Washington -- the conspiracy or loyalists? -- using satellite uplink equipment hidden in the jungle. But the CIA had no idea the Colorado was going to sail to a tiny French Polynesian island, why would it have pre-positioned a covert radio installation there?

The MacGuffin of the final episodes was a flash drive that contained evidence the president is a traitor. The flash drive changes hands several times with drastic consequences -- because no one makes a copy. In the finale, control of the ship is seized by bad guys. Then, the good guys retake command, overriding the bridge, by punching a few buttons in what appears to be a broom closet. Just like on all "Star Trek" shows!

At the conclusion, the noble captain beaches the Colorado, then Navy fighters blow her up to prevent the ship from falling into Chinese hands. Blowing up a submarine with 288 hydrogen bombs aboard should not cause a nuclear explosion -- such warheads are elaborately trigger-locked. But highly radioactive material might be spread into the air. As the Colorado explodes, characters look on, unconcerned.

There was one nice touch of realism at the end of a mainly nonsensical show. In the penultimate episode, loyal officers and politicians plan a coup to remove the traitor from the White House. One says in passing they must arrest both the president and vice president, then place the Speaker of the House in power.

This reference isn't explained, and what happens next is a preposterous scene in which the Speaker of the House commits suicide on national television seconds after learning the evil president has foiled the coup. But the reference is correct.

(Camouflage fatigues onboard submarines, not blue coveralls, was the least of "Last Resort" plot holes.)

The 25th Amendment contains a clause saying the president may be removed from office if physically or psychologically incapacitated on the condition the vice president and a majority of the cabinet agree to the removal. If the vice president was part of the evil president's never-explained conspiracy, the 25th Amendment wouldn't work, because the vice president could veto a peaceful, legal transition of power. That would leave a coup as the only option. "Last Resort" got that detail right.
--
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty - Ronald Reagan

Re: Last Resort

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:43:47 EDT

darcilicious posted : I've never been in the military and even I had some issues with a number of things. It was an interesting premise that mostly failed in its execution...
--
♬ Dragon of good fortune struggles with the trickster Fox ♬

Re: Last Resort

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:30:30 EDT

Blogger posted : The show was overall mediocre for me but whenever* it aired often that was nothing better to do time so I watched it.

I think that many people that were in the military would have some real issues with that side of it. It starts off really bad right of the bat with the SEALS that they pick up essentially telling the Capt and XO to mind their own business when they ask about their mission but really hits reality rock bottom when they are initiating missile launch. Instead of turning the keys and launching per the order they question it and refuse to launch per protocol. They stop the launch in an attempt to contact their command. The Chief of the Boat then openly berates and lectures to the Capt about his failure to follow orders and what he should do and why he is wrong. Man oh man, in real life that would NEVER happen. If it did the guy would only get about five words out before he would be tossed into the brig for life. Then other members of the crew are uppity with the Capt when he returns to command after the XO places him back in command. Just an impossibility.

Once they got on the island they basically had written the story into a pigeon hole and they still had the continuous unhappy crew being rebellious or disrespectful to the officers.

*Then there was the problem of airing episodes. One never knew when they were going to come on at times with long gaps between them.

I haven't seen the finale so I'll have to wait to catch in on the web.

The show had promise that it didn't live up to with the basic plot but it was plot that couldn't be sustained for the period required for a successful series.
--
The signal is usually drowned out by the noise.

Re: Last Resort

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:53:51 EDT

ZZZZZZZ posted : Please....that was the worst series finale I've ever seen.........the writers should be canned for that crap. :)
--
Sarcasm is the body�s natural defense against stupidity.

Re: Last Resort

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 19:24:14 EDT

Rook008 posted : I'd agree with elwoodblues.
There was so much material to work with that on a cable network, it could have lasted a few 12-episode seasons and been a great show.

ABC screwed the pooch on this one with the scheduling.

As it stands, it's a very good single-season show with a somewhat rushed, but pretty awesome, final episode.
--
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats." - H. L. Mencken

Re: Last Resort

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 10:00:14 EDT

elwoodblues posted :

said by graniterock:

For those who have seen the whole thing: would you recommend it or should I take a pass?

I'd recommend it. It covers a lot of bases, the military, politics, warlords (so to speak$fontbg can't explain Serrat any other way $Fontbg). It would havee done very well on a cable show.

I was reading a few last episode reviews and they all said the same thing, WTF was ABC thinking putting a "mans" show on Thursday night against Thursday Night Football, and at 8pm where the competition as fierce.

This would have done very very well in a series of 13 episode seasons on a cable channel. It could of run for years, $fontbg why did the US nuke Pakistan , who was pulling the strings behind the president $Fontbg and so forth.

They did an admirable job tying up lose ends for the season ender.. but it could have been so much...

I wonder what Autumn Resers next project will be ..ahhhhhhh :D
--
No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake.......

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 22:56:41 EDT

graniterock posted : For those who have seen the whole thing: would you recommend it or should I take a pass?

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:27:52 EDT

Snakeoil posted : Agreed. It ended well.

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:26:35 EDT

Rook008 posted : The final episode of Last Resort was pretty awesome.
Plenty of action and some great dialogue.

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:24:24 EDT

Alpha Phoenix posted :

said by PX Eliezer:

If they provide an answer, there's no point to anyone picking up the show later on.

If they don't provide an answer, viewers will feel pissed off and betrayed.

Agreed.
--
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:45:33 EDT

PX Eliezer posted : If they provide an answer, there's no point to anyone picking up the show later on.

If they don't provide an answer, viewers will feel pissed off and betrayed.

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 11:59:36 EDT

Rook008 posted : Bad news. I really liked the show.
I've only seen about 5 episodes so far, but they were all pretty good.
I'll probably watch until the end to see how it goes.
--
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats." - H. L. Mencken

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 04:23:00 EDT

Alpha Phoenix posted :

said by darcilicious:

ABC has cancelled freshman series Last Resort. The military drama will still air all 13 episodes of its original order but will not continue past that.

Since debuting in late September, Last Resort was hailed by many critics as one of the strongest new dramas of the 2012-2013 season, but ratings for the show failed to match up to its critical praise. This past Thursday's episode was its lowest-rated to-date, likely sealing its fate.

From: »www.ismyshowcancelled.com/articl···-by-abc/

Can't say I'm surprised.

Damnit! Damnit!! DAMNIT!!!!
--
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:31:45 EDT

Kearnstd posted :

said by Alpha Phoenix:

They gonna end up running out of torpedo, missiles, and nukes if they keep using them.

They said they had limited torpedoes in Star Trek voyager too. They used those things like they had a torpedo fire hose.
--
[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 12:49:07 EDT

darcilicious posted : There was definitely some interesting things going but so much of it felt contrived to me and some of it was just plain stupid (who puts prisoners in a brig where said prisoners can talk to the rest of the crew and cause problems? STUPID.)
--
♬ Music is life ♬

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 12:39:23 EDT

Snakeoil posted : Damn, it was getting interested. they should have done this as a mini series.

Re: Last Resort - Canceled

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 12:35:50 EDT

darcilicious posted :

From: »www.ismyshowcancelled.com/articl···-by-abc/

Can't say I'm surprised.
--
♬ Music is life ♬

Re: Last Resort

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:03:45 EDT

anon posted : From military.com :

The Ohio Class submarine is fitted with four 533mm torpedo tubes with a mk118 digital torpedo fire control system. The torpedoes are the Gould mk48 ADCAP torpedoes.
...their torpedo rooms were made relatively small, with four tubes like the Los Angeles-class but room for only some 12 of the standard ADCAP Mark 48 torpedoes or Mark 30 torpedo-sized decoys. This made sense when the ship's mission, in an anti-submarine context, was purely defensive. But if an Ohio had launched all her Trident C-4 or D-5 missiles, she could then switch to the offensive, acting as an ersatz fast-attack SSN, hunting and engaging hostile SSNs and SSBNs.

Fritz

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:31:21 EDT

Snakeoil posted : Nah, they'll just do what Hollywood does, unending ammo. ;)

But I was thinking the same thing. How many torpedoes does a sub that size carry?

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:34:08 EDT

Alpha Phoenix posted : They gonna end up running out of torpedo, missiles, and nukes if they keep using them.

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:25:18 EDT

Snakeoil posted : After watching last nights show, I had a question.

What measures are in place to prevent a warship or a submarine/aircraft from going rogue?

Sure you have the other crew members to interfere with mutiny attempts, but what if the people in on the mutiny were able to pull a "Red October" like event?
Meaning stage an emergency, evacuate all the non-partisans from the vessel then sail away.
Has anything like that ever happened in the modern navy?

I seem to recall back in the days of the tall ships [sailing ships] that would happen every so often. Though back then it was easier as the ships had no way to communicate with the government.

--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.

Re: Last Resort

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 09:20:29 EDT

footballdude posted :

said by Alcohol:

Braugher doesn't have the acting potential to portray a commanding leader. It would have been better to have the white guy from The Unit play the captain.

This show will be canceled.

If you remember one of the very first scenes in the first episode, the captain mentioned that the guy with his finger on the button needs to be seen as just crazy enough to push the button without being so crazy that no one will take him seriously. Braugher is playing that role much better than Patrick would have.
--
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty - Ronald Reagan

Re: Last Resort

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:58:11 EDT

Alcohol posted : yeah

Re: Last Resort

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:25:20 EDT

Snakeoil posted : You mean Robert Patrick? The guy that is locked up in a cell on the Island?

Re: Last Resort

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:14:34 EDT

Alcohol posted : Braugher doesn't have the acting potential to portray a commanding leader. It would have been better to have the white guy from The Unit play the captain.

This show will be canceled.
--
I found the key to success but somebody changed the lock.

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 23:32:51 EDT

cjoleann posted : I like the movies Crimson Tide so much!

Re: Last Resort

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 22:11:12 EDT

Rook008 posted : I see some odd little flaws in the show too, but I don't seem to mind them at all.
I really like the show so far.

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:44:16 EDT

Alpha Phoenix posted :

said by IanR:

Some annoying flaws.
With strict Navy training the crew seem to act weirdly.
Why does the Captain shoot off torpedoes when the XO is in disagreement warning of the lives at stake. The the torpedo turns out to be a blank ,so it hamlessly hits the other 'friendly" sub as a warning. Now it's just stupid to add confict with the XO for no reason. Tell him upfront it's a blank. I guess it's a way the writers are trying to add drama, but it just looks plain daft!
SO I hope the writing improves.

Overall though the stroy appears to have maybe one season's life as they can hardly spend years being chased .

Could simply be to see how far he would follow him. Doesn't seem that far fetched. In a situation like that, you've gotta know who has your back, and how far they would go for you and follow you. Same with the rest of the crew.
--
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:10:41 EDT

IanR posted : Some annoying flaws.
With strict Navy training the crew seem to act weirdly.
Why does the Captain shoot off torpedoes when the XO is in disagreement warning of the lives at stake. The the torpedo turns out to be a blank ,so it hamlessly hits the other 'friendly" sub as a warning. Now it's just stupid to add confict with the XO for no reason. Tell him upfront it's a blank. I guess it's a way the writers are trying to add drama, but it just looks plain daft!
SO I hope the writing improves.

Overall though the stroy appears to have maybe one season's life as they can hardly spend years being chased .

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:35:20 EDT

Snakeoil posted : I think they tried in the first episode. Well at least the Navy members contacted their families. But from what has been happening with the XO's wife, I would think all the contacted family members were "collected" by the MIBs [Men in Black. Is it a Hollywood thing, or do secret service agents/FBI wear black all the time in real life? I recall from reading that the color black does give the wearer an intimidation advantage. That and wearing dark sun glasses. But is it true to life?]

As for going to the press, the press is reporting the Captain as a mad man, terrorist, etc. And anything that the people on the sub could say would be lies. So I don't think they'll go public just yet.

$fontbg
Interesting as to how the Russian Spec-Ops team seemed to walk right into that "trap". The USN guys didn't practice noise discipline, and at least two of them were out in the open. Then they, the untrained people, managed to hear the approaching elite kill team? Unless that bird call, just before the Russians broke cover was one of the Seals sounding the Alert. Are they Seals or Delta [The spec-ops on the US Sub, I forget].
$Fontbg

Though the show has a few flaws, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
Also happy to see the producers are trying to treat the service people with Respect. One reason why I liked JAG, NCIS as much as I do.
--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:54:46 EDT

PX Eliezer posted : How long can they keep up the suspense?

Regardless of whether the US authorities were good guys or bad guys, they would not let the situation fester for months or years.

Besides, why wouldn't the sub just broadcast the story of what happened to them?

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:51:11 EDT

Sinbad Sam posted : One nit to pick...as a former USN skimmer sailor, "Boomers" aka Ballistic Missile subs are not "Taxi" service for covert/special ops teams. That role goes to Fast Attack Subs and those special subs.

Re: Last Resort

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:23:07 EDT

footballdude posted : Finally watched the pilot last night. This is my kind of show. $fontbg I get the feeling that the president is losing control and about to be impeached, so he's starting a war to invoke war powers and not get kicked out of office. $Fontbg Just a guess, though.
--
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty - Ronald Reagan

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:35:49 EDT

Alpha Phoenix posted : .......

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:56:30 EDT

Snakeoil posted : I think the soldiers $fontbg were Seals. They were returning from a mission, I think it took place in Pakistan. The wounded Seal was saying something that he shouldn't have. As the look on the Seal's face showed, while he was closing the curtain around his wounded buddy.
I wanna say that maybe the whole thing was started by that woman. The one that sold the device that is on the sub. Create a situation to prove your equipment operates as advertised, makes more sales. But I don't know if the show will indicate a "evil" weapons maker.
I'm curious as well as to the mess in DC. President being impeached, upper officers in military being arrested for some reason. Sounds like a scary place to be in.
$Fontbg

Hopefully they can keep the pace up.
--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:45:28 EDT

Rook008 posted : Tonight at 9PM on ABC.

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:40:44 EDT

footballdude posted : Dang, I was going to dvr this and forgot. Is it going to be replayed this week?
--
Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty - Ronald Reagan

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:27:31 EDT

Rook008 posted : I liked it a lot. Maybe it's because Crimson Tide is one of my favorite movies and the pilot shared a lot with it. Plus what you said about it not being a procedural or romance drama.

But I'm pretty sure the cool submarine stuff is going to be pushed to the side in favor of island drama soon, so I expect my opinion of the show will take a dip in the future.

Hopefully the NATO station, the islanders, the situation in DC, the missing crewmen, and the soldiers' (Marines? Seals?) mysterious mission in Pakistan provide some good drama in future episodes.
--
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats." - H. L. Mencken

Re: Last Resort

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:10:20 EDT

Rob posted : I watched it, and I didn't really find anything special about it. I know they want to have some suspense, like in LOST, but it just doesn't make any sense, at all.
--
CheckSite.us | YourIP.us | Reverseip.us

Last Resort

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:43:19 EDT

Snakeoil posted : I didn't have great expectations for this show. But after watching the pilot, I hope it sticks around.

Mainly because it's not another cop/medical procedural show, nor is it a sappy romance drama.
--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.