‘The Last Ship’ season 3, episode 7 review: When a death rocks the country

Just in case this season of “The Last Ship” did not have enough death in it, Sunday’s episode twisted the dagger a little bit further.

Ultimately, there are different ways that a character can go, and different impacts they have on the characters and the surrounding world. For example, losing Rachel Scott was enormous in that it changes the handling of the cure and the rapport among the entire crew of the Nathan James. It’s the rare character death that is important both emotionally and in terms of the overall story. Losing Cruz last week was a little more emotional; while it may change the dynamic aboard the James, our perception was never that he was the one game-changer in a sea of men.

Losing President Michener now, especially in a way such as suicide, is a total game-changer. It may not be that emotional a death since we weren’t that attached to the character, but it could alter the course of Chandler’s mission, perception of the James, and also the role of the media back in America when you consider the pressure Michener was under.

Given that we were never quite given the impression that the President was a regular character on the series or would be, maybe we should have seen this coming. Instead, our attention was more directed on the idea that he could betray the James, or that someone would kill him in a very different way that he happened to die.

Were there other events in the episode? Certainly so, in between matters with Slattery, Chandler and Takehaya and the realization that matters with China and elsewhere may be far more complicated than even they realized. This is just one of those episodes where a singular event can almost define and change an entire hour, really to the point where you don’t quite remember everything else. In the end, the fact that this was a powerful hour of television should remain undisputed. Grade: A-.

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