Last Resort is an American military drama television series created by Shawn Ryan for ABC and produced by Sony Pictures Television. It premiered on Thursday at 8:00 pm (ET) on September 27, 2012.

Plot

500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receive their orders. Over a radio channel designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan. Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty by the White House.

XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. The submarine and its crew find themselves crippled on the ocean floor, declared rogue enemies of their own country.

Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.

WHY I’M WATCHING

How could I not. I do read a lot of TV related websites for news, I don’t make a habit of seeking out new shows, but it has been hard to miss the hype-machine being rolled out for this show. It reminds me of what happened around The Event. I have higher hopes for this though, as it possesses a solid story line without a thousand things going on at once.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Well, this show is the definition of go hard or go home. That should really have been my expectation as the creator of this is also responsible for The Unit, which was a show I was a huge fan of. You can already see traces of it in this first episode, but I imagine we’ll see much more in later episodes.

The characters are larger than life and have space to grow. This episode left me wanting to see the next episode immediately, which for someone jaded by most offerings on TV is a very good thing.

When you see Andre Braugher of Homicide: Life on the Streets, you know things are going to get intense quickly, and that speech at the end gave me chills. The show has everything, conspiracies, action and a ridiculously beautiful cast.

I feel like this show could be the one – a juggernaut series that the major networks keep attempting to launch but fail. As in the case of The Event or Fast Forward, I think Last Resort has a better chance at going all the way. I will be eagerly awaiting the rest of the season and I definitely recommend giving this show a chance.

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