TNT, known in Hollywood circles as the network of the “ampersand” shows, takes a bold step ಌwith Michael Bay’s “The Last Ship” to make a drama with cinematic qualities.
This is not a buddy꧃ cop show or a buddy legal show likeꩵ “Rizzoli & Isles” or the long-forgotten “Franklin & Bash,” but a big, bold medical thriller that takes place on a US naval destroyer. Helicopters equipped with cameras vividly capture the size of the ship and its isolation in the waters just off the US coast as a mysterious virus threatens to wipe out the world’s population.
Much of the production was filmed at the 32⛦nd Street naval base in San Diego.
For Navy career man Capt. Tom Chandler (Eric Dane), the USS Nathan James becomes his “Noah’s ark,” according to executive producer Hank Steinberg (“Without a♔ Trace”).
Chandler has his crew, many of whom are in their early 20s, as well as two scientists who’ve been in the Arctic trying to investigate the causes of the disease. One of them i🃏s a strong-willed woman, Rachel Scott, played by Rhona Mitra, who has developed a reputation for playing this kind of character on the cable shows “Nip/Tuck” and “Strike Back.”
“We’re at sea for♐ four months while the pandemic happens,” says Dane, who trades the “pajamas” he wore as Dr. Mark Sloan — aka “McSteamy” on “Grey’s Anatomy” — for crisp military whites. “I like the Navy uniform,” Dane says. “You walk a little taller. That’s half the work right there.”
The narrative spine of the show takes “The Last 🐓Ship” from port to port — first stop is Guantanamo — for food and medical supplies so Scott can create a vaccine. The challenge for Scott, and the show’s writers, is to create a miracle to save mankind.
“Can you inoculate the crew and can you create a vaccine to inoculate the rest of the human race🅰?” Dane asks. “Can that vaccine cure those who are sick already? You get sick and you’re gone shortly thereafter.”
Steinberg chose Dane to head up the crew because he exudes 💮a certain kin𝓀d of confidence thought essential for a military leader.
“He has what we thought were all the qualities: a masculinity that you would find in the Navy. In ꧂the spirit of his caddishness on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ he has a gravitas about him,” Steinberg says. “You want to follow that guy. Women want to be with him. Men want to have a beer with him. That’s a pretty good recipe for a leading man on televisi🌸on.
“He’s different from M🅷cSteamy; he has a real underlying compassion for other people.”
Being a Michael Bay production, though, “The Last Ship” comes with plenty of testosterone: Gunfire and deafeninꦐg explosions abound.
“We have Michael Bay’s visual effects supervisor,” s𒀰ays Steinberg. “There are 150 visual effects per episode. W🌠e farm them out to various [effects] houses. It has to feel real. It’s great to have his people and his pedigree and it has to stand up to litmus test.”
After working for years on network procedurals, Steinberg relished the chance tꩲo think big. With “The Last Ship,” he says, he feels like he’s “sitting at home watching a summer blockbuster on my TV. And if you’ve got a 60- or 80-inch screen, you’re getting your money’s worth.”