The Last Ship Returns to TNT

Tonight is the night!

It’s the two-hour season premiere of the much-anticipated second season of the TNT drama The Last Ship.

Last summer at this time, The Last Ship debuted on the cable network focusing on the crew members of the (fictional) Nathan James, a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, which was on a mission to the Arctic with two civilian virologists on board; doctors who were supposed studying birds.

But when the ship and its crew were set upon by Russians, taking heavy gunfire, it was quickly revealed that the world was in dire peril. A global viral pandemic had wiped out over 80 percent of the world’s population. As the crew struggled to return to civilization not only find out what happened to their loved ones but also to discover a cure, they encountered one deadly hazard after another.

By the end of the debut season, the Nathan James returned (with a cure in hand) to the United States after making contact with a government facility in Baltimore, Maryland that was under the direction of Amy Granderson, the mother of Lt. Alisha Granderson, one of the crew members on board the destroyer, a surviving member of the Defense Policy board (and pseudo-President).

But the crew members quickly learned that the new government had no intentions of helping the survivors, especially those already showing signs of the virus, using the dead bodies as fuel and forcibly taking over the ship.

During this past April’s Wonder Con in Anaheim, a number of the cast members of the show and some of the creative minds behind the series took to the stage to talk about what fans can expect in season two. The audience was also the first to see sneak peeks of the season premiere.

Among the panelists were Rhona Mitra (Dr. Rachel Scott), Adam Baldwin (XO Mike Slattery), Travis Van Winkle (Lt Danny Green), John Pyper-Ferguson (Tex), Jacko Sims (Lt. Carlton Burk), Charles Parnell (CMC Jeter) and Christina Elmore (the aforementioned Lt. Granderson) as well as Executive Producers Hank Steinberg, Steven Kane and Jack Bender.

While the panelists were careful not to divulge too many details about season two they did share the following:

• Season two is about “home”, stated Steven; the “ship represents America” in this new world and “they become (the) most important part of getting America back”;

• There are new enemies this time, according to Hank; “the world is in chaos so who would be the people who would benefit (from this pandemic); there might be some people who think this is a good thing (to have happened)”; and,

• The ship will be going more places this season, per Jack [so that means the crew will obviously take control of the Nathan James back from Granderson’s people].

Fans of The Last Ship should make sure to tune into TNT tonight, June 21 at 8/7c for the show’s second season two-hour premiere to find out what happens next.

Photo Credit: Rueben