Captain, NOOOOOO!!! You can’t trust the weasel lawyer from The Dark Knight!
I kid Chin Han, but really, when the Joker singles you out as having an especially untrustworthy face, that’s going to follow you around for a bit. And while I think Marcus is making a mistake to get in bed with them, I like the entry of the Chinese as major players (although their arrival makes Serrat’s attempts to position himself as a legitimate alternative highlight that character’s ineffectuality even more). The international political ramifications of the Colorado’s defection has been an angle that I’ve been interested in exploring more for the entire series, but they seem to have been holding back from it, hopefully because it will come to bear in a big way in the season’s endgame. As someone who still has his fingers still crossed for nuclear armageddon in episode 13, I perked up at Marcus acknowledging that WWIII has effectively been underway since the pilot.
Guys, guys, Chad the SEAL had a bad upbringing! Ahhhh-fart noise. Kill this guy off already. Give us more Hopper, who livens up Kylie’s scenes by introducing a hint of homicidal potential, and provides the episode’s best exchange with this deadpan dialogue:
“Who is this guy?”
“Someone I’d like you to kill.”
“Seriously?”
Sam and Chad’s storyline contained most of the episode’s action, but it felt extremely choppy, to the point where I’m wondering if they didn’t start rushing past a bunch of obvious logistical questions so they could get to some bits that were initially set up for season 2. How did they know Christine was being held in Manila? Why was she being held in Manila, by a couple thugs, when she was nabbed by a dozen SEALS last week? How did they get through the blockade to get to her (and for that matter, how did Hopper get all the way back to DC?) Now there at this new guy’s house, and he knows this mob boss who knows where Christine is, and Sam’s hood is a foolproof disguise, until he drops it for no real reason, and…
Whatever, flashforward to the end and Sam thinks Christine is dead, because apparently he hasn’t seen Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I confess that I actually bought that she was dead for a minute. Mostly because Wes’s motivations don’t make much sense to me at this point. If he’s just out for money, he could’ve nabbed Sam himself easier than faking his and Christine’s death and slipping away in the midst of a firefight. I’ll reserve some judgment until seeing what next week explains, but this whole plotline was uncharacteristically messy for the show.
Back on the island, it’s good to have the COB back, even if his hiding his injury from the Captain seems a bit on the bone-headed side. I also like the character of Hawkes as a sort of totem for all the damage Marcus’s mutiny has done to the crew. He lost his sister to the Pakistanis, gets imprisoned for failing to back up Grace (when he probably feels like he did her a favor by not backshooting her as planned), and draws the short straw to take one of the symbolic lashings on behalf of all 25 prisoners. Not a good week for that guy. If anyone’s going to lead a counter-mutiny now that COB is firmly on board and also somewhat incapacitated, he seems the most likely candidate.
From the series best episode to the most sloppy. Last Resort seems intent on messing with my loyalties right to the end.