The Last Ship (TV series)
The Last Ship is an American action-drama television series, loosely based on the 1988 novel of the same name by William Brinkley. The series premiered on TNT on June 22, 2014 and concluded after five seasons on November 11, 2018.
After a global viral pandemic wipes out over 80% of the world’s population, the crew (consisting of 218 people) of a lone unaffected U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the fictional USS Nathan James (DDG-151), must try to find a cure, stop the virus, and save humanity.
Warning, this article may contain spoilers.
While TV series whose plots revolve around a massive pandemic are not uncommon, they rarely include a geopolitical dimension1. Almost all of them are of the “post-apocalyptic” type. In The Stand (1994, based on a novel by Stephen King), a virus with military origins kills 99% of the world’s population. Jeremiah (2002–2004) has a more original take on the theme: only adults die. Survivors (2008) explores a world decimated by a hitherto unknown flu. Z Nation (2014–2018) describes a virus that has turned most of the world’s inhabitants into zombies. In Twelve Monkeys (2015–2018, based on the 1995 film of the same name) the survivors of a pandemic that killed seven billion people go back in time to try to prevent the disaster.
Among the exceptions are two relatively unknown and — for different reasons — very interesting series. The first one is Counterpart, notable for its script and cinematic quality. The second is The Last Ship, because it perfectly illustrates how Hollywood can be a mirror of the current geopolitical obsessions of America.
Senior Fellow for Strategic Affairs
Bruno Tertrais is Deputy Director of the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), a leading French think-tank on international security issues. A graduate in law and politics, he obtained his doctorate under the supervision of Pierre Hassner. After working at NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly, he worked for the Ministry of Defence and the RAND Corporation, and joined the FRS in 2001. He was a member of the committees in charge of the White Papers on Defence and National Security in 2007–2008 and 2012–2013. He has been a contributor to Institut Montaigne’s studies since 2017 and published Le défi démographique (2018). His latest publications include: L’Atlas des frontières (Les Arènes, 2016, Prix de la Société de Géographie); Le Président et la Bombe (Odile Jacob, 2017, Prix du Livre géopolitique); La Revanche de l’histoire (Odile Jacob, 2018); Le choc démographique (Odile Jacob, 2020). Twice every month, he publishes a column in L’Express called “Le Regard du stratège”.