AmyAmySue

I did appreciate the low-key conversation between Lindsay and Halstead in the kitchen afterwards. The temptation by writers is always to go the "I could have lost you", super angry route. But here, it was a "Hey, this was a professional mistake that I'm pointing out to you, now it's over." I also appreciated her response, because he was right. You do need to always bring backup when you're on the job. On a shallow note, for a moment I thought the NOX dealer was Jake T. Austin of Fosters fame!

Just some quick casting notes: Miller and Wolf promoted to regulars. Bridget Regan in for Season 3. http://tvline.com/2015/10/21/last-ship-bridget-regan-cast-season-3/#more-652401

Even though I'm a little critical, I do really like it and look forward to it every week. I also thought that Wolf's shirt needed to come off, maybe to help with someone's wound? I also enjoy that the crew just pitches in and helps wherever needed. Say what you will about the lack of realism with the cell phone networks, etc. That's probably one of the few things that's true to life. That being said, our hacker was able to keep up her dye job in the middle of a global pandemic? What is her coloring product, I need it!

Our hacktivist is Tania Raymonde, who you might remember from such shows as the Jodi Arias story and Malcolm in the Middle (as a teenager).

I didn't love that we lost a BUNCH of people (Chung, no!) but I did enjoy spending time with characters that we haven't seen in a while. We haven't actually had stories that involved Granderson, Foster, Chung, etc. for some time. That's what I feel like has been missing this season. There's more of an emphasis on the action (Is the Navy sponsoring part of this? We get a lot of Navy stock footage) and less on the smaller stories of the Nathan James. It seems a little like they are course correcting and bringing it back to the Nathan James. Also, maybe Chandler realizes he took it too far last time? Rachel is awfully helpful and his "my way or the highway" attitude clearly didn't work out.

I also thought that the civilian flotilla thing came out of the blue. Almost like the writers thought "oops, we have to make this new President good at something, otherwise, he's a little irredeemable" since he killed his family and entire stadium of people by allowing his infected son to come down. Chandler has a throw away line to Foster where he says that the President saved 10,000 lives a little reverently, which is maybe the justification for his super rigid attitude later?

Also, it's Chandler's ship. I feel like he needs to control everything that happens on it. He makes the decisions, he continues to adhere to the strict Navy code (even thought it may not exist anymore), he unnecessarily goes out on missions when he could leave it to the people who are actually supposed to do it. Heck, even the President defers to him. I'm not surprised that he's irritated when Rachel does what she wants to do without consulting him. I think one of the issues with this whole story-line is the method of execution. If the Niels had been stabbed to death, then fine do an inquiry. It would have opened up (albeit in a Murder She Wrote kind of way) the list of suspects and put the perpetrator in doubt. But with Niels just dying and all 3 doctors agreeing, there was no real reason to continue with an investigation. I also think that they were trying to play up the perception of control on Chandler's part with the reality of how his sailors live their lives. Potential sex in the bathroom, Foster & Green, rumors of the "hit" on Niels all were trying to show how he really can't control every aspect of their lives.

An interesting element that I think has been overlooked is that while Michael was gaslighting Jane, she was falling in love with the baby. Especially in this chapter, this love is fully realized. Everyone's joy at the baby kicking was so delightful. Even before it was Rafael v. Michael, it was will Jane fall in love with this baby? She did and that made Michael's betrayal even greater. For Michael to so casually dismiss her love for her baby (because by that time Petra was no longer in the running as Mom) and even go so far as to try and manipulate her to give it up, had to have been the greatest hurt. While I ship Jane and Rafael as the OTP, I do think that right now they are falling in love with love and the glow of the "Peach, now Apple". When baby's here, it might be a little more real.