S03.E02: Rising Sun

[HalcyonDays]

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Episode synopsis: CNO Tom Chandler must find a way to return to his old crew and to investigate a dangerous, new enemy.

[TV Anonymous]

So now we know that in the time of the epidemic and recovery:

• Hong Kong changed to driving on the right side of the road.
• People in Hong Kong changed their daily language from Cantonese to Mandarin.
• Vietnam government was toppled by the old Republic of Vietnam.

And Bravo Zulu for Sasha, an ex-intelligence officer, to be able to fluently speak Korean, Mandarin and Vietnamese. In reality, quite few people is able to do so.

[thuganomics85]

Hey, they're actually letting Dichen Lachman use her Australian accent!  I don't think I've ever really heard her use that on television.  Not sure what to make of her character, except that I get a kick out of how she was also on Last Resort years ago, which was also another military themed show (with Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick.)

So, the baddies are draining the prisoners blood?  What do they want with all that blood?  I cracked up when Slattery pointed out it was stupid of them to even have all the ranking officers in one place, because that's always been an issue with this show.  I remember one episode where they went on a mission, and Chandler, Slattery, and Jeter not only went on it together, but where on the same freaking boat.  All it would take was one freak accident, and suddenly the Nathan James would be leaderless.

At least they heroically saved Green and Burke in time, although just shooting the ship with grenades was almost anti-climatic.  With Wolf, I was totally expecting him to leave about of the helicopter, take everyone out with his fists, and then jump back on the helicopter slo-mo style, while the ship randomly explodes.

I'm kind of digging Foster in the business attire.  Marissa Neitling is certainly beautiful no matter what, but this is taking it to another level.  But Bridget Regan still wins for me.  Even when she's covered in someone elses' blood.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

How long does it take to fly from Hong Kong to Vietnam?  The heck with the movie, this was The Longest Day.

The best part for me was the domestic political intrigue.  Finally, some, emphasis on some,  realism as to the privations and the threat of true dystopia at any time.  I loved the congress critters decrying the lack of freedom and bitching about, in effect, federal martial law.  The tragic thing is that is precisely what I would envision under those circumstances.  America is not as it was with the Greatest Generation.  Sacrifice is not our strong suit.  

What POTUS deserves scorn for is the insistence on redirecting precious resources to insecure areas, which was a crapshoot.  No shock at all it was a total waste, and now worse.

I do not understand how anyone knew where to go to rendezvous with the NJ.  She was miles away from where she was ordered to sortie.  Wasn't that the standard location to which all referred?  

I really liked Lachman on Last Resort.  So far, so great on TLS.

[Dowel Jones]

I would like to know how the pirate vessel, a slow moving freighter type, was able to outrun the Nathan James, especially since at one point they were 2km apart.  That's visual distance.  But oh well. 

I wonder if they asked the poor sailor all those tedious blood donation questions before they started draining him.  I get what the captured pirate was alluding to, now.  He thought the two sailors were going to get caught and drained. 

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

Last Resort

And of course we get another hammy, open shirt pirate in the deal.

On the plus, both good episodes and it set up a long story arc (I hope).

[oakville]

4 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

How long does it take to fly from Hong Kong to Vietnam?  The heck with the movie, this was The Longest Day.

The best part for me was the domestic political intrigue.  Finally, some, emphasis on some,  realism as to the privations and the threat of true dystopia at any time.  I loved the congress critters decrying the lack of freedom and bitching about, in effect, federal martial law.  The tragic thing is that is precisely what I would envision under those circumstances.  America is not as it was with the Greatest Generation.  Sacrifice is not our strong suit.  

What POTUS deserves scorn for is the insistence on redirecting precious resources to insecure areas, which was a crapshoot.  No shock at all it was a total waste, and now worse.

I do not understand how anyone knew where to go to rendezvous with the NJ.  She was miles away from where she was ordered to sortie.  Wasn't that the standard location to which all referred?  

I really liked Lachman on Last Resort.  So far, so great on TLS.

I was amazed how quickly the President was able to get the country up & running. It's nice to see the military portrayed positively rather than how they behave on the Walking Dead. I don't understand why it was so important to work on distributing the vaccine in Asia? Wouldn't the priority to be to get the vaccine distributed in North America & South America.

[JackONeill]

It seemed as though Asia was "better off" than the US. I realize there was a big time leap, but I remember how "destitute" things seemed when the NJ first docked in the US. Once again, I realize the time leap, but heck Asia has their discos cranked up. While we in the US are worried about cereal. Priorities, people!

And where is Tex? (I wonder if his law firm is still in existence. I think they ought to bring Harvey over to the Last Ship. Talk about a bad ass, albeit one who wears $1000 suits.)

I know this is fiction and I'm no prude, but if sort of bugged me when Chandler and the new Intel girl were making goo-goo eyes. First, we'd just seen Chandler mooing in his square-jawed way over Rachel (by nearly crying over her stamps), but let's not forget: he lost his wife, the mother of his kids, not too long agoto a vile disease. Yet, here he is wondering: "Do I still have a condom in my wallet?" (And let's forget about the end of the world, because we found ourselves a piece of strange.)

And double ditto for Wolf. He lost what's-her-name last season, but now he was hitting on Valerie until she dies, then he immediately switches his attention to the helicopter pilot. He and Chandler need to get together before all missions to figure out how many condoms to take. Forget the damn cure, we NEED condoms and lots of them. You go guys!

Edited June 20, 2016 by JackONeill

[bmoore4026]

Well, last season we had eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil Englishmen.  And now, this season, we have eeeeeeeeeeeeevil Asians who are literally draining the blood out of hardy white bread Americans.  Nope.  No unfortunate implications there.

After watching Battle Royale, I've been really analyzing how violent death is portrayed in some forms of media.  On this show, it's almost and afterthought and doesn't seem to have any psychological repercussions on the characters while in the movie I mentioned, violent death is shown and reacted to in a very real way.  It's not shown as awesome or as an afterthought but visceral and sad and having a major mental impact.  Several characters, almost all who happen to be in 9th graders, snap when confronted with violent death.  I know I'm comparing apples to oranges and that there is a difference between a bunch of military people killing and a bunch of 9th graders being forced to kill.  It's just how it's all handled.  But, then again, I'm probably expecting too much from a summer series, especially one produced by Michael Bay.

[Dowel Jones]

11 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I loved the congress critters decrying the lack of freedom and bitching about, in effect, federal martial law.  The tragic thing is that is precisely what I would envision under those circumstances.  America is not as it was with the Greatest Generation.  Sacrifice is not our strong suit.  

While some sort of martial law would be necessary until an economy was stabilized, rationing brings on a black market, just as it did in the time of the Greatest Generation.  Most sacrificed, yes, but some did not.  My parents told me of gasoline and tire rationing during WWII, but added that extra gas was available.  For a price.  My wife, who went through the Northridge earthquake in the '90s, told me that the supermarkets sold water for $5/gallon, cash only.  That's just the human nature.  The more you try to prohibit it, the more it pops up behind you.  It's best for the authorities to channel it somehow.

[iMonrey]

So Slattery and Co. have been kidnapped by . . . pirates? Who want to drain their blood because it will give them the cure? Have I got that right? Two episodes in and I'm still not real clear on what's going on here. 

[leslieo54]

On June 19, 2016 at 7:16 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Hey, they're actually letting Dichen Lachman use her Australian accent!  I don't think I've ever really heard her use that on television.  Not sure what to make of her character, except that I get a kick out of how she was also on Last Resort years ago, which was also another military themed show (with Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick.)

 

Thank you! It's been a while since I've even thought about this show and my memory's obviously not what it used to be, because I couldn't remember if she was an existing character or someone new (I missed Sasha bringing them to her). I just kept picturing her verbally sparring with some hot dude in the jungle and I couldn't remember if that had been Wolf or if it was a completely different show... I feel much better now ?

[zxy556575]

I wish there could have been more of a reset for season three. I don't see how new viewers could follow the plot when I watched the previous two seasons and wasn't fully able to. An introductory scrawl onscreen might be super hokey but at least it would have caught me up in terms of place, where we are now, and what's happened offscreen.

There's no way I'm rewatching season two since I didn't much like it the first time. (Which, okay, is probably a large part of why I'm not able to follow along.) I enjoyed the first season so much and keep hoping the show will draw me in the same way again, but political intrigue alone isn't going to do it.

[iMonrey]

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There's no way I'm rewatching season two since I didn't much like it the first time. (Which, okay, is probably a large part of why I'm not able to follow along.)

Not really. I re-watched the last two episodes from the previous season and felt like I remembered what happened pretty well. But I'm having trouble following along so far anyway. Too many new characters. 

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And where is Tex?

Tex was reunited with his daughter at the end of Season 2, so there's no real reason for him to be involved in the current story. His wife succumbed to the virus so it seems unlikely he'd abandon his daughter to go gallivanting around the world with the NJ crew.

[JackONeill]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Not really. I re-watched the last two episodes from the previous season and felt like I remembered what happened pretty well. But I'm having trouble following along so far anyway. Too many new characters. 

Tex was reunited with his daughter at the end of Season 2, so there's no real reason for him to be involved in the current story. His wife succumbed to the virus so it seems unlikely he'd abandon his daughter to go gallivanting around the world with the NJ crew.

Thanks. I faintly remember that. Was there a bigger span of time than usual between Seasons 2 and 3? It seems like it's been forever. I couldn't even remember the name of the ship.

[leslieo54]

2 hours ago, JackONeill said:

 I couldn't even remember the name of the ship.

This is legit the only thing I remembered, I swear. I mean, I remembered Captain and Jayne, but I couldn't have told you their names if you were draining my blood to get me to talk... And I like the show! 

[HalcyonDays]

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So Slattery and Co. have been kidnapped by . . . pirates? Who want to drain their blood because it will give them the cure? Have I got that right? Two episodes in and I'm still not real clear on what's going on here. 

When the pirate (the bloody one who could speak English, caught by Green and Burk, when the guy said something, what he said made me think that there is something higher than Peng, and Peng is answering to this person.

Now with the blood draining, I first think that they are going to transfuse the blood to others, in the idea that since the virus vaccine is in the  Nathan James' crew's blood, by transfusing hat blood to others, they would then get the cure. So there must be a "pirate" leader somewhere we wil meet, I think.

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While some sort of martial law would be necessary until an economy was stabilized, rationing brings on a black market, just as it did in the time of the Greatest Generation.  Most sacrificed, yes, but some did not.  My parents told me of gasoline and tire rationing during WWII, but added that extra gas was available.  For a price.  My wife, who went through the Northridge earthquake in the '90s, told me that the supermarkets sold water for $5/gallon, cash only.  That's just the human nature.  The more you try to prohibit it, the more it pops up behind you.  It's best for the authorities to channel it somehow.

Yeah, but when that scene happened, my bitter self was happy Michener stood his ground. Sorry, but I just rolled my eyes for those two complaining that some rich person couldn't get their 6 boxes of cereal, when poorer people can't afford to buy any extra food and are limited to rations. Suck it up.

[Latverian Diplomat]

On 6/20/2016 at 4:11 AM, oakville said:

I don't understand why it was so important to work on distributing the vaccine in Asia? Wouldn't the priority to be to get the vaccine distributed in North America & South America.

My understanding is that with the airborne cure, they were able to spread it very rapidly, so they've already done that in North America, now they are sharing it with the rest of the world.

 

On 6/21/2016 at 10:02 AM, iMonrey said:

So Slattery and Co. have been kidnapped by . . . pirates? Who want to drain their blood because it will give them the cure? Have I got that right? Two episodes in and I'm still not real clear on what's going on here. 

 

On 6/19/2016 at 10:16 PM, thuganomics85 said:

So, the baddies are draining the prisoners blood?  What do they want with all that blood?  

My theory is that the airborne cure doesn't work with the new strain? But they know the NJ crew got the original treatment as well, and they are hoping that can be extracted from the prisoner's blood for a select few in Asia. Just a wild guess.

[Netfoot]

3 hours ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

My theory is that the airborne cure doesn't work with the new strain?

But we are assured that there can not be a new strain, that mutations are impossible.  So, if people are not being cured, it is because the vaccine is being withheld, presumably for nefarious purposes.  Someone is stealing, and someone is lying.

[Dowel Jones]

2 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

 Someone is stealing, and someone is lying.

Someone is hurting, and someone is dying.  Country Song Alert.

[Raja]

3 hours ago, Netfoot said:

But we are assured that there can not be a new strain, that mutations are impossible.  So, if people are not being cured, it is because the vaccine is being withheld, presumably for nefarious purposes.  Someone is stealing, and someone is lying.

Didn't it look like an injected "cure" that failed in Japan? I am thinking it is counterfeit. Since we left off with an infectious vaccine which was being spread in the Vietnamese night club the way it was intended to work. Now that the US doesn't have 12 carrier battle groups I guess the capability to do aerial spraying across Asia without China's cooperation doesn't exist anymore.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

Didn't it look like an injected "cure" that failed in Japan? I am thinking it is counterfeit.

I assumed that the cure was being withheld for geo-political reasons.  Withholding the vaccine would be a good way for China to eliminate traditional enemy Vietnam, once and for all.   And meanwhile, when anything goes wrong elsewhere, like say a plane mysteriously crashing, they can be the scapegoat for that too.  

[Haleth]

I'm looking forward to seeing Chandler and Wolfe sneaking through the jungle to the pirate camp, only to find Slattery sitting on a pile of corpses saying, "what took you so long?"

[JackONeill]

T V is amazing. You would almost believe that you be anywhere you need to be - St. Louis, China, Japan, Korea - in just a matter of minutes. Apparntly, the writers of this show have never had to fly through the Atlanta airport.

[xaxat]

I felt that last season's finale was a good conclusion to the story they set out to tell. This season, I'm not nearly as interested in the new dynamic.

The President, nation building, domestic politics? Boring.

No Scott? The flu plot lacks a protagonist to guide us through the TV science behind the infection.

The Nathan James? For some reason, the writers decided to dump what I thought was the best part of the show, the professionalism and effectiveness of the crew. Now all of the characters we got to know are scattered all over the place and the person in command is someone new.

Maybe this new show will eventually provide the kind of solid entertainment I enjoyed watching the earlier seasons, but the first two episodes didn't impress me.

[iMonrey]

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But we are assured that there can not be a new strain, that mutations are impossible.

We were "assured" that in a previous season. But in order to keep the story going I'm betting the writers had to ignore that plot point. I agree with xaxat, above. The story came to a more-or-less natural conclusion at the end of last season; there's really nowhere else to go unless they pull a fast one and change the premise. That seems like what they're doing here.

This is a pretty decent action-adventure type of show. As such, you really have to watch it, since it relies so heavily on action sequences which are visual. You can't just half-ass watch it while doing something else at the same time. So I feel confident I've paid as much attention to it as I need to, yet I still find myself confused about some very basic plot points they're trying to establish. That doesn't make me feel very confident about the direction they're going in. It seems like all the energy is going towards concocting situations where they can do action sequences. 

[Bishop]

On 6/20/2016 at 8:26 AM, JackONeill said:

I know this is fiction and I'm no prude, but if sort of bugged me when Chandler and the new Intel girl were making goo-goo eyes. First, we'd just seen Chandler mooing in his square-jawed way over Rachel (by nearly crying over her stamps), but let's not forget: he lost his wife, the mother of his kids, not too long agoto a vile disease. Yet, here he is wondering: "Do I still have a condom in my wallet?" (And let's forget about the end of the world, because we found ourselves a piece of strange.)

I'm not happy at all that the writers killed off Rachel.  I hate when writers do this, especially when I was enjoying the slow-build relationship between her and Chandler.  Dumb.  As for Sasha, it was stated that Chandler and Sasha were involved with each other before they each were married.  So they have a history.  I didn't see him making eyes at her, but rather acknowledging their past together.  Actually, Chandler seemed pretty peeved at her when he realized she hadn't told him about her selling the cure on the black market.  She was openly flirting with him at the beginning, and there was a moment when I got the sense towards the end when she was feeling him out, but he shut her down.  I agree with you that I don't want to see Chandler getting involved with Sasha; it's too easy; too convenient.  I'm no prude either, but I hate when the writers write these insta-romances that come out of nowhere for the audience.  At least Chandler and Rachel' attraction was building up over a two-year period - with zero payoff.  Thanks writers.  At least Dane and Mitra had great chemistry.  I don't see it with Chandler and Sasha - at least not now.

On 6/22/2016 at 7:59 PM, Netfoot said:

But we are assured that there can not be a new strain, that mutations are impossible.  So, if people are not being cured, it is because the vaccine is being withheld, presumably for nefarious purposes.  Someone is stealing, and someone is lying.

That's what I understood as well.  Rachel had stated that there was no way the virus could mutate, and so I got the impression that the Chinese were deliberately withholding the cure from its people and surrounding countries in order to kill off regimes so that Pang could dominate the region.  I believe that woman who was trying to save her child with the vaccine was actually given placebo of sorts, probably by Pang.

On 6/23/2016 at 0:27 PM, xaxat said:

No Scott? The flu plot lacks a protagonist to guide us through the TV science behind the infection.

The Nathan James? For some reason, the writers decided to dump what I thought was the best part of the show, the professionalism and effectiveness of the crew. Now all of the characters we got to know are scattered all over the place and the person in command is someone new.

Maybe this new show will eventually provide the kind of solid entertainment I enjoyed watching the earlier seasons, but the first two episodes didn't impress me.

I don't think the show could sustain itself being situated aboard the Nathan James.  Also, after curing the world, there is no way that Chandler, Scott, and the rest of the crew would be treated normally.  Chandler would definitely have been promoted and Scott would have spearheaded the spread of the cure - which is exactly how season two ended.  Unfortunately, the writers removed Scott so that the show couldn't find an easy way to come up with a new cure.  Scott was the brilliant mind behind the cure, and so by killing her off (even though that sucks), it makes it harder for the characters and the show to get ahead of the illness.  I think the show will be good this year since it's being told on a lot of different fronts, but they have to be careful not to try and be too clever and tell too many stories at once.

So far, I'm intrigued.  So I'm looking forward to the next episodes.

[ramble]

Have you ever had one of those actors who you react to viscerally? Having no logical reason you can name for not liking them, but you have an unstoppable dislike anyway? Dichen Lachman. Ugh. She sets my teeth on edge & makes me sigh repeatedly. She continues to show up on shows I watch/have watched. It's like I'm being followed by the ugh. And the idiots in charge are hinting at chemistry with Wolf. Lovely, delicious Wolf who I have an entirely different kind of visceral reaction to. No! No, no, no. I don't have much to say about the episode because I'm so bummed out about the Lachman & the possibly of her rubbing up against Wolf. Ugh.