Last Resort 1×13 – Controlled Flight Into Terrain (Series Finale)

Well, it’s over. And do I really care?

I gave up on Last Resort a couple of episodes ago but ultimately decided that I had to finish the show’s brief first reason. Although it can be quite frustrating to watch a series rush its ending, I do like a complete story so I went in with hopes of being somewhat satisfied. Honestly, I’m still not sure how I feel.

Last Resort had a rocky journey. As I’ve stated countless times before, the pilot was a superb hour and one of the strongest episodes of television I’d seen all year. However, the show floundered right out the gate and subsequent episodes proved to be boring, incoherent, and just plain messy. The show is actually a textbook example on how not to pull off a serialized drama thanks to its vacant characters and awkward plotting. So much potential, and so far from epic.

It was painfully obvious throughout the finale that the writers were scrambling to give the show a conclusion after being suddenly cancelled. Story-lines that would otherwise take seasons to develop were rifled through within seconds, and plot turns literally came out of nowhere. The most appropriate example is Kylie Sinclair’s arc. I actually really loved the character; she was a strong, manipulative protagonist who managed to carve a nice little redemption tale for herself by the end of the series. Her storyline in the finale started out promisingly as she blew her boyfriend’s brains out in order to get accepted by the corrupt administration, only to go completely ballistic by the end of the hour as she assassinated (!) the President of the United States. It’s a pretty nutty turn of events that would have undeniably benefited from a season of plotting and machinations, but I was nevertheless pretty shocked and amused by her story. I’d never seen Autumn Reeser before but she was a wonderful talent who I’ll be following up on more from now on.

As for the Colorado crew, Captain Chaplin got a satisfying sendoff as he (of course) refused to abandon ship and died with his precious submarine. I can’t say I was affected by his ordeal, although Andre Braugher really gave the role his all. He managed to give the lovable dictator a ton of layers throughout which couldn’t have been easy with the muddled characterization going on around him.

I want to say I was touched by Sam’s reunion with his wife but he did just see her a couple of episodes ago so maybe the writers should have dragged out the reunion until the finale at least? It’s a shame nothing ever really happened between him and Sophie although viewers do get a consolation that the two are dating in real life. And what was up with Sophie’s useless dynamic with Julian? I was sure he was going to rape her at some point but their relationship never amounted to anything (and the less said about the “earth minerals” the better.)

Speaking of useless, Tani and King were shoehorned into the hour and felt completely superfluous to the proceedings. However, I at least enjoyed Grace bonding with Prosser and saving his life (using the nifty gas trick no less). She’s another character who I felt should have had much more impact in the end.

Ultimately, maybe the premise of Last Resort was just never meant to be. It always felt a tad “off” to me, and while other dramas such as Prison Break did manage to thrive with an insane premise, I guess Resort just didn’t have the good to back up its pilot. A pity.

Conclusion
An entertaining yet immensely rushed series finale for a sadly forgettable show.

Nad Rating
C+