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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, August 7, 2015 2 By Cassie Dresch TV Media A bout this time last year, I wondered if it was pos- sible to survive a devas- tating pandemic that deci- mates the world's population if you were isolated from it. Today, we have our answer: definitely! But not without some major fallout. "The Last Ship" battens down the hatch- es and charges full steam ahead when a new episode airs Sunday, Aug. 9, on TNT. With only a few episodes left in season 2, it's safe to say that much has transpired since "The Last Ship" set sail on its first season last year. From a global pandemic to cures to armed mercenaries to a group of immunes, the USS Nathan James's crew has faced its fair share of challenges. The immunes have been a big plot point this season, pro- viding most of the opposition for the commanding officer, Cmdr. Tom Chandler (Eric Dane, "Grey's Anatomy"), Dr. Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra, "Boston Legal"), XO Mike Slattery (Adam Baldwin, "Chuck") and the rest of the crew. The im- munes, who aren't affected by the virus that wiped out 80 per cent of the world's population, believe they are a chosen few meant to inherit the Earth due to their natural immunity and don't want the vaccine shared. It definitely sounds like some crazy sci-fi conspiracy theory when it's laid out in front of you. What's actually crazy to think about, though, is that this kind of situation could very well happen today, some- thing that's not lost on Dane, who cites a recent viral out- break as a prime example. "I think 30 years ago, this would have been science fic- tion, and now it's somewhat probable," Dane said in an in- terview with "Today." "The Eb- ola outbreak was pretty isolat- ed, but had that happened in a densely populated area with people flying in and out, we [humanity] would have been a wrap." Thankfully, that's not the case and we can still look at "The Last Ship" as another piece of fiction — well, sort of. One aspect of the drama that really stands out is how faithful the show is to the actual U.S. Navy, so much so that the Navy is heavily involved in the series in more ways than one. "The Navy has been incredi- bly supportive and excited," executive producer Hank Steinberg said in an interview with FOX411 at San Diego Comic-Con 2015. "We had a big premiere in Washington, D.C., where thousands of mili- tary people showed up. The secretary of the Navy [Ray Ma- bus] himself has been to our set and actually recorded a cameo. It's the episode where they find the message that was buried in the files of the White House. The guy who's playing the secretary of the Navy is the real secretary of the Navy." Aside from cameos, "The Last Ship" also does a lot of its filming on actual ships, includ- ing a hospital ship that was featured in an episode last month. This kind of support has been crucial to the success of the show, according to Dane in the "Today" interview. "We get a lot of support from the Navy," he said. "We are forever indebted to them; they have been absolute sports about this. Shooting on a naval destroyer is interesting be- cause you're on a $3 billion ship — you better take care of it — and once you put on the uniform and sit in the captain's chair, it really helps [give you a feel for things]." It's not only on screen that the Navy features prominently, either. The cast undergoes a lot of intensive physical training to give them an idea of what it's like in the Navy and how the personnel behave. Batten down the hatches and charge full steam ahead as a new episode of "The Last Ship" airs Sunday, Aug. 9, on TNT. Robynwood Home 2 x 2 coverstory Rhona Mitra as seen in "The Last Ship" All hands on deck 'The Last Ship' steams through its second season By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: For the past few weeks, "American Odyssey" hasn't been on. The story was not over, so I can't believe it would be taken off without explanation. Could you please tell me why? A: Actually, the first season's story was over — the final epi- sode you saw was the season finale — however, you're right that the show's larger story was not. It's part of the cruelty of serialized storytelling on TV that it left you hanging at the end of the first season, without know- ing if it would get a chance to rescue you from the cliff with a second. And NBC decided not to give it the chance — "Ameri- can Odyssey" has been canceled. There was indeed more story to tell, but the network wasn't convinced that enough people wanted to see it. The show pre- miered to 5.4 million viewers on April 5, but it lost more than half of them by the end — its finale drew just 2.2 million sets of eyes. That ratings drop could have something to do with the bad reviews the show got from the beginning. Perhaps those view- ers who abandoned the show agreed with reviewers at "The Guardian" newspaper, Deadline.com and elsewhere that it was too much like Showtime's hit series "Homeland," but not as good. Q: I'm trying to find the name of an old horror movie starring Ben Affleck. It was based on a Stephen King book or something, and it was about a town that had hundreds of people going missing because of some weird entity. A: The movie you're looking for is 1998's "Phantoms," and you may have had trouble finding it because the book wasn't penned by Stephen King but by his horror-writing colleague Dean Koontz. Ben Affleck may have gotten most of the press for the film, having burst on to the film scene a year earlier with his Oscar- winning hit "Good Will Hunting," but "Phantoms" actually featured a strong ensemble cast. Affleck shared top billing on the film with Rose McGowan and Liev Schreiber, both of whom starred in the landmark hor- ror hit "Scream" two years earlier, as well as an actor you may have heard of named Peter O'Toole (you might know him bet- ter as Lawrence of Arabia, or any of the other legendary roles he's played). Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. 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