Military thriller should not be your Last Resort

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LAST RESORT - "Captain" - Five hundred feet beneath the ocean's surface, the crew of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine "USS Colorado" - the most powerful nuclear submarine ever built -- receive their orders. Over a communications channel designed only to be used if the U.S. homeland has been wiped out, they're told to fire nuclear weapons at a foreign country. Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) demands confirmation of the orders, only to be unceremoniously relieved of duty. XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) finds himself suddenly in charge of the submarine and facing the same difficult decision. When he also demands confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is fired upon and hit. The submarine and its crew, honorable patriots, now find themselves crippled on the ocean floor and declared rogue enemies of their own country, on the premiere of "Last Resort," THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/MARIO PEREZ) ANDRE BRAUGHER (ABC)

ABC/Global/Sept. 27/7 p.m.

LAST RESORT

Starring: Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Dichen Lachman, Daniel Lissing, Sahr Ngaujah, Camille de Pazzis, Autumn Reeser, Jessy Schram and Robert Patrick

Premise:

After refusing to launch a nuclear strike against Pakistan unless they receive second-source confirmation of the order, the commanders of a U.S. Navy submarine are targeted by their own country's forces and forced to go rogue. The ship and crew take shelter near a mysterious island and mount a courageous defence as they try to clear their names and get home.

Lowdown:

Combine military-thriller action with labyrinthian political intrigue, and you've got a pretty good mix. Add the always-compelling Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street) as the steel-nerved commander who defies an unjust order and uncovers the first whiff of a dark conspiracy, and things start to simmer. It's hard to say where producer Shawn Ryan (The Shield, The Unit) will take this yarn by season's end, but the pilot episode is a throat-grabber.

Quotable:

"It's inspired because the world's a crazy place right now, and this country is divided in many ways. You look at the Tea Party on one side and the Occupy movement on the other, and they share something, which is a distrust of our institutions and the people running our governments and what these people might do. And that's something that we're tapping into. ... I certainly hope that the world stays relatively sane, and I hope that what we're portraying doesn't come too close to reality, obviously." -- executive producer Shawn Ryan, on finding just the right amount of fear and paranoia to make this show a success.

Bottom line:

There's nothing sub-standard about this edge-of-the-seat thriller.

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ELEMENTARY stars Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime solving duo that cracks the NYPDv��?�?s most impossible cases. ELEMENTARY premieres Fall 2012, Thursdays, (10:00-11:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/v?��2012 CBS BROADCASTING INC. All Rights Reserved.

CBS/Global/Sept. 27/9 p.m.

ELEMENTARY

Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu and Aidan Quinn

Premise:

An Americanized modern-day retelling of the Sherlock Holmes saga, with the great Brit detective seeking to start a new life in New York after being disgraced and spending time in drug rehab in London. Once in the Big Apple, he finds an unlikely ally in the person of his court-appointed sober companion, Dr. Joan Watson.

Lowdown:

With Robert Downey Jr. portraying a traditional Holmes on the big screen and Benedict Cumberbatch delivering a stunning, modern-day spin for PBS's Masterpiece, one might be inclined to question CBS's wisdom in serving up another version of Conan Doyle's beloved crime-solver. But Miller brings a unique measure of mania to the character, and Liu's distaff Watson seems like a likable companion. The failure of last fall's excellent-but-ignored U.S. version of Prime Suspect inspires a certain amount of concern that this, too, could be rejected by viewers.

Quotable:

"It's a challenge, you know. There's different versions of it out there, recently, and so ... it may be a little bit of pressure, but, it's a fantastic character, and opportunities like this don't come along as often as people might think for us. So it's wonderful." -- series star Jonny Lee Miller, on adding his version of Sherlock to an already Holmes-crowded TV/movie landscape.

Bottom line:

It's a pretty good show that's programmed against rather average competition, so one might deduce that Elementary has a chance.

RETURNING SHOWS:

Glee (tonight, Fox/Global)

The X-Factor: Results (tonight, Fox)

Parks and Recreation (Sept. 20, NBC/Citytv)

Up All Night (Sept. 20, NBC)

The Office (Sept. 20, NBC)

Doc Zone (Sept. 20, CBC)

The Big Bang Theory (Sept. 27, CBS/CTV)

Two and a Half Men (Sept. 27, CBS/CTV)

Flashpoint (Sept. 27, CTV)

Grey's Anatomy (Sept. 27, ABC/CTV)

Person of Interest (Sept. 27, CBS/Citytv)

Scandal (Sept. 27, ABC/Citytv)

30 Rock (Oct. 4, NBC/Citytv)

The Vampire Diaries (Oct. 11, CW)

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @BradOswald

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 13, 2012 D3