USS Maine, a US Navy Ohio-class submarine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It premiered this past week, but I am only watching it now. This is a show that will succeed. Here is the premise:
The show is about the renegade crew of a United States NavyOhio-classballistic missile submarine, the fictional USS Colorado(SSBN-753), that receives an order to launch nuclear missiles on Pakistan. When Captain Marcus Chaplin (Andre Braugher) asks for confirmation he is relieved of command. His second in command, Lt. Commander Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman), also questions the orders and the vessel is fired upon. Realizing that they have been declared enemies of their own country, they set up camp on the fictional island of Sainte Marina, and declare themselves a sovereign nation with nuclear capability. At the same time, the crew must find a way to prove their innocence and find out who set them up so that they can return home to America.
The acting is tight, the drama real, and finally – finally! – Hollywood is taking on real-to-life issues.
Pakistan is a real enemy. The President is not supported by the military. Remember a few years ago, an editorialist for Newsmax wrote that the best way to save this country was for the military to take over. That is the backdrop, I believe, of this series. We are introduced to a D.C. in turmoil with an impeachment vote looming and active military officers raging in the media about the President. This show is, as of right now, playing on the fears and social realities of our time. And that’s why it is needed.
There is a great deal of mystery, intrigue, violence, and hope for a decent story – every week. I mean… you have an ICBM missile on the way to D.C… You don’t know if the good guy is really all that good. I mean… (spoilers)… the missile exploded… well…. no. I’m not telling.
It’s like that movie, the Crimson Tide… The tension, the reality… the fear that this could happen beneath the turbulent waters.
Remember Red Dawn – I mean the real one… that stoked the jingoistic fears of the 1980′s? Or Lucan’s Civil Wars… Or the Gospel of Mark… performance pieces that change people? Give this one time…
“Task us… and we will all burn together…”
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Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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