14 Reasons To Get On Board "The Last Ship"

It's a matter of life and death. Watch TNT's new post-apocalyptic drama The Last Ship, premiering June 22 at 9/8c.

1. The story is one of international intrigue...

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Even NYC's Grand Central Terminal is involved. ;)

2. ...and political unrest.

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In the original 1988 novel, worldwide devastation is brought upon by nuclear warfare instead of infectious disease.

3. There are exotic locations...

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Among the filming locations is San Pedro, California: "As long as you can hide the palm trees, it could be anywhere."

4. ...and exotic explosions...

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"Okay. Now we have all these great bells and whistles, but let's not forget that it's about the characters," says executive producer Steven Kane.

5. ...because it's from this guy:

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The pilot episode is also directed by Jonathan Mostow (U-571, Terminator 3).

6. Firefly's Adam Baldwin is here too, as second-in-command Mike Slattery.

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Says Baldwin: "One thing I've learned so far about being an XO is that you have to be a little bit more of a taskmaster than the actual captain of the ship."

7. Commander Tom Chandler is played by Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy!

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“This guy is not just the square-jawed Navy guy with the commander’s voice, barking orders; I wanted to bring as much humanity to him as I could,” Dane says.

8. He does things like this:

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Dane has since earned the nickname, Captain McSteamy.

9. Rhona Mitra plays Dr. Rachel Scott, a virologist with some things on her mind...

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Check out Dr. Scott's video journal detailing the virus here.

10. ...like a pandemic that's wiped out 80% of the human race.

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How's that for a hook?

11. Aaannnddd this sort of stuff:

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The vaccine is, let's say, a "coveted commodity."

12. But finally, scientists are the heroes!

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"It's a time sensitive mission," according to the executive producers. "Every day they don't find the cure means half a million people die."

13. Oh, and there's this ship, humanity's last hope:

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The filmmakers used the USS Halsey, a real-life guided missile destroyer, as a stand-in for the show's USS Nathan James in the pilot.

14. And it's not going down without a fight.

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BOOM.

The Last Ship premieres Sun. June 22 at 9/8c on TNT.