History YMMV / TheLastShip

** It's also oddly averted, as an Arleigh Burke destroyer should be able to easily defeat all the threats that have been launched at it on the show, in any of the episodes. The Aegis combat system was designed to defeat Cold War era missile attacks from large Soviet fleets or bomber wings. In particular, the episode where 3 ships of their class are targeted, the combat systems in the 3 ship fleet should have kept them completely protected.

** The regional leaders are utterly stupid. Their plot effectively destroys what is left of the Navy's major surface units, would have left them utterly defenceless from invasion by anyone, and when they do setup their regions, they do it so badly that it doesn't take more than weeks before one has a shortage of food & power, and the other has a shortage of manpower.
** Despite being one of the most powerful ships in the US Navy, the Nathan James is inexplicably surprised on multiple occasions by missiles, ships & drones, and is hit numerous times by weapons that they should be able to easily detect and defeat.

** Allison Shaw, who was aware of Michener's occasional lapses into self-doubt and anxiety over his survival and suicide attempt and very likely romantically involved with him, was actually the spearhead of a conspiracy against him with the ultimate goal of dismantling the vestiges of the United States and converting into regional fiefdoms. She started by ordering his murder and then oversaw the destruction of his legacy.

** The regional leaders arguing over the remains of the United States like vultures and the revelation that they've been intentionally starving the people in order to gain a docile workforce who'll do anything for the promise of a meal.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The latter half of Season 3 shows that the regional leaders have secretly split the United States into their own private sovereign territories. This seemed to be setting up a modern day, multisided civil war story arc for Season 4, complete with all kinds of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' style alliances, betrayal, and warfare. Unfortunately, this is quickly and neatly wrapped up in last two episodes of Season 3, throwing away what had arguably been the show's most interesting plotline before it even got off the ground.
** On the other hand, it could be seen as a necessary end. The regional leaders were otherwise stereotypical evil politicians who, outside of their obvious lust for power and prominence, lacked any real cunning or intelligence to maintain their positions. Notably, rather than engage in the kind of political intrigue that made ''Game of Thrones'' what is, they spent their time bickering amongst themselves and the White House over every little thing; only Shaw possessed the deviousness and manipulative qualities required to make that kind of plotline work. Likewise, such an arc would have undoubtedly shifted focus more onto the American homeland, and thus taken attention away from the ''James'' and her crew, as well as the rest of the world altogether.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Tex, with his cheerful attitude and casual disregard for protocol, turned out to be such a dynamic character that he immediately became more prominent that some main characters before being promoted to the main cast in Season 2.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The latter half of Season 3 shows that the regional leaders have secretly split the United States into their own private sovereign territories. This seems to be setting up a modern day, multisided civil war story arc for Season 4, complete with all kinds of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' style alliances, betrayal, and warfare. Unfortunately, this is quickly and neatly wrapped up in last two episodes of Season 3, throwing away what had arguably been the show's most interesting plotline before it even got off the ground.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Sometimes during great hardships, you have to keep a terrible secret. This is doubly true if it relates to national security. (Subverted as of the episode "Dog Day".)

** Jacob Barnes was already a Scrappy upon introduction (being the negative stereotype of the IntrepidReporter), but after [[spoiler:holding his interview with Curtis and broadcasting Michener's past sins to the world, thereby driving Michener to suicide]], more than one viewer has called for his head on a platter. [[spoiler:They would end up getting their wish in "Legacy", though [[BaseBreaker opinions are divided]] on whether Barnes had it coming or not.]]

** The regional leaders arguing over the remains of the United States like vultures.

** Allison Shaw, who was aware of Michener's occasional lapses into self-doubt and anxiety over his survival and suicide attempt and very likely romantically involved with him, becomes the spearhead of a conspiracy against him with the ultimate goal of dismantling the vestiges of the United States and converting into regional fiefdoms.

** Season 3 also focuses on political intrigue within the United States, with a cabal of regional leaders working (in cahoots with China, no less) to undermine the well-meaning federal government in order to secure more personal power. The regional leaders even start building walls to mark their territories.
* WhatAnIdiot: In the pilot, they are in absolutely no hurry to get off the Italian Cruise Liner. They've established that it is free of any dangers aside from the obvious virus. Despite this, two soldiers ''run'' from the galley, with bags loaded down with food, down a stairway they obviously hadn't come up in the first place or they would have remembered the bodies/trip hazards.

** The journalist, Jacob, who has been hounding President Michener, finally completely crosses the line by using false pretenses to gain access to the Immune agent who shot Dr. Scott, and then attacking Michener over his lapse in judgement in bringing his son to the Florida quarantine zone. [[spoiler:He ends up provoking Michener to kill himself just as Kara receives the news that the hostages are safe.]]

** Jacob Barnes was already a Scrappy upon introduction (being the negative stereotype of the IntrepidReporter), but after [[spoiler:holding his interview with Curtis and broadcasting Michener's past sins to the world, thereby driving Michener to suicide]], more than one viewer has called for his head on a platter. Stay tuned to this space.

* MoralEventHorizon: Mrs. Granderson crossed hers long before ''Nathan James'' arrived in Baltimore, although she justifies it by claiming it was something she had to do because the majority of humanity crossed the line first ([[UnreliableNarrator according to her, anyway]]).

*** He manages to take ''several steps further'' by coming up with a plan to spread the virus through infected teddy bears that were intended to be given to young children.

** Season 3 clearly mirrors the real-world ongoing tensions within Asia as the Chinese leader, Peng, is jockeying for ultimate control over Asia, using a FalseFlagOperation attack on American forces in Vietnam in order to distract the US.

* {{Narm}}: Characters have a tendency to make long InfoDump speeches about their backstories for the most tangential of reasons, leading some viewers and reviewers to go 'Huh?' and roll their eyes rather than sympathize with the tragedy the characters are facing.

* PlotArmor: Despite being hit by a Spearfish heavy torpedo on her port side, the worst the ''Nathan James'' suffered was losing her sonar. In reality, she would have taken far more damage (namely a hull breach).

* TheScrappy: Kara and Danny fell into this the very first moment they appeared on screen, thanks to their tired, cliched RomanticPlotTumor that took time away from the main story, but not enough time to give them any more character development than "star-crossed lovers". Danny's behavior at the end of the third episode, disobeying orders and endangering the mission to protect Kara's safety (which was not in jeopardy) and then demanding that she stay away from him, incited groans from viewers who are now completely uninvested in their story.

** Jacob Barnes was already a Scrappy upon introduction (being the negative stereotype of the IntrepidReporter), but after [[spoiler:holding his interview with Curtis and broadcasting Mitchner's past sins to the world, thereby driving Mitchner to suicide]], more than one viewer has called for his head on a platter. Stay tuned to this space.

* IdiotBall: Why Jeter would tell his family on an open channel NOT to come to a place the ''Nathan James'' is going to anchor at is not explained, but it serves mainly to stretch the episode out to the requisite ~1 hour.
** Why wasn't Barnes arrested for his interview with Curtis, especially upon showing said interview to Mitchner and the rest? The man [[spoiler:impersonated a lawyer to get in]] for crying out loud.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: Sometimes during great hardships, you have to keep a terrible secret. This is doubly true if it relates to national security.

** Season 3 clearly mirrors the real-world ongoing tensions within Asia as the Chinese leader, Peng, is jockeying for ultimate control over Asia, provoking a FalseFlag attack on American forces in Vietnam in order to distract the US.