History Series / LastResort

** The XO is seen chasing down two female crew members to ask them if anyone has harassed them or otherwise acted in a manner unbecoming. While the XO wouldn't be chasing down two enlisted crew members, the rote speech he gives asking them if anyone has sexually harassed them is straight out of the PC handbook. In all likelihood, a more senior enlisted person would be asking these questions, and only if there was a problem would an officer get involved.

** Sam's "friend." [[spoiler: Who is initially a double agent trying to turn Christine. But when she kisses him to distract him, he falls for her and begins lying to his superiors so he can White Knight her later.]]

* ActionGirl: Lt. Shepard.

* AffablyEvil: Booth, the CIA black-ops guy who gets captured by Sam

* AntiVillain: Prosser is basically just doing what he sees as his duty, and later agrees to work faithfully under Chaplin, if only to the end of eventually seeing him court-martialed. [[spoiler:He eventually gets frustrated with Chaplin and mutinies against him, only to switch sides yet again when it turns out his fellow mutineers want to turn the sub over to the Chinese for money]].

* ANuclearError: The Colorado's missiles can be self-destructed midflight in case of an erroneous launch. [[spoiler:This does not happen when Chaplin fires at DC; however, he intentionally overshoots the target, with the explosion happening in international waters, but close enough to DC (and New York) to see the flash.]] Perhaps justified in the post-UsefulNotes/ColdWar era, but not explained. Also, the flight path from the Indian Ocean to Washington is quite a bit outside the officially acknowledged range of the Trident II missile, but of course the actual range is probably classified anyway. Interestingly, the self-destruct function does not seem to be common knowledge; Sinclair assumes that once launched, there's no stopping it short of an orbital shootdown (i.e. Star Wars, which Sinclair's father was involved in).

* BaldOfAuthority: Captain Chaplin.

* BrainlessBeauty: Thoroughly averted with Sinclair. Though extremely attractive and apparently a bit promiscuous, that has absolutely no bearing on the fact that she is NOT someone whose bad side you want to be on; she knows way too much and is frighteningly good at deductive reasoning.
** Also averted with Christine who [[spoiler: instantly realizes she's being played when Sam's "friend" makes the moves on her and quickly forums a fifth column-esque alliance with Sinclair]].
** To be fair, none of the women on the show are short in either department.

* TheCaptain: Chaplin.

* CrapsackWorld: Seems to be heading in that direction, at least. Pakistan lies in nuclear ruins, the rest of the world is on edge and has turned on America, and America seems on the track to becoming a PoliceState.
** But at the same time somewhat averted. Despite an obvious tense international situation and the nuking of Pakistan, life seems to be going on as normal in the US, and the Colorado's sanctuary isn't exactly hell on earth either.
** One of the few times when [[spoiler: a military coup]] or [[spoiler:the assassination of the US President]] is presented as a ''good'' thing.

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Christine]] looks to be fitting this trope.

* FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler: The COB and Shepherd, in the final episode.]]

* TheLastTitle: The title of the series.

* TheMutiny / WithUsOrAgainstUs: The basic question of "Who has the authority?" versus "Who is actually in control?", both within the ''Colorado'' and between the officers and the US government.
** Technically, the conspirators who keep sabotaging Chaplin's efforts (which they themselves believe is ''suicidal,'' albeit part of [[MyCountryRightOrWrong their duty]]) are the mutineers. To quote ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober''; Mutiny is when the crew rises against their officers. When the ''officers'' try to steal the ship [[DistinctionWithoutADifference it's referred to]] as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barratry_%28admiralty_law%29 barratry]]''.
** In "Damn the Torpedoes", some of the sailors from the Colorado are seriously considering launching a mutiny to get back to American territory. Kendal, unfortunately, stepped in to overhear some of their talk and is hunted down because of it.

* [[spoiler:MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the end of the first episode, James King starts crying after seeing the news, realizing the entire situation is [[ItsAllMyFault all his fault]].]]

* PoliceState: Admiral Shepard fears that the US is becoming one.
* PresidentEvil: The President, arguably.

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: Averted, much to fans' relief, although some outstanding plot threads ([[spoiler:such as why the government went rogue in the first place and why Kendall's wife was kidnapped and later located and easily freed]]) are left hanging.

!!This show provides examples of the following tropes:

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The drug "BZ" [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-quinuclidinyl_benzilate is actually a thing.]]

To readers familiar with US Navy submarines, the Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment applies: With the sensitive nature of the locations, namely a United States Navy nuclear submarine, you can be assured that the accuracy of scenes isn't perfect. Access to nuclear-armed submarines is limited to those service members assigned to her after she is completed. As a result, it is likely that the producers relied on consultants and publicly available information. Anything they couldn't verify is more than likely speculation as far as the depictions of life on a nuclear submarine are concerned.

* StockEpisodeTitles: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. [[{{Pilot}} The first episode is called]] [[AWorldwidePunomenon ''Captain'']]

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Captain Chaplin.

** By the time of "Another Fine Navy Day," [[spoiler: Sophie's attraction to the married Sam Kendall is not longer ambiguous, at least to the audience, after she views security footage of Sam, under the influence of a drug making him hallucinate images of his wife, making out with her]].

** The high-tech displays seen in the ''U.S.S. Colorado'' are nothing more than eye-candy. In several scenes, it's obvious that they are bolted on to panels, in some cases clearly covering up buttons and gauges.

* LoadedWords: "Patriot" has been used several times by the series in a context where it means 'unquestioning loyalist' rather than 'proud of one's country and what it stands for.' The distinction between these two definitions is the heart of the central conflict.

* ConspicuousCG: The scenes when King and Sam walk in downtown Manila.

* TropicalIslandAdventure: The series takes place on a fictional tropical island in the Indian Ocean.

To readers familiar with US Navy submarines, the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies: With the sensitive nature of the locations, namely a United States Navy nuclear submarine, you can be assured that the accuracy of scenes isn't perfect. Access to nuclear-armed submarines is limited to those service members assigned to her after she is completed. As a result, it is likely that the producers relied on consultants and publicly available information. Anything they couldn't verify is more than likely speculation as far as the depictions of life on a nuclear submarine are concerned.