The Last Ship Season Finale Preview: “No Place Like Home” [VIDEO and PHOTOS + Exclusive Christina Elmore Interview] 

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

[If you’re looking for a recap of “No Place Like Home,” go here.]

There were major developments on the last episode of The Last Ship, but what’s in store for the season finale will no doubt be shocking.

Dr. Scott believes that she has not only found a vaccine, but also a cure. The crew heads home in hopes that it will work and that isn’t too late. But what they find when they get there is not what they expected. They learn that the government is gone and that their home has become violent and dangerous. Most unsettling of all is that it seems that the crew of the Nathan James is not welcome and Chandler may even have a target on his head.

There’s also a good chance we’ll learn even more about the crew on this episode as they deal with problems they haven’t anticipated, so I think everyone will want to tune in for this one.

I spoke exclusively with Lt. Alisha Granderson’s Christina Elmore. So far, we’ve only scratched the surface of her character and I’ve been wondering when we might get to learn more. It looks like the season finale may be our chance to get to know her better and to see her deal with a completely new situation. Christina also tells us about her audition for this role, what it’s been like to work with Eric Dane and Charles Parnell and what to look forward to in the season finale.

TV GOODNESS: The Last Ship is a big hit for TNT. What do you think the viewers were drawn to so quickly with this show?

Christina Elmore: “Well, in the beginning when you see all the trailers that say ‘Michael Bay! And big! Boom! Summer!,’ it felt like a summer movie coming to TV. I think that may have been what got people to watch the first episode. But I think what keeps people coming back is that you have all of that excitement and the big explosions and action and that’s really exciting for the summer. But you also get to know some really great characters; and I think the writers and the actors and everyone involved have done a really good job drawing out and drawing you into it. You wanna know how they’re gonna respond to everything that’s happening around them. Now with the Ebola scare, things are becoming more and more relevant in a way I couldn’t have even imagined. So I think people kept coming back for that as well.”

TV GOODNESS: I was going to ask you about that. With the Ebola outbreak, the show is just so relevant right now. How does that change things for you?

Christina: “In the back of my head, [I] felt like the virus that happens on The Last Ship, while it seems [like it’s] of epic proportions, it’s something that could very well happen. With such a global world that we’re in, that you can travel today and hit 7 different countries, and then those people on that plane with you are going other places-  things are contagious. In that world, things can easily spread. I think we’re seeing that with Ebola, which is an outbreak that I don’t think anyone thought would come back in the proportions that it has. And it’s scary.”

TV GOODNESS: It’s terrifying.

Christina: “Right now it’s at such a distance for us in America that I think we’re able to put it in the back of our heads. But we have to think about it even more fervently than we are, because people are dying at an alarming rate. And that’s terrifying.”

TV GOODNESS:  You’re right. It’s not something that we expected to see again and it’s so scary.

Christina: “I know! It just seems out of a book. Or out of a TV show.” [Laughs.]

TV GOODNESS: Exactly. Like The Last Ship. So, I looked at your credits and is this your first TV show?

Christina: “Yeah. I graduated from, I left grad school studying acting in 2012 and went to L.A. in August and then got this job in September. So, it’s my first TV show at all. I didn’t even guest or co-star on anything before this.”

TV GOODNESS: Wow. What a cool first show to be on.

Christina: “Really. It’s such a blessing. I couldn’t have even imagined that this is how my journey would start and I’m so grateful.”

TV GOODNESS: When did you first hear about the role? What was it that made you want to be a part of the show?

Christina: “It’s kind of crazy. I moved here, like I said, and I start going on some auditions that my reps would send me out on. When you first move to L.A., especially out of school- I was going on auditions that I was kind of right for, but sometimes it was mostly just to meet and get to know casting directors, so that when the role was actually right for me, they would call me in. This was the first pilot that I auditioned for and it wasn’t during pilot season. My reps were basically like, ‘Christina, yeah go, audition! It seems like a role that could be really right for you. She’s a young woman, serious, in the military who’s studied all her life to get to the point where she is.’ And that resonated with me, as I had just gotten out of twenty-two years of school. There’s some challenges to confront, but she keeps her cool, keeps her head. I thought, ‘Oh, that seems actually right up my alley.’ But my reps were also like, ‘Yeah, but you’re not gonna get it. Because, you know, you haven’t even guest starred.’ Like, not in a mean way. But like, just be prepared for this to be a learning experience. The next day, I was all ready. I wanted to do a good job and my car breaks down.”

TV GOODNESS: No!

Christina: “It was crazy. My car broke down. I had to get my battery not just jumped, but replaced. I was hours late. I show up a sweaty mess and I think that having had that crazy pressure and being so late, I was able to really put pressure that Alisha feels in the scene that I was auditioning with. The rest is history, I guess.”

TV GOODNESS: That’s a good story for a first pilot though.

Christina: “I don’t think I’ll ever book anything else unless something terrible happens on the way there.” [Laughs.]

TV GOODNESS: Well, it worked out for the best. Can you talk a little bit more about your character? It sounds like you identify with her pretty well. Is there anything else coming up with your character in the finale?

Christina: “I think we do find out a little bit more about her in the finale. I don’t wanna say too much. We start to find out more about the world that we’ve left behind as we head back – hopefully with the vaccine. As we turn back towards America we find out a lot more about people and their families and what’s been going on since we left. We get some good information about Alisha as well that’s really exciting.

What I really like about her so far, even before we figure that stuff out in the finale, is that she’s about her job, but she has so much compassion. Sometimes you find her in the coms room listening in to people who are having distress calls all over the world. To be able to hear it, take it in, process it and then be able to get up and encourage her, the other enlisted officers and enlisted men and women in the Navy on their ship, to not be overwhelmed by the news that they’re hearing. What she’s been able to do has been really great, that she’s [a] steadying force with the younger enlisted people that she comes into contact with. That’s been really exciting, but I’m excited to find out what’s gonna happen in season 2. There’s more to learn about her because we haven’t seen that much.”

TV GOODNESS; I’m excited for the finale and that the show’s coming back for another season. I have to ask: what has it been like working with Eric Dane, Adam Baldwin and Rhona Mitra? Have you had any favorite experiences or scenes with them?

Christina: “What’s been so exciting about all three of them, and Charles Parnell I would say as well, is that they are actors at the top of their game. They’ve done a lot of work and we’ve seen them all over the place. They’re so recognizable and so respected and admired [and] they’re just so regular and so willing to help. Because this was my first big gig and my first time really doing television, they were all so supportive and telling me, ‘Christina, this is the frame you’re in. Look that way. If I were you, I’d like, turn around and look this way.’ Just the basic things that I think you don’t know until you do it. They’ve been so helpful and so kind. There’s no ego on our set, which is pretty amazing considering the kind of actors that we have. It’s been really remarkable. Someone asked me on Twitter what it’s like working with Eric Dane and I said, ‘I only have good things to say. He’s very talented. He’s great for this role. And he’s so kind.’ So it makes going to work a breeze.”

TV GOODNESS: That’s awesome. 

Christina: “Yeah, and Eric and Adam together is pretty awesome too.”

TV GOODNESS: Is there a favorite scene or moment that you’ve had so far on the show?

Christina: “Yeah. I don’t want to say too much about it, because I think my favorite scenes happens in this last episode. There’s a lot that’s gonna go down. Everyone on the show has an opportunity to do something they haven’t done before, to have the type of scene that they haven’t had in the past. Because things start to switch up in this last episode. That’s all I’ll say.

But before that, I think there’s a scene that I had with Charles Parnell, I think it was episode 2 or 3, and it’s a tiny, tiny little scene where we just had a little chat where I didn’t think I was gonna be on the Nathan James. Working with Charles has been one of the great joys of this whole experience. He’s been such a mentor and friend. Having that scene together, where we just try to figure out what’s going on was really fun.”

TV GOODNESS: So good things coming. We’re excited to watch the finale. 

Christina: “Yeah. I think it’ll leave us at the edge of our seats and wanting more, trying to figure out what’s gonna go down in season 2.”

TV GOODNESS: Are you working on any other projects or do you just have some down time coming up?

Christina: “We finished shooting in March and then I did two plays. I did a play by a wonderful playwright Adam Rapp, called the Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, and then immediately following that I just finished Romeo and Juliet that I did in an outdoor summer play. So that was pretty fun. I had never played Juliet. What was nice about both of these plays was that, in the first one I played a 16-year-old girl and in the next I played Juliet who is 14 and very much in love. Both are very different from Alisha on The Last Ship. So it was nice to mix it up. Then we start shooting again soon. Right now I have a little bit of down time, which is nice, and then we’ll head back into the second season.”

Edited for space and content.

The season one finale of The Last Ship airs Sunday, August 24th at 9/8c on TNT.

VIDEO

PHOTOS

All images courtesy of Karen Ballard/TNT.