Below is a list of my top five favorite episodes from the ABC series, "LAST RESORT", which starred Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman:
TOP FIVE FAVORITE "LAST RESORT" (2012-2013) Episodes
1. (1.05) "Skeleton Crew" - In this tense episode, the U.S. Secretary of Defense arrives on the island of Sainte Marine to negotiate with Captain Marcus Chaplin and Lieutenant Commander Sam Kendal, the U.S.S. Colorado's commander and Executive Officer. Meanwhile, part of the sonar array protecting the island fails, allowing vessels to approach undetected; and Lieutenant Grace Shepard is forced to pilot the submarine to repair the array with the help of U.S. Navy SEAL James King and NATO Communications Facility leader Sophie Girard.
2. (1.01) "Captain" - This episode starts the series off with a bang when Captain Marcus defies protocol and demands confirmation of an order to fire four nuclear missiles at Pakistan. When the U.S. Navy retaliate with violence, Marcus is forced to seek sanctuary for the submarine's crew by taking control of the island of Sainte Marina, location of a NATO Communications facility.
3. (1.10) "Blue Water" - Kendal and King leave Sainte Marina to search for and rescue Kendal's wife, Christine, after she had been kidnapped following the events regarding an incident dealing with the failed attempt of Pakistani commandos to take control of a freighter sending the crew's family members to the island. Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy named Zheng Min arrives on Sainte Marine to offer aid and supplies to the Colorado's crew and the island's inhabitants.
4. (1.03) "Eight Bells" - In another of one of the series' tense episodes, Sainte Marine's local criminal despot Julian Serat has kidnapped three members of Chaplin's crew and offers their release in exchange for their services - namely the retrieval of a special cargo from a ship outside the island's perimeter.
5. (1.06) "Another Fine Navy Day" - Serat works with unknown attackers to dose the island's water supply with a hallucinogen called BZ, which shortly renders most of the island's population and the sub's crew unconscious. Kendal and King learn that the attackers are after the Navy SEAL team that arrived with the Colorado's crew.
Below is my ranking of the TNT Network's 2013 six-episode limited series called "MOB CITY". Inspired by John Buntin's book, "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City", the miniseries was created by Frank Darabont and stars Jon Bernthal, Milo Ventimiglia, Neal McDonough and Alexa Davalos:
"MOB CITY" (2013): Episode Ranking
1. (1.06) "Stay Down" - With ex-wife Jasmine Fontaine safely out of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Police detective Joe Teague set about making a deal with mobster Bugsy Siegel to guarantee her complete safety in this finale episode. Instead, events move toward an ending that proves to be as shocking as the beginning.
2. (1.03) "Red Light" - During a visit to Jasmine's apartment, Joe informs her that the L.A.P.D. knows about the pictures she took of Siegel's murder of Abe Greenberg on behalf of her current boyfriend, second-rate comedian Hecky Nash. This visit enables him to learn of mobster Sid Rothman's (a colleague of Siegel and Mickey Cohen) intent to bump off a potential witness to his murder of two Siegel soldiers.
3. (1.01) "A Guy Walks Into a Bar" - In this premiere episode, Joe accepts a commission to act as private bodyguard for Nash, who is blackmailing the mob with photos Siegel murdering Greenberg.
4. (1.05) "Oxpecker" - While Cohen and Rothman discovers that she is the photographer who had snapped the incriminating images of Siegel, Jasmine is forced to deal with Hecky's deadly partner in the blackmail scheme, Leslie Shermer. Meanwhile, the police's attempt to protect a witness against Rothman ends in violence and disaster, thanks to a mole within Captain William Parker's task force.
5. (1.02) "Reason to Kill a Man" - Following Hecky's death, Teague and the L.A.P.D. question Jasmine about his blackmail scheme against Siegel. Meanwhile, Rothman finds the two trigger men who had not only witnessed Greenberg's death, but also served as informants for the police. Also, Joe's fellow ex-Marine, attorney Ned Stax, warns him to get rid of incriminating evidence linking him to Jasmine.
6. (1.04) "His Banana Majesty" - Mobster Jack Dragna tries to shoehorn into Siegel's Los Angeles operations, while the latter is behind bars on suspicions of murder. And Joe is surprised by a visit to his apartment from Rothman.
