Showrunner Steven Kane Reveals The Unused Epilogue From The Series Finale Of The Last Ship

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains SPOILERS regarding the series finale of ‘The Last Ship’ so if you haven’t seen it yet, you may wish to turn back.

After five seasons on TNT, ‘The Last Ship’ took its final voyage on November 11.  Fans were probably satisfied by the ending, when Captain Tom Chandler (Eric Dane) emerged alive after ramming the Nathan James into an enemy ship.  Before surfacing, Chandler went on a dream-like stroll through the halls of the Nathan James, visiting with former cast members, before summoning the will to live.

But according to showrunner Steven Kane, originally, there were plans to craft an epilogue that would have flashed forward to show the fates of the characters that were still alive.  As Kane revealed to TV Line, “Part of me likes the fact that it ends the way it did, because it lets you kind of get stuck in the energy of the show.  But to be truthful, when we first broke the episode I had a full epilogue. We couldn’t afford to shoot it, but I can tell you what it was.”

He went on to explain the details of this planned epilogue and that it involved Jamie Gray Hyder’s reporter character, Nina Garside, completing her film, involving interviews with the various characters.  It would have been revealed that Tom and Sasha had gotten together and may have bought that boat.  Kane stated that the epilogue felt “too pat,” but he revealed:

“I chose not to include it in the script because I’d rather leave the future for our characters open for everyone to come up with their own version.  Your vision of Tom and Sasha — did they ever get that sailboat?… and Miller — do things work out with his new girlfriend?… and Danny/Kara — does the family reunite?… and Slattery and Jeter — do they stay with the Navy or build new lives for themselves?… is ultimately more important than what I have to say about them. And I like the idea of keeping their story alive and unfinished, even though the prevailing feeling I take away from the finale is hope. So I hope everyone’s doing great, and I have a good feeling they are.”

Were you a fan of TNT’s ‘The Last Ship’?  Are you happy with the way that it ended, or would you have preferred a more complete ending?