Top 50 Quotes From The Last Ship

CO: [Topside with Slattery, overlooking the city of Baltimore after finally freeing the city] So this is home.

CO: According to Sean, you're the chosen, right? I would think a ship carrying the cure, labs trying to manufacture that cure, well... that would be the greatest threat possible to him.
Michener: We are strong because of our strength. We don't need to destroy anyone else.
CO: So you believe we have the cure?
Michener: I believe you think you do.
CO: And you've seen our instructions from the President, the Secretary of the Navy?
Michener: I've seen them. They're from months ago. They're obsolete.
CO: Well, that leaves me in a bit of a bind. We have standing orders from the previous administration, orders that are consistent with national protocols. And then we have you, the new president, issuing orders that don't seem to be in the national interest at all.
Michener: The national interest is saving what's left of this country. Sean Ramsey and our movement give the country the best chance at that.
CO: Convince me. Tell me how it all happened; how you came to this point, why you're so sure of what you believe.
XO: [watching on a surveillance monitor] Is he trying to turn him or get the intel?
CO: Come on, Mr. President. You want off this ship, you're gonna have to convince me.

Niels: Help, I'm bleeding.
Tex: Apply pressure, dip shit.

XO: Maybe our prisoner can enlighten us.
CO: He conscious?
XO: Weak. But conscious.
CO: I'd say go easy on him... but I wouldn't really mean it.
XO: Aye, aye.

CO: I'm Commander Tom Chandler, United States Navy. Our ship made port this morning.
Thorwald: I know who you are. I saw you making nice with Granderson at the pier.
CO: I don't know you. At this point, I don't trust anyone I meet in this town. But I know Granderson fears and hates you, so I'm operating on the premise that my enemy's enemy can be my friend. If that's the case, we can help each other.

Lt. Carlton Burk: As long as your friend doesn't come back from the Solace and make you, my exfil plan could work, if we separate POTUS from the guards.
CO: We need to move fast, and he may need some convincing. You were wrong about his body language. He's not a hostage.
Lt. Carlton Burk: He's with them?
Lt. Ravit Bivas: There's layers in these groups. He may not know what the real agenda is.
CO: I don't know how deep in he is, but he has drunk some of the Kool-Aid, that's for sure.
Lt. Carlton Burk: Well, we got to do this quietly.
CO: If he's here on his own will, that means he has power. If he has power, he can be manipulated.

XO: [In the security room, watching and assisting his men take back the ship] Ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha!

Ava: Is my father with you? Dr. Tophet?
CO: No, he's not. But he's alive, and safe on my ship. He tried very hard to be here himself, and he wanted me to tell you he loves you very much.

CO: This is the captain speaking. We have no contact with home, and I have good reason to believe that the American government is no longer functioning. The country we all hoped we were coming back to no longer exists. We left these shores four months ago as members of the United States Navy. But now we are more than that. Now our duty is to the entire world. On board this ship is the hope... for our futures, for our families, and for all of humanity, because in that lab in our helo bay are the ingredients for a cure. And this is the safest place on Earth for our scientists to do their work, on a $3 billion piece of machinery protected by 216 sailors in the U.S. Navy. Our mission now is simple. We do whatever it takes to stay alive at sea until they find that cure. There's an unmanned food and fuel station outside Guantanamo Bay. For the moment, that is our destination. We've lost so much already. But this is the most courageous and resilient crew with whom I have ever been privileged to serve. We will come through this together, and we will prevail.

Lt. Alisha Granderson: Everyone's looking for their families. I guess I'm lucky; I already found mine. Now she's gone, and all that's left is what she became.
CMC: This situation brings out the worst in people, but it also brings out the best.
Lt. Alisha Granderson: Part of me wanted to just stay in Baltimore, try to help repair that place. But how could I, after what she did there?
CMC: Your place is here, with your shipmates.
Lt. Alisha Granderson: Kara? My own bunkmate won't even look at me. After what my mother did to her...
CMC: Well, maybe she just doesn't know how to talk about it, because I can tell you, no one here blames you.
Lt. Alisha Granderson: I know that you're supposed to say that, but we walked into that mess because the captain put his faith in me.
CMC: No one's harder on himself than the captain right now. It's not just on you, you know.

XO: [after firing on the sub with a huge machine gun from ashore and scoring a direct hit] Cheers, asshole.

CO: Do you know how I do it, Rachel? How I keep this crew together after they've risked and lost so much? You know how I'm able to ask them to travel further with me, not knowing if they'll survive? Every task we perform, every ritual we adhere to, reminds us that we haven't lost who we are. It reminds us that everything we do matters. Every decision, every action.
Dr. Rachel Scott: So your code is more important than doing what's right?
CO: You don't get to decide what's right! That's why we have codes.
Dr. Rachel Scott: I looked into the eyes of the monster who stole everything that I held dear to me.
Dr. Rachel Scott: I looked into the eyes of the monster who stole everything that I held dear to me. And I thought, I'm gonna take the lungs of the man who nearly destroyed the human race, and I'm gonna use those lungs to save it. I didn't have to kill him to make the breakthrough. I could have got exactly what I needed and spared his life. But as I witnessed that virus do to him what it did to so many, as I watched his last, noxious breath leave his body, all I could think of was that he died too quickly - It's noon

CMC: We've taken our share of hits these past few weeks. Suffered painful losses. Sometimes it feels like more than we can bear. And here we gather, united, shipmates. Every time we're called, we answer. Here I am. We enter knowing our world, the survival of our species, depends on our actions here at sea, and fully aware that we answer at our own peril. And still we answer. Here I am. I'm not gonna put a silver lining around our pain. Today we grieve. And we remember our fallen and we thank them for their service to us and to mankind. Yes, today we grieve. But, tomorrow we do press on. We continue to answer the call. Here I am.

CO: So, what can you tell me about this food warehouse?
Tex: I can tell you how to get in there, but it's gonna mean getting your hands dirty.
CO: I've dirtied them before. Tom Chandler, C.O. Nathan James, U.S. Navy.
Tex: [they shake hands] Tex Nolan. Welcome to Gitmo.

CO: Darien, I'm not going to the Med. Navy's sending us to the Arctic.
Darien: The Arctic? That's crazy.
CO: Some cold weather test on a new weapons system. It's all classified. It's happening very fast. We're gonna be at complete radio silence. No e-mails, no calls.
Ashley: For how long?
CO: Six months, maybe five.
Ashley: Figures.
CO: It's my last tour for a while. Then I'll be around the house so much you'll be sick of me, I promise.

XO: Suppose there's no way to convince you not to go?
CO: Konstantin Ruskov's a military genius. Literally wrote the book on modern naval warfare.
XO: Maybe you can ask him to sign your copy.
[Chandler rolls his eyes]
XO: Seriously, Captain, there's only one way out of this harbor. Every minute we sit here gives that asshole time to dig in.
CO: He's already dug in. Meeting him is the only way. I need to look him in the eyes.

Admiral: Do you know what was going on in the world while you were playing your war games in the Arctic? The virus spread like an invisible fire, destroying everything in its path. Bodies piled up sky high. The fear spread even quicker than the virus itself; turned country against country, brother against brother, governments against their own people. 60 million Chinese were murdered in three days like they were culling so many piglets. The world... is not worth saving.

[first lines]
Michener: This is ridiculous. You can't hold me on this ship!
Lt. Carlton Burk: I recognize and respect your position, sir, but I am under orders
Michener: This is an outrage. Where are you taking me?
Lt. Carlton Burk: Sir, please, this will be a lot easier if you don't resist.
Michener: Don't resist? I'm the president of the United States, and this is treason!
Lt. Andy Chung: [to another crew member] Did he say "president of the United States"?

CO: I know, Mike. She lied to us for four months.
XO: Yeah, and while she was talking to home every week, we didn't even get a chance to warn our families. We're just supposed to get over that?
CO: Yeah, we are.
XO: Well, she's got a long way to go before she earns my trust. That's all.
CO: What about me? There's no Navy, no infrastructure, no food or fuel supply. We don't know what we're gonna find anywhere we go, and we're gonna have to improvise every step of the way. Now, I'm gonna need my XO...
XO: To fall in line?
CO: To execute, whether or not he agrees with my decisions. Now, I'm gonna ask you one time and one time only: are you with me?
XO: I took an oath, and I still respect the chain of command.
CO: That wasn't my question.
XO: I'm with you.
[Slattery turns to leave]
XO: You really think she can do this?
CO: She's the only hope we got.

CMC: Sir, we'll take Dr. Scott back to Nathan James so she can finish her important work. Come with us.
CO: Whoever did this may have already swept through Europe. And we cannot allow them to get a foothold here in America, and we can't keep looking over our shoulder for that sub. We find them, we make it safe for Dr. Scott to finish her work. This is all the same mission now.
CMC: Fair enough. But I can see it in your eyes, sir; your desire for vengeance. So I'm asking, as a man who is never more than 509 feet from his captain, don't let this sub become your white whale.

XO: [Aboard the Nathan James, referring to the last four words of a sentence in Moby Dick, "fit for a fight"] Tom. Is the message clear?
CO: Yes, it is. We read you loud and clear.

Chief: Sir, they boarded about twenty minutes ago.
CO: How many?
Chief: At least a dozen. Now, we figured pirates. Locals from the islands desperate for food, medicine. Now, we've had those before, but these guys... these guys came out shooting. They think we have the cure.
CO: [realizing dawning on him] They were going after the wrong ship.
Chief: That was you? The folks SECNAV was talking about?
CO: That was us.
Chief: I'm Chief Mate Gonzales. They killed our ship's Master. We held down as long as we could. I'm so sorry.
CO: No, sir. I'm sorry.

XO: CIC, Bridge. Hostiles operating aboard Solace. I need a 360 surface search. They didn't come from nowhere. Find me a ship.

CO: Only one thing I hate more than seeing a submarine on sonar.
XO: What's that?
CO: *Not* seeing one.

Dr. Rachel Scott: You summoned me.
CO: I was hoping to get an update on your progress.
Dr. Rachel Scott: Well, I have a new plan. I was able to isolate the mutation in Niels' lungs that make him so contagious. And I introduced it to my vaccine. I injected myself with it about an hour ago, and then I breathed on an infected mouse, the same way that Niels used to breath on people as a way to kill them. If this works, if the mouse survives, in effect I'll be able to breathe the cure onto people.
CO: And so will anyone else that I give this new shot to, which means that we won't need any more labs, any more infrastructure, or planes. All our problems will be solved. Except one. Did you do it?
Dr. Rachel Scott: Oh, God. Are you really asking me this?
CO: That's exactly what I'm asking you.
Dr. Rachel Scott: The man who killed 5 billion people, including your wife and most of your crew's family, is dead. And now his lungs are gonna be used to save the rest of the people on this planet.
CO: Goddamn it, Rachel!
Dr. Rachel Scott: Yes, I did it! And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
CO: I saw you a half-hour before I left the ship. You told me you were on the verge of a breakthrough.
Dr. Rachel Scott: I was!
CO: But you didn't tell me you had to kill Niels to do it.
Dr. Rachel Scott: I was hoping to avoid getting blood on your hands.
CO: I already have blood on my hands. You put it there.

CO: You heard my X.O. We've taken back our ship, this building is ours, and we're telling the people of Baltimore that your killing zone at Olympia is out of business. You have two choices: a trial or a funeral.

XO: You ever hear of keelhauling?
Quincy: Can't say that I have. No.
XO: Really? Back in the mid-1800s, if a sea captain encountered a particularly problematic sailor he'd have him bound with rope, thrown over the side of the ship dragged underneath the hull. Poor bastard would bounce and scrape along the keel, barnacles and such. But when he'd come up on the other side, if he wasn't drowned or decapitated he tended to be a lot more cooperative. Keelhauling. Off the top of my head, I can think of about 200 sailors on board this ship who would like to try that out on you.
Quincy: Captain Chandler would never allow such a thing.
XO: Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not. I never found torture that effective in my line of work. I told you I was a cop, right?
Quincy: You did, yes.
XO: Yeah.See, I always found that if you just laid out the facts for a guy treated him with respect, give him a chance to redeem himself, earn something back he'd make the right choice.
Quincy: You can't force me back into the lab. I won't do it.
XO: Well, suit yourself. Remember we got a hard and fast rule on this ship: Anything that doesn't serve a purpose is gone. Ain't no fat on the bone here.

CO: I joined the Navy because of my father.
Tex: He was Navy too?
CO: Army - I did it to piss him off.

CO: I'm done playing the hero, Alex.
Alex: Bullshit! You cannot run from your destiny, Tom, because you are who you are.

Dr. Rachel Scott: I need to separate the myoinositol.
Dr. Milowsky: Are you sure you have the correct stereoisomer? I suggest we try a corn base.
Dr. Rachel Scott: Because of the phytic acid?
Dr. Milowsky: Myo is geometrically more stable, but chelation of the phytic acid could prevent mineral absorption into the vaccine structure.
Dr. Rachel Scott: Worth a shot. Bacon?
Bernie: Uh... I'm... I'm sorry, ma'am. I... I'm afraid you lost me.
Dr. Rachel Scott: At what point, exactly, did I lose you?
Bernie: About two hours ago.

XO: This cannot stand.
CMC: Sir, with all due respect...
XO: I know it's not our mission, and I don't care. We cannot leave those people like that.
CO: I counted thirteen guards. Seven in the tent compound, four in the village.
Lt. Danny Green: Two on the perimeter. At night, they might up the ante, especially if they think we might be turning around.
CMC: Gentlemen, let's keep our heads cool. This is not the mission at hand.
Lt. Danny Green: We're supposed to be saving the world. Shouldn't it be worth saving?
CMC: If we had Burk and Tex and weapons, maybe, but this? What if we don't make it back? What happens to him, hmm? What's Dr. Scott gonna do without the monkeys? What's our crew gonna do without its leader?
XO: I have daughters. You have a daughter.
CMC: Sir?
CO: We came to hunt.

Lt. Danny Green: Who's that?
CO: Jeffrey Michener, Commander in Chief.
Tex: Come again, boss?
CO: He's the president of the United States!

Lt. Alisha Granderson: Sir? This sub... are we hunting or evading it?
CO: Both.

XO: We haul ass from here, we can make it back for the Series.
CO: You don't really think the Cubs are still in it.
XO: It's the weakest division in baseball. We were six games up when we left.
CO: Yeah, that was June. And they're the Cubs.

XO: Let's take back our ship!

Tex: [Under his breath to Dr. Scott] Difficult woman.

Andrea: I went by my house. Garage door was open. Bill's car was gone. There were... clothes and suitcases everywhere, so... I figure maybe they left in a hurry. I was hoping they fled somewhere, you know, early on. but then I went to St. Vincent's to... check the records. There were piles of them, just mounds of paper sitting on a gurney.
[her voice breaking]
Andrea: It was so surreal, seeing their names there on that paper. I mean... I don't know what I expected... you know, why... why I'd be special, why I'd be spared.
[she breaks down into tears]

O'Connor: Sir, the officer of the deck sends her respects and reports the approaching hour of 12:00. All chronometers have been wound and compared, and she requests permission to strike eight bells on time.
CO: Permission granted.
O'Connor: Thank you, O'Connor.
Dr. Rachel Scott: Your crew needs your permission to tell what time it is?
CO: It's a tradition, one of the many that keep a ship running safely and maintaining good order and discipline.

CO: I told your mother we would not be here without you. That's still true.
[handing her a set of lieutenant's bars]
CO: These were given to me by the captain on the Pickney after my tour in Iraq.
Lt. Alisha Granderson: Sir, I... I... I... I can't.
CO: Those words are not spoken around here. I'm promoting you to full lieutenant for your valor, for your loyalty.
CMC: Attention to promotion. Lieutenant Foster.
Lt. Kara Foster: Raise your right hand and repeat after me. "I, Alisha M. Granderson".
Lt. Alisha Granderson: [raising her hand] I, Alisha M. Granderson.
Lt. Kara Foster: "Do solemnly swear".
Lt. Alisha Granderson: Do solemnly swear.
Lt. Kara Foster: "That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States".
Lt. Alisha Granderson: That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

[SPOILER: ]
Michener: After my son died, and my daughters started getting the symptoms, my wife, she begged me to put them out of their misery b... b... before it became...
[starting to cry]
Michener: And I did it, with my own bare hands. I smothered them in their sleep. But Hollie... she woke up. A... and she struggled. And that's the last thing she ever felt, was her father betraying her. So... what do you say about that?Hmm? How do I live with that?
CO: I've killed people. More than I can count now. Some of them were firmly aligned against us with the worst of intentions. Some of them were just caught up in the madness that all this has created and simply trying to survive. We've all done things that are hard to live with. So let this be your redemption, if it needs to be, because it might be mine.

XO: Okay. Here's the plan, boys. Win.
Tex: Good plan.

Sasha: Ever notice how that all the women here have names that end in A?
Lt. Danny Green: What?
Sasha: Kara, Aleisha, Sasha, Azima.
SCPO: Andrea.
Sasha: Commander Grenna, there you go!
Lt. Danny Green: So what?
Sasha: So don't you think that's a little strange?
Lt. Alisha Granderson: I think that all of you are a little strange.

Lt. Carlton Burk: Sir, is that really the president?
CO: Well, if everyone in the bunker's really dead, yeah, he was next in line.
Lt. Ravit Bivas: Looks to me like he's playing a part. His body language, expression, the way the two guys are up against him. He's being held against his will.
Lt. Carlton Burk: If they have him, and they can somehow piece the country together, get communications up, they'll control everything; the Federal Reserve, the military.
CO: Well, that's not gonna happen. One way or another, we're getting our Commander in Chief out of here.

Lt. Alisha Granderson: I am not worried. First sign you're not on our side, I will kill you myself.

CO: I imagine you've been wondering how we're gonna handle CIC now.
Lt. Kara Foster: We'll need a new T.A.O. to replace Commander Barker.
CO: You up for it?
Lt. Kara Foster: Absolutely, sir.
CO: How are you feeling physically?
Lt. Kara Foster: Fine. No side effects whatsoever.
CO: Old rules say you can't even be at sea after twenty weeks.
Lt. Kara Foster: I understand. If you think it'll be a problem, Kirkland can do the job. He's ready.
CO: You're more qualified. That still wins the day. But I'm gonna expect more from you.
Lt. Kara Foster: I won't let you down, sir.

Dr. Rachel Scott: Master Chief, any word?
CMC: [shaking his head no] Three teams on an undercover mission, wandering the swamps of central Florida, led by commanding officer, alone and unafraid. Ma'am, I love the Navy, but I don't know if I'll ever get used to this. I just pray they come back safe, and we get this vendetta behind us.
Dr. Rachel Scott: They'll make it back. They always do.

Thorwald: Be safe.
CO: I didn't come all this way to die in Baltimore.

Lt. Carlton Burk: No sign of Danny or Tex.
CO: Armed guards every hundred yards. Barbed wire fences, roving sentries.
Lt. Carlton Burk: It's like a fortress.
CO: Or a prison.

Juan: The insane fear nothing.

CO: Took a cruise by the mess decks. Pretty hot topic of conversation why the president hasn't made an appearance. I said he was being briefed. That story won't hold after morning.
CMC: Agreed, sir.
CO: I think I blew it. Trapping him like that. Got the intel. Might've lost the man.
CMC: The Ramseys offered a narrative that made his tragedy something he could live with. You've got to gain his trust, sir. Then you'll need a new narrative that's stronger than theirs.