An Underrated Military Action Tv Show Is Dominating Netflix's Top Charts

TNT

There was a time when a show that ran for five seasons might have been well-remembered. But we are in the "tyranny of choice" age, wherein we stumble through mountains of "content" searching for a path through the ever-expanding mediascape. That probably has something to do with why you've never heard of TNT's "The Last Ship" — that, and the fact it was on TNT. Now, however, is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with this overlooked action drama series, because it's currently dominating the Netflix charts.

"The Last Ship" has a premise that, back in 2014, probably seemed entirely fantastical. It's set in the aftermath of a global pandemic which has wiped out more than 80% of the world's population. The titular vessel is the USS Nathan James, a Navy destroyer with a crew of 218 that suddenly find themselves among the few human survivors of the virus. Eric Dane plays the ship's commanding officer, Tom Chandler, who's thrust into the position of having to save humanity from extinction. Despite orders to return to port, Chandler decides to remain at sea, where he tasks virologist Dr. Rachel Scott (Rhona Mitra) with developing a vaccine.

"The Last Ship" is loosely based on William Brinkley's 1988 novel of the same name and benefits from the executive producer talents of none other than the explosion-obsessed Michael Bay. Between 2014 and 2018, the show ran for five seasons, earning solid reviews and, according to a 2014 report from TV By The Numbers, becoming a "blockbuster hit in its first season, not only among total viewers but also among key adult demos." Despite all this, "The Last Ship" became submerged beneath the film and TV tide. Now, however, it's been dredged up, and Netflix users are evidently thrilled at the opportunity to explore it.

TNT

"The Last Ship" premiered on TNT in June 2014 and enjoyed consistently good ratings before wrapping up in November 2018. It also garnered respectable reviews, with Season 2 earning itself an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times praised the "expertly rendered combat scenes and vivid depictions of danger" for providing "excitement and suspense." Likewise, Nick Venable of CinemaBlend found the show to be "more worthy of your time than lots of recent big screen offerings."

"The Last Ship" debuted in the shadow of "The Walking Dead" and around the same time as HBO's "The Leftovers," capitalizing on a post-apocalyptic TV trend. But it had some of that Michael Bay action scene magic to help differentiate it. The battle sequences in the show really did give movies a run for their money at the time, with Stanley going on to describe them as "genuinely thrilling, even in an age of IMAX in 3-D and 'Call of Duty' video games."

That's surely part of the reason Netflix subscribers have sent "The Last Ship" to the top of the charts. Per streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, the show hit the streamer on June 22, 2026 and debuted in the number three spot on the United States' most-watched TV chart the following day. At the time of writing, "The Last Ship" has risen to number two, and could soon take the top spot. To do so, it will have to sink Britt Lower's Harlan Coben Netflix miniseries "I Will Find You," which has been enjoying massive success since its June 18, 2026 release. Still, if the crew of the USS Nathan James can survive a global pandemic for five seasons, it shouldn't be too big of a task.