The crewmembers on Last Resort find themselves in a life or death situation.
After Captain Marcus Chaplain (Andre Braugher) and XO Sam Kendal (Scott Speedman) are forced to deal with a pressing matter with the U.S. government, next-in-command Lieutenant Grace Shepard (Daisy Betts) is tasked with leading the USS Colorado on an urgent repair mission for a crucial piece of equipment. What she and the crew are about to experience, however, may give them a new lease on life.
STORY: 'Last Resort' Breakdown: Shawn Ryan Dissects Impact of Treason Charge
For Betts, delving into another side to Grace in "Skeleton Crew" as she takes on the captain role was an experience. "Switching gears to be in control and be the captain on the submarine was a huge challenge," she tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I'd seen Andre Braugher do it in the pilot and he made it look so easy, and I basically had to take on his role. The director actually said to me, 'Just be better than Andre Braugher!' "
The Australian actress revealed that she had seen bits and pieces of the episode, and was ecstatic about the way the events unfolded on the small screen. (Watch a sneak peek of Thursday's episode above.)
"I was quite happy with how it turned out. She's got so many battles to deal with, with [Chief of Boat Prosser,] Robert Patrick's character, as well as manning the mission with James King (Daniel Lissing) to fix the underwater array and at the same time, make life and death decisions," Betts says.
Adds Betts: "She's got a lot riding on her shoulders and I think she does good."
STORY: 'Last Resort': Robert Patrick on Unsettled Scores, Old Friendships and Prosser's Big Beef
If there was an episode that explained just why Grace was ranked highly among the crew, it would be this one. "You see her really thinking it out and drawing from all of her training and everything she's ever done in the past leading up to this moment," Betts says. "She really doesn't want to fail. She wants to do everybody proud, especially the captain and she does."
Even Grace and Prosser's contentious relationship will be smoothed over, at least somewhat. "He does not get off her case the whole time [during their mission] and in this craziness, she has to keep dealing with his banter and his under-the-breath comments about her," Betts says. "There are lot of great one-liners between the two. They have an understanding: They don't like each other but they can use each other to their advantage."
Looking forward a few weeks, Betts offered a small preview for the 10th episode, which she says is Prosser-heavy. "Grace is there for him because no one else is," she hints. "It takes another turn. [Their relationship] doesn't come to a head, it actually goes the opposite direction."
Though Betts alludes to the fact that Grace's temporary stay as captain is successful -- "She has a proud moment at the end, where you see she's allowing herself to feel that moment of pride" -- that moment will be trumped by a bombshell that has something to do with her admiral father.
"She finds out another huge bit of information about her father that she had no idea about," she teases.
Last Resort airs 8 p.m. Thursdays on ABC.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
