When Kendal also questions the orders and asks for confirmation, the vessel is fired upon by the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN-786).

When a pair of B-1 bombers is sent to attack the submarine and island, Chaplin launches a Trident nuclear missile towards Washington, D.C., to impress upon the national leadership that he's serious.

[5] As the series progresses, Chaplin finds himself having to become a reluctant ally with China, while trying to keep his own crew, led by Chief of the Boat Joseph Prosser (Robert Patrick), from rebelling against him.

The series also follows the efforts of Kylie Sinclair (Autumn Reeser), a weapons designer back home who allies with Christine Kendal (Jessy Schram), the wife of the Colorado's XO, to discern the truth behind the nuclear attack on Pakistan and the Colorado's fugitive status.

An ongoing subplot involves a Navy SEAL named James King (Daniel Lissing) who, wracked with guilt over his role in the events leading to the nuking of Pakistan, cultivates a romance with one of the island's residents (Dichen Lachman) while surreptitiously aiding the XO.

The series concludes with a series of mutinies, ending with the Colorado destroyed with Chaplin still on board, the surviving crew returning home to the United States, the President assassinated, and the full story made public when Kylie Sinclair arranges for proof of the president and his administration's traitorous activities to be handed over to the press.

The website's critical consensus is, "Last Resort is a top-notch conspiracy thriller, with cinema-quality production and riveting action sequences.