The Last Ship Channels The Odyssey for Season 4

The Last Ship is heading to the Mediterranean for Season 4 and tapping into Homer's classic The Odyssey.

Executive producer Steven Kane claimed at the show's Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con panel that The Odyssey is the greatest sea story ever told, so The Last Ship will be taking on the epic tale in its own way -- including jumping around many different locations on a mission to find a seed that can stop the famine affecting the entire world.

"We go to Greece, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Spain -- it's fun," he said. "The virus is no longer affecting human beings. It jumps back a kingdom to where it comes from to plants...basically to all the food crops that people need to survive."

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The crew of the James will be looking for a primordial seed that's immune to the virus in hopes of being able to grow food and save the planet. Meanwhile, Chandler (Eric Dane) is fight clubbing his way around the Mediterranean. The sneak peek shown before the panel featured Chandler beating a man to death in order to gain favor with a mysterious new villain played by Twilight grad Jackson Rathbone.

"Our guys come across various bad guys. Jackson Rathbone came to play a really delicious villain for us," Kane announced. "He's kind of like a Greek mafia guy."

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If the sneak peek scene is any indication, Rathbone's villain is going to be a severe test for Chandler, who is finally starting to get his head on straight after exiling himself from his ship and his crew at the end of last season.

"It's been a very long hiatus for him. We find him in the Mediterranean which is where I probably would have gone," Dane joked at the panel. "Chandler is probably in a better place now. I really think that Greece was good for him and I wish he had spent more of the season there."

The Last Ship Season 4 kicks off with a two-hour premiere on Aug. 20 at 9/8c on TNT.