Michael Neustadter is an Avocet scientist and colleague of Dr. Rachel Scott. Unlike several members of Avocet, he did not share the views of Amy Granderson or her people.
Events of The Last Ship[]
Season 1[]
While Michael is working with Dr. Hamada in the Avocet Lab when he notices Dr. Rachel Scott has retruned with the vaccine. He begins clapping with the rest of his staff and they begin working with her to help reproduce it. Dr. Scott later asks Michael about Dr. Hamada's protocols about the Red Flu and how they don't make sense. Michael simply states that the data he was given supports Hamada's treatment plan and when Hamada arrives, Dr. Scott reveals that this treatment wouldn't prolong the lives of the patients, it would kill them. (“No Place Like Home”)
Season 2[]
Michael is still seen working in the lab while Granderson and Dr. Scott argue over Granderson's policy of actively killing the sick rather than cure them. Michael accompanies Dr. Scott when she manages to convince Granderson to let her cure some of the sick. When Dr. Scott witnesses a drug dealer selling a fake cure, Michael explains people have been taking advantage of the sick for months and that this is what they thought they were fighting against. As Michael helps Dr. Scott cure the sick, Michael explains that besides Hamada, the rest of the doctors and staff thought they were helping the sick, not killing them. When they return to Avocet they are immediately taken by Trooper Bronson to see Granderson after Dr. Quincy Tophet commits suicide after refusing to give up the primordial strain of the Red Flu. As they get into the elevator, another guard gets in and soon as the doors close he immediately knocks Bronson with a stun baton and Michael volunteers to hide him so Dr. Scott can escape. (“Unreal City”)
Michael arrives on the Nathan James with several of the Avocet doctors and staff to help package the cure. When the Nathan James docks in Norfolk, Michael prepares to board one of the planes heading to the other labs to help reproduce the cure and spread it across the world. But before he goes he thanks Dr. Scott for everything she has done him and shakes her hand before getting on the plane. It is currently unknown whether he was killed by the Immunes or managed to escape in time. (“It's Not a Rumor”)