The Last Frontier - Full Season Recap & Review

Apple TV had a busy fall release lineup, dropping three major series. Among them is The Last Frontier, a manhunt thriller set in the Alaskan wilderness.

Recap

The Last Frontier opens with a high-stakes disaster: a prisoner transport plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, releasing some of the most dangerous criminals into one of the most hostile environments imaginable. What initially looks like an accident quickly reveals itself as something far more deliberate — and far more dangerous.

Local U.S. Marshal Frank Remnick is leading the manhunt, navigating not only the brutal terrain but also an increasingly complicated web of secrets surrounding the crash. Helping with navigating those secrets is CIA agent Sidney Scofield. Because, yes, the CIA added one of their ex-operatives, code-named Havlock, to the federal transport flight, and he set up a 72-hour dead man’s switch; if he dies or doesn’t enter the proper password, the encrypted Archive 6 would be automatically released, exposing CIA secrets tied to the Atwater Protocol.

The series presents itself like a serial, with each episode following the capture of one, sometimes more, escaped convict. Then, during the course of capturing the convict of the week, they discover more information about Havlock and the Archive 6 he downloaded.

Frank’s personal life gets involved in the series - first, his son decides to skip school with his girlfriend before a lockdown is established at the school, to go to a cabin out of town. Doing so, they will get entangled with one of the convicts over a couple of episodes. Then, Frank’s wife gets kidnapped by Havlock himself as a way to somehow create a connection with Frank.

We realize soon enough that Frank has things to hide on his own. Through a flashback sequence, we find out that while he was still stationed in Chicago, his daughter was killed in a drive-by shooting. His own past improper actions caused the botched hit on him.

Finally, little by little, we get to learn the backstory between Scofield and Havlock and the reason why Havlock decided to turncoat on the CIA, all done via flashback spread out in the different episodes of the seasons.

Highlights / Strengths

The concept of the series—prison transport crashing, creating a manhunt—  is strong, and is perfect for a villain of the week, while slowly uncovering the overall arc series - in this case, the potential public scandal.

The Alaskan setting is also a nice novelty and is used effectively throughout the season. It differentiates the series from being any other generic procedural show.

Lastly, having an imperfect hero isn’t anything new under the sun, but in this case, it works in part due to Jason Clarke’s lead. Episode 7, revealing the drive-by shooting, is probably my favourite episode exactly due to Jason Clarke’s emotional performance.

Other standout episodes are the one with the fugitive Dr. Wigg (episode 6), and the one with the two female convicts, Kitty and Vivian (episode 4).

Critique

As much as I can understand that they had to keep the budget in check, there are a few sequences in different episodes where the CGI is subpar, to the point of being a distraction - the plane crash sequence, the dangling buggy cart, or during the outside of the dam sequence. Thankfully, they are short, and one can get past those sequences.

As much as I enjoy the relatively brisk pacing and the idea of each episode centering on its own “villain of the week” (one or more escaped convicts), I find it frustrating how easily these threats are neutralized or recaptured. The structure works on paper, but the resolutions often feel too convenient - even if they ultimately serve to move the larger Havlock plot forward.

Lastly, and it might be a big one as it somewhat goes into Havlock’s motive, but the flashback sequences exploring Scofield and Havlock’s past are the low point of the series as they are easy to get “lost” in; you know there is a point to them, but you just don’t know why it’s useful to the story.

Acting

Third star : Dallas Goldtooth as Hutch

Second star : Dominic Cooper as Levi “Havlock” Hartman

First star : Jason Clarke as Frank Remnick

Final Thoughts

The creator of the excellent series The Blacklist, Jon Bokenkamp, is also the co-creator of this show.  You can definitely sense the similarities in how the story arcs develop throughout the season.  While it may not be as good, it’s still very entertaining and definitely worth your time.

Does it deserve a second season?  Yes, despite the season’s very long conclusion, it would have deserved one. Unfortunately, reports suggest Apple canceled the show.

What do you think? Give your thoughts in the comments section.