The Last Frontier, on Apple TV+

Alaska would be a terrible state to be a fugitive in. The weather is cold, gun ownership is high, and probably one out of every ten residents has their own reality TV show. Nevertheless, that is exactly where a special prison transport plane crashes. It will be Federal Marshal Frank Remnick’s job to coordinate the massive manhunts. In addition to the FBI, he has the dubious help of a scandal-tarred CIA officer thrust upon him as well in co-creators Jon Bokenkamp & Richard D’Ovidio’s ten-episode The Last Frontier, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

For some reason, the transport was diverted to Alalska, where a mystery prisoner, later identified by the codename “Havlock” was loaded Hannibal Lecter-style. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. Remnick and his men have no idea regarding any of this when the land to investigate the remote crash-site, which soon becomes the scene of an ambush. Frankly, this might be one of the most spectacular and brutal action sequences ever filmed for television (directed with verve by Sam Hargrave).

Barely surviving, Remnick quarterbacks the search, ordering a statewide lockdown. He intuitively distrusts Sidney Scofield, who initially won’t even admit her CIA credentials. Eventually, she concedes she was reluctantly dispatched by the corrupt Deputy Director Bradford, because she was Havlock’s handler back when he was an asset, not so long ago. Obviously, she is supposed to make the problem go away, but Havlock always seems to be two steps ahead, especially when he kidnaps Remnick’s wife Sarah, an ER nurse treating the recovered survivors.

Honestly, Last Frontier starts off amazingly, but eventually deflates into a stagnant puddle. Beyond the super-charged action set pieces, the early episodes have a lot of insight into Alaskans’ “frontier” identity and what community means up there. At one point, Remnick’s deputy Hutch, memorably portrayed by Dallas Goldtooth, explains to a suspect that Alaska is hard country, so if you aren’t connected to a wider community you will die up there. Likewise, Remnick utterly shames Scofield for her elitist Beltway snobbery.

Unfortunately, later episodes embrace juvenile “deep state” paranoia and a rather cynical “ends justify the means” approach to problem-solving. Frankly, Bokenkamp and D’Ovidio end up glossing over a whole lot of dead law enforcement officers and innocent civilians, just because “CIA bad.”

There is also a gross imbalance between the two co-leads. Jason Clarke is gritty and forceful as Remnick, but also appealingly grounded and almost “down home.’ In contrast, Hayley Bennett’s shallow, one-note charisma- and energy-challenged portrayal of Scofield probably does more than any of the stilted, conspiratorial agency backstabbing to undermine confidence in the CIA. However, there is a lot of good, earthy work from those portraying Alaskans, including Goldtooth and Simone Kessell, as Sarah Remnick.

The colorful rogues’ gallery of escapees not related to Havlock are also massively creepy, especially Damian Young, as the Doctor Death figure and Katherine Van Horn as a disturbingly nasty black widow. Arguably, Last Frontier would have been much more successful if Bokenkamp and D’Ovidio had simply concentrated on the “Con Air in Alaska” elements and forgone trying to score polemical points against the CIA.

After all, in reality, where some of us still live, no rival Federal agents would ever sit still for CIA involvement in a domestic operation. Yes, The Hunting Party is just as stupid in this respect. Honestly, if you don’t think Federal agencies jealousy guard their jurisdictions; you have never spent ten seconds in DC.

Bokenkamp and D’Ovidio fare poorly when it comes to Washington. Yet, they did a nice job depicting Alaska (but filmed in Quebec and Alberta, presumably for tax reasons). There are decent thrills, including a helicopter sequence cribbed from the Mission Impossible franchise, but the silly writing ultimately sabotages Clarke and the rest of the cast. The pilot episode, “Blues Skies” is highly recommended, but not those that follow, due to diminishing marginal returns, when The Last Frontier starts streaming today (10/10) on Apple TV+.