SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for The Last Frontier Season 1, Episode 4.

Now that The Last Frontier is well into its mystery, the Apple TV show has to start putting pieces together. It’s laid out all its backstory and viewers want to understand what it all means. “American Dream,” however, results in more questions than answers. The story is still engaging—but it’s too splintered.

It’s become apparent that the individual fugitive stories that give the series a “case of the week” style backbone are the least interesting part of The Last Frontier. In “American Dream,” two mismatched fugitives team up just so one of them can deceive the other and steal her millions. The characters of Katherine Van Horn and Vivian Pike simply aren’t that compelling, and the twist that relatively harmless Vivian had a master plan all along has been done before.

This pales in comparison to the ongoing situation with Havlock, and the budding duo of Frank Remnick and Sidney Scofield. Episode 4 sets up at least some idea of what Havlock is doing—the cryptic but very valuable Archive 6 has been stolen and a courier is meeting him in Alaska—but there’s gotten to be a little too much vagueness around what his endgame actually is, most of that delivered by Sidney. It wouldn’t hurt the show to be clearer about Havlock’s ultimate mission, simply because then the audience could start to get worried about it. And “American Dream” does suffer from Dominic Cooper having less screen time, thanks to Havlock laying low after his presumed death.

Audiences do get much more information about his past, though. The continued flashbacks show how Sidney and Havlock’s affair got them in trouble—and then Sidney explains how Havlock convinced her to lean into the predicament, to the point where they staged a marriage. It’s disappointing when she says she loves him, but then follows that up with believing that he only suggested they maintain the relationship simply to gain her trust. This could just be Sidney’s objective opinion, but The Last Frontier would have more depth if it continued to play in the grey area—something that Cooper is excellent at. He’s taken antagonists in other projects and made them fully formed individuals. He’s able to do that in this episode, when Havlock shows genuine care for a dog. The flashbacks are obviously a device that’s here to say, so hopefully future ones will give him more opportunity to add detail.

A House of Dynamite star Jason Clarke continues to be the foundation of this entire series. The best part of “American Dream” is that the dynamic between Sidney and Frank continues to build in both small and massive ways. The show isn’t leaning too hard into the “fish out of water” idea on either side. An early moment in which Sidney discovers that Frank has left her proper winter gear is more a sign of his character than being played as a joke on her. And the biggest moment of the episode is undoubtedly how Sidney saves Frank’s life as Katherine tries to stab him with a syringe. It’s done with zero fanfare—audiences see the syringe and Sidney fires the shots. Frank doesn’t even say anything about it. Haley Bennett’s reaction is all viewers need. That lack of drama makes the moment more powerful, and it’s much more in line with both their characters.

The Last Frontier also works to make Frank’s family relevant to the main story again, with mixed results. On one hand, his wife Sarah reveals to her hospital’s trauma counselor Todd—played by Rookie Blue alum Noam Jenkins—that Havlock gave her a data card to hand to Frank, and she’s refused to do so because she knows what trouble that will bring. Sarah’s perspective feels totally valid. Yet on the other, Frank and Sarah’s son Luke takes drastic action to save himself and his classmate Kira from the unhinged Ike. He unbuckles Ike’s seat belt before intentionally wrecking their vehicle. Luke’s intention spares him and Kira from the “teenager in distress” trope, but now he’s on the run in the woods, and how much is that really going to add to anything?

“American Dream” is the weakest of the episodes so far, but only because it feels like it’s mostly place-setting for something else. From explaining at least one part of Havlock’s mission to putting Sidney further on Frank’s side, there are some good pieces here. But The Last Frontier is running the risk of having its characters—and its ideas—too spread out. The show would be wise to consolidate as much as it can, and keep more of its focus on the battle between Frank, Sidney and Havlock. The power of Clarke, Bennett and Cooper is this show’s strength by a mile. That dynamic is a satisfying puzzle all on its own.

The Last Frontier streams Fridays on Apple TV. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.