REVIEW: ‘The Last Frontier’ Episode 5 — “Arnaq”

Back on track. Mostly. After last week’s detour, The Last Frontier Episode 5, titled “Arnaq,” gets us back to the main plot. Havlock (Dominic Cooper) is front and center this week. He’s still a step ahead, still playing games with both Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) and Sidney Scofield (Haley Bennett), who still don’t really trust each other, but need each other, though their relationship is less strained than before.

It’s good to see Cooper back and actually doing things, and Clarke and Bennett are in solid form yet again. The core of The Last Frontier continues to carry the rest of the show’s sometimes questionable decisions.

This week also ratchets up the family drama. Sidney’s sister, Molly (Lara Zaluski) is dealing with their aging, forgetful mother, who may have inadvertently brought the rest of her family into the whole thing. Elsewhere, Sarah Remnick (Simone Kessell) is still understandably upset about the fact that Luke (Tait Blum) has been kidnapped by Issac Romero (Clifton Collins Jr.).

The Last Frontier Episode 5 is back on track, mostly.

She’s taking it out on everyone around her, but especially her husband, whom she seems to view as at least partially responsible because it happened on his watch. In positive news, Kira (Kya Rose) has staggered away from the crash that ended last week’s episode, and they now have some idea of where to look. Luke and Romero, though, are up to some good-ol’-fashioned-tinfoil-hat-take-down-the-government shenanigans.

Oh, and Sidney’s still trying to work through her relationship. And the CIA is back, with Jacqueline Bradford (Alfre Woodard) making a return appearance. Remember these guys? Oh, and the whole town is preparing for a celebration of Donnie’s (James McDougall) life at the local bar, which is also helping raise money to take care of his family.

The impressive thing is that this week’s episode is a positively scant 52 minutes, while it manages to navigate all of this and provide meaningful movement. Things happen! Our understanding of certain characters and their relationships changes! The disparate parts of the show come together in cool ways, and The Last Frontier Episode 5 is better off for it.

“Arnaq” is starting to bring together elements of the story and refining its story.

This episode is focused on The Last Frontier’s larger plot, but it’s also deeply concerned with family. Every story beat hits that theme in some way, whether it’s the town coming together to take care of Donnie’s family, Sidney confronting her relationship with Havlock, or Frank dealing with the fallout from both Sarah and Luke’s kidnappings.

Everyone’s tired, worn, a little frayed at the seams, and trying to hold it together. It seems to have hit Sarah the hardest, who has let the trauma from her experience and her need to get Luke home safe have made her angry and vindictive, especially towards Frank. At the episode’s end, she tells him he needs to make a choice: his family or his job.

Putting aside that that is a ludicrous thing to say to a man in charge of a manhunt for several dangerous convicts, it doesn’t do Sarah any favors. Her need to be seen, to have her family protected in the moment, is understandable, but The Last Frontier Episode 5 suffers from how ham-fisted this plotline becomes.

A ham-fisted plotline keeps The Last Frontier Episode 5 from succeeding entirely.

It’s not like Frank likes this. He’s doing the best he can in a terrible situation. But Sarah refuses to even acknowledge that possibility. Trauma does strange things to people, and this isn’t out of left field, but the way the writers are handling it feels both out of character for her based on what we’ve previously seen and is too on the nose to be emotionally effective.

Still, this is a tighter, more focused episode than last week’s, and I appreciate that The Last Frontier is finally getting on with it instead of making us watch characters drive around in cars. Whether the payoff we’re being set up for will be worth it is anyone’s guess, but at least right now, it feels like we’re back on track after spinning our wheels in the snow for a bit.

The Last Frontier Episode 5 is streaming now on Apple TV with new episodes every Friday.

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