To say that things are moving at a wildly riveting pace in AppleTV’s The Last Frontier would be an understatement, considering how far the show’s come by the second episode itself. With crime thrillers, and for a weird reason, especially the ones where rural settings are major players in the game, revelations tend to be needlessly layered. So it’s a relief to see that The Last Frontier knows how to build a mystery without stretching it ridiculously thin. I actually like that they’ve been keeping our central hero, Frank Remnick, still opaque so far. He might just be way more fascinating than even Havlock. We’ll have to wait and see.
Spoiler Alert
What did Havlock steal from the CIA?
Think about Frank. His dream of retiring has shattered with the plane that crashed in the Yokun flats. His wife has been kidnapped by a dangerous criminal the CIA is after. And he has no clue where his teenage son, Luke, is. This has to be the worst possible state Frank could be in before facing the microphone and the press angling for more in the school auditorium. I don’t have to tell you that Frank takes his duties seriously. And as the Supervisory Deputy of the place, it’s on Frank to brief the press on the accident that has infected Fairbanks overnight. As a free man, the first thing Havlock has done is disconnect Tanana Valley’s cellular and data networks. So the Marshals, the Fairbanks FD, and the State Troopers really need people and print media to spread the news before the far-reaching repercussions of the accident gets to them. It’s a state of emergency with so many federal inmates roaming free out there. But while Frank really cares about keeping the people he’s sworn to protect safe, there’s only one person on his mind–Sarah. He doesn’t know Havlock. So for all he knows, he could be a madman terrorizing his wife. You can see why Frank would have very little patience for Sidney’s silence anymore. And for what it’s worth, it really looks like Sidney’s telling him the truth about Havlock. As the person who trained him, Sidney knows that the only reason Havlock has taken Sarah hostage is because he wants to set up a give and take dynamic. She’s certain that the only reason Havlock has taken Sarah is because he wants something from Frank. There has to be a whole can of worms that Sidney isn’t too keen on popping open, even to reassure a miserable Frank. Before she can even breadcrumb him, Sidney herself needs to find out why Havlock was on that JPATS. Bradford can hardly get Sidney to comply without giving in and telling her the truth. Turns out, there’s a reason the CIA wanted to bring Havlock back home. From Bradford, Sidney finds out that Havlock broke into the agency’s servers and stole a file dubbed Archive 6. Now, that’s a big problem for the CIA, because it details the Atwater Protocol, an operation they run illegally. But that’s not the worst of it all. Archive 6 holds the names of all the targets the CIA has ever dispatched, has thought about dispatching, or plans to dispatch in the future. Bradford’s neck is on the line for this. That’d explain why she’d pick someone the agency has no fondness for to go to Alaska and bring back Havlock. The man Bradford meets in the art gallery seems to be an upper level agent, someone even Bradford answers to. When he mentions Sidney and disagrees with Bradford’s decision to trust her with the job, we find out why Sidney’s in trouble with the law. She is about to be charged with abetting Havlock. Why, at what point, we don’t know. But is that why Sidney’s desperate to pull the trigger on him? Havlock might know things about Sidney that would land her in a world of pain. But Sidney’s not alone in that. If Havlock opens up to the world, a lot of people’s lives will be destroyed. I doubt that scares him though.
Who is Henry Sickler?
Havlock is the type to hide in plain sight. Most cool villains are, really. So it shouldn’t come as a shock to Frank when he learns that Havlock’s not just been close to home, he has literally been in Frank and Sarah’s home. He’s obviously not there anymore. But the neighbor spotted him in the driveway. And he spent the night there rummaging through Frank’s things, figuring him out. There’s one more thing Havlock has gone through on his trip to Frank’s house, and that is his computer. Havlock now has access to the Marshals’ database and the JPATS’ passenger list. But the strangest thing about the whole situation is that he’s left a tape recorder with no recording on it. Huh! How weird. We better get used to weird things happening as long as Sidney’s around. It looks like Havlock did leave a tape there for Frank, and Sidney swiped it before the police got in. For a moment there, it seems that she’s going to keep this from Frank. The most baffling part of it all is that we don’t know how Sidney functions. We don’t know her values or if she cares about doing the right thing. So when she secretly gives the tape to Frank, we don’t know if she’s doing it to help him or to manipulate him. She might’ve stolen it and given it to Frank because she knew that the police would make it very difficult for him to give Havlock what he wants. I mean, it has to be a random tape, right? And there it is, Sarah, in the flesh and tied up, asking Frank to free an inmate who was on than plane, in seat 12A. The inmate in that seat was Henry Dale Sicker. We’ve seen him before. He’s the inmate who stopped a car, pulled some cash out of his hollow metal arms, and begged the driver to take him to the police. Your immediate conclusion after seeing that weird exchange should be that Henry didn’t want to die out there in the cold. He’s got no arms. It’s a mystery how he’s even made it long enough to be driven straight to the police station. But the fact that Havlock wants Frank to give him Henry in exchange for his wife changes everything. Henry’s no simple criminal. Even before Sarah mentioned Henry on the tape, Frank found it strange that he paid that woman to drive him to the police instead of hurting her and taking her truck. It’s a big help for Marshal to have Steven Cole around. Cole’s Deputy Marshal badge has gotten him Henry’s very impressive rapsheet. Here’s the sitch. Henry was a sleek money launderer and the backdoor finance guy for all kinds of criminal organizations. But Henry got a bit greedy. So he became the thief that he was in charge of keeping out, and the people he worked for tried to burn him alive. That’s when he lost both his arms. When Frank talks to Henry, he’s far from the man you’d expect him to be. He’s got no fear or respect for Frank’s type. Pigs, as he calls them. Henry knows that Havlock has Frank’s wife. But he claims to know nothing about Havlock or who he even is. Henry’s a dead end for Frank. But there has to be something about Henry that makes him special to Havlock. It’s no suprise that Sidney’s insistent on giving in to Havlock’s demand. But it’s the hardest thing for Frank to even consider failing in his duties as a Marshal. Sarah’s got that right about her husband when Havlock reassures her that he will deliver. The man she’s married to is far more loyal to the oath he took for his people than the vows he swore to. And that’s really kind of a bittersweet side to the whole community that Frank’s a part of. They’re the kind of people who, despite having two mortgages out, will feed the entire town and the police working on the case. They’re the kind of people who prioritize community over self. And it’s really too bad for Sarah that Frank thinks of her as an extension of him, and he sees the act of saving her as an act of saving himself. So even when Hutch tries to talk some sense into him, Frank still can’t even consider freeing a federal criminal. Frank has a lot to think about before making that decision. Sidney told him that Havlock is working against the CIA. And if Havlock is trying to sell Archive 6 to the highest bidder, Henry might be just the guy to find that deep pocket. Sidney doesn’t think it’s that simple with Havlock. But Frank can’t possibly shoulder the responsibility of causing nationwide mayhem on the off chance that Henry is the key.
Why Does Havlock Want The Flight Deck Recorder?
Frank’s team is low on all kinds of supplies. But they’re the kind of people who give their all in an all hands on deck situation. Cole’s already figured out why Henry has surrendered himself, and surprisingly, it’s got nothing to do with Havlock. Henry’s cut a deal with the DOJ. A shot at leaving all the dirt behind and starting anew under witness protection in exchange for information on the bad guys. If you think about it, Henry’s logic makes sense when he explains why he can’t have anything to do with Havlock. For starters, he says that he doesn’t even know Havlock. Why would he waste the deal the DOJ offered him on helping someone he doesn’t even know? But Havlock’s made sure to insure himself. He’s cooked up a dead man switch to keep the CIA on their toes. If they try to hurt him, Archive 6 goes to a bunch of people who really shouldn’t get their hands on it. Until the CIA can manage to deactivate the switch, Havlock is untouchable. You feel all the worse for Sarah watching her put up a fight against someone as wily as Havlock. She’s freed her hands. And she’s so quick even in the state she’s in that Havlock doesn’t see it coming when she stabs him. It’s really too bad that the stairs make it easy for Havlock to tackle her. She takes a pretty bad fall. And when she wakes up, she’s back where she started.
Frank’s plan to trick Havlock isn’t half bad. They’ve stuck Henry’s arms on a guy and hidden his face under a hood. Havlock’s pretty talkative over the radio as Frank follows his directions to reach the exchange spot. Sidney was right about one thing. Staying in Frank’s place for just one night was enough for Havlock to come up with a pretty accurate outline of the man. Frank might be thinking that he’s in control as he entertains Havlock’s curiosity about him. But when Havlock mentions Frank’s favorite author, Walter Coates, and his book, “Alaska,” he sounds pretty accurate in the assumptions he makes about Frank. He thinks Frank’s hiding from something. And if his conversations with Sarah in the first episode were any sign, Havlock is spot on about that. But he’s only half right about the reason Frank is in Alaska. Sure, it gives him invisibility. But Frank Remnick loves the place and the people like they’re his own. And that’s an emotion that often blurs Frank’s sense and makes him blind to obvious tricks. It’s taken him too long to realize that all this while, with all these back and forths, Havlock has been stalling them. He doesn’t want Henry after all. And as Sidney figures out a bit too late, he is after the flight deck recorder that is en route from the crash site. All Havlock wanted with the whole random bit was to keep Frank and Sidney occupied while he stopped the van and stole the memory chip from the recorder. But you’ll notice that by the time Frank and Sidney reach the spot, they see that Havlock has left people tied up but alive. He could’ve killed them. But I think our villain has a moral code. There’s another theory I’m inclined to entertain about Havlock. I don’t think he was behind the crash. Think about it. Why would he risk his life with something as terrifying as an explosion up in the sky? He could’ve gotten himself free and killed his way to the pilots. So it’s possible that the reason Havlock wanted the flight deck recorder was to figure out what exactly went wrong with the plane. But the weirdest thing in this whole situation is the visibly morose look on Sidney’s face when they see that Havlock is gone. There are signs that there might’ve been something romantic between Sidney and Havlock. When we swing back to the time when Havlock was giving a lecture on the study of resilience, and Sidney walked into the classroom and impressed him with her knowledge on plane crashes, their chemistry was off the charts. She gave him a fake name, a fake workplace, and asked him for coffee. But by the time Havlock reached the spot, he already knew that she was CIA, and he had no interest in working for a boss that rigid. Sidney was sent to recruit Havlock. And clearly, she didn’t take the first rejection to heart. What happened between them will reveal itself the closer Sidney and Havlock get to meeting each other again. But for now, Frank should be worried about his kid. Luke and Kira’s possible location popped up in his head just as he was speaking to Kira’s very worried mother. He’s sent his cop friend, Clint, to bring Luke and Kira back safely. And he’s such a sweet dad that he wants Clint to reassure Luke that he’s not mad at him. Luke’s a good kid. He’s also pretty much the best boyfriend Kira could ask for. Kira’s guilty for even feeling bad about missing the homecoming dance because of the ongoing chaos. The whole town is a crime scene. But even in all that horror, Luke has managed to put together a pretty adorable surprise for Kira yet again. But the problem with being as sweet as these kids are is that, it can also get you in trouble. Earlier in the day, Kira and Luke found a wounded man in their van. Luke and Kira have been religiously tending to his wounds without knowing that this man might be a criminal they shouldn’t nurse back to health for their own safety. The hike Clint has to take to reach the cabin is long. And the man Kira and Luke have been taking care of has come back to senses. If he’s a bad guy, Luke and Kira might be in trouble. Clint alone may not be enough to handle the situation.
In the ending of The Last Frontier episode 2, we go back to the father and son who were taken hostage by an inmate. The inmate has made friends along the way. And the only way the father can think of to save his son is to ask him to run. The child’s too young to make it anywhere in the dark, cold woods. And dad will probably be killed by the inmates once they see that the boy is gone. This is shaping up to be a pretty tragic turn of fate for Fairbanks. Worse yet, I think things are only just starting to get bad. Havlock left an ice box for Frank–the same ice box that we saw him with when he was with Sarah. We don’t get to see what’s inside the box. I just hope that it’s something that Frank can bear. We don’t know just how unhinged Havlock is. But we’re about to find out.
