Apple TV+ ‘The Last Frontier’ Episode 3 Review - A Sharp Turn in the Cold

After watching “Country as F**k,” I was more invested in this cat-and-mouse chase than I had been, despite a few things rattling a bit too much under the hood. The show is really starting to settle into itself; now the cold wilderness of Alaska is less a setting and more of an enemy, pushing every character’s resolve to crack. In this third hour, the writers put more emphasis on emotional stakes and twisted alliances rather than just chasing a higher body count or explosions. This shift is what, for me, makes the show compelling and keeps me coming back for more.

What is effective here is how the stakes change. We had an idea that Havlock was a force, but in this episode, his plans deepen. Not only is he acting from the shadows of the chaos, but he is also manipulating the chaos, enticing Frank to play along with the hostage gambit and distracting him with separate diversions. The script makes a smart choice by having Havlock acting; he is not just reacting. By doing this, Frank and Sidney are shifting from being the hunters to being reactive, where they have to guess which thread to follow next. This constant tension with no clarity as to who is in control, that's the show’s draw.

Now that Frank is not only the hard-nosed lawman but a man whose domestic life is under siege, Jason Clarke’s performance has even more weight. When he approaches lead after lead with an outward calm while hiding some desperation inside, these scenes felt earned. As Sarah, Simone Kessell continues to demonstrate she is not simply a damsel in distress; in flash moments, she is resisting, clawing, pushing, fighting. This gives her a dimension that maintains some agency and turns the hostage plot into something less passive and more personal. Sidney, Haley Bennett, also has something with which to play: she is at times sly, at times conflicted, navigating the overlapping obligations to her agency, to justice, and then to what she suspects Havlock really wants. The three leads now feel entangled in a web of suspicion, each with secrets and questions of trust.

This episode has visual and directional strength. The winter light looks and feels authentic. The cinematography emphasizes textures: the air is a cloudy breath, the ground is frozen, the jackets are damp. We are reminded plenty of times that mistakes come at the cost of exposure. While there are suspensively tense moments in the episode that are constructed through stillness, where a deliberate look or pause carries greater weight than rounds loosed, when the show does move in, it scores its blows. The choreography of the smaller fights, hand-to-hand and for cover, is all feeling tough and grounded. The direction also pushes the narrative not to let every moment become a spectacle: it creates space for silence, for doubt, for time to think.

That said, I am in a state of hesitancy. For one, the pace feels uneven in places. The episode opens with momentum and dives into hostage/counter-hostage sequences, but then stops dead in midsection narration stretches. Some of those conversations are especially with superiors in a bureaucratic agency like the CIA, pulling you out of that wildness the show has built. They really do need to happen to find the conspiracy, but perhaps could be tightened up. I would find myself a little impatient in a couple of stretches, as I waited for the show to strap back into an assault narrative, the forward momentum.

Another nagging problem is that a few of the turns feel a bit telegraphed. The way one character flips their loyalties or tests another character's motives is pretty predictable. This far into the season, you want more surprises than just familiar thriller beats. And while the show balances moral ambiguity mostly well, there are moments when someone delivers a line too bluntly, more of a speech than an action. And this can pull you away from the illusion, nudging the audience to be reminded there is an author behind the act.

Also, the ensemble cast outside of the leads suffers in comparison. Some of the side characters (law enforcement contacts, deputies, lower-level agents) don't have much to do other than appear and nod. With this many characters and a cast that size, every additional character should be worth the time we've invested in watching them, but here, a couple feel less than interesting; there, perhaps helpful, but purposeless. If the show can continue to juggle this many names (new characters seem to be brought in again and again), eventually the emotion of the characters will wash out. I'd prefer a few characters with a depth of story, rather than a few characters thrashed in every episode.

Nonetheless, on the whole, "Country as F**k" pushes the narrative in ways that shock and disturb. By episode three, the show has to demonstrate that it has something to offer beyond its violence and conspiratorial structures, and it manages to do so by leaning harder on fractures and fissures in relationships. The credits rolled with Frank reaching deeper, Sidney doubling down, and Havlock pushing both of them into corners. There were moments where I found myself leaning forward on the couch, wondering which lie is real and which trust is a setup.

What is keeping me at the edge of my seat with this show is the sense of weight: a cold setting, personal stakes, and the idea that everyone is exposed in one way or another. If it can tighten up its pacing and sharpen a few arcs, I do believe it can break the mold of a generic thriller. "Country as F**k" is not perfect, but it signals the moment where Last Frontier becomes more than just a survival chase and starts to reveal the contours of a more complicated game. I’ll watch next week to see what cracks develop next.

Final Score- [7/10]