"The Blacklist" Creator Jon Bokenkamp Heads North with Apple TV+’s "The Last Frontier"
In Apple TV+’s tense new thriller The Last Frontier, Jason Clarke stars as Frank Remnick, the lone U.S. marshal tasked with keeping order in the remote wilderness of Alaska. His quiet life and his already fragile marriage are upended when a prison transport plane crashes nearby, releasing dozens of violent inmates into the unforgiving landscape. As Frank races to recapture them, he uncovers evidence of a deeper conspiracy that could threaten far more than his small town. Created by The Blacklist’s Jon Bokenkamp and Richard D’Ovidio, the ten-episode series blends survival drama, mystery, and psychological tension against one of the harshest backdrops on Earth.
At a recent TCA press conference, Clarke and his co-stars — Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, and Simone Kessell — joined executive producer and co-creator Jon Bokenkamp to discuss the show’s themes of isolation, endurance, and human complexity.
For Clarke, Alaska itself became one of the show’s most formidable characters. He described the setting as “extraordinary," saying the vast, untamed wilderness reflects the emotional journey of the series. “You go to live that life to get back to yourself," he said, noting that isolation in such remote places forges strong communities out of necessity. “It’s got the solitude, the wildness, the danger, and as Frank does in the series, you start longing for that connection to something real."
Dominic Cooper agreed, calling the environment both humbling and awe-inspiring. “It makes the idea of what we’re all doing on this planet so minuscule," he said. “You’re in this marvelous beauty, this incredible environment that we have for free, and that’s at the heart of this piece of work."
The show’s emotional core lies in Frank’s marriage to Sarah, played by Simone Kessell. Kessell said she was drawn to how grounded their relationship felt compared to the glossy depictions of love often seen on television. “It’s not candy-coated," she explained. “I liked that it felt like a real, long marriage, one with layers of history that the audience can sense even before it’s revealed."
Clarke added that the couple’s relationship reflects a period of transition for both characters. “There’s change going on," he said. “We’ve moved home for a number of reasons. Frank’s talking about retirement and doing things as a couple again, but then everything gets put under stress. You realize there are things in the closet of the marriage that have been looked over."
Haley Bennett’s character, Sidney Scofield, brings an outsider’s perspective to the icy Alaskan world. “She’s not of this world," Bennett said. “She’s transported to Alaska, where she has to do damage control, and she’s really a fish out of water. That forces her to confront some of her demons." Bennett laughed about being asked to work with a dialect coach after spending years in the UK. “Jon came up to me and said, ‘Do you want to work with Jason and Dom’s dialect coach?’ And I said, ‘Why would I do that? I’m American!’ He just looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, but this character is really American.’"
Between the extreme cold and the physically demanding action sequences, the cast had plenty to adapt to. “We all had to train — fight sequences, horses, even shooting in minus twenty-five," Clarke recalled. “You spend the time to be able to do it and then execute it under pressure."
Cooper’s Levi Hartman is one of the show’s most enigmatic figures, whose motives blur the line between villain and hero. “We were constantly discussing where we were in the story," Cooper said. “You need him to be likable, but what he’s doing is monstrous. He’s beyond anything I truly understand as being a human being." He praised Apple for giving the creative team freedom to take risks: “Apple was wonderful in not getting too involved. We were really given freedom… It was a huge gift and an extraordinary opportunity."
As the series’ co-creator, Jon Bokenkamp brought lessons learned from The Blacklist but aimed for something more playful. “I’m a sucker for procedural," he admitted. “By the end of each episode, you’re left with both a cliffhanger and real resolution within a larger conspiracy." While The Blacklist thrived on shadowy intrigue, The Last Frontier is, in his words, a “cheeseburger" — something satisfying, straightforward, and a bit of escapist fun. “It’s not meant to be a stark reflection of what’s happening in the world," he said. “This is a cheeseburger, something to let people tune in and forget about the craziness for a while."
That sensibility extends even to the show’s opening credits, which use a reinterpretation of Glen Campbell’s “Classical Gas." “It’s not trying to be mysterious or spooky," Bokenkamp explained. “It’s playful, a little bit of a throwback. Sometimes we’ve lost that sense of fun, and this show brings some of it back."
The Last Frontier premieres today on Apple TV+, with the first two episodes of its ten-part season debuting together.