Blacklist Creator Talks His New Apple TV+ Thriller Series The Last Frontier
Jon Bokenkamp is back with another pulse-pounding show in Apple TV+’s The Last Frontier. After first breaking out with the Angelina Jolie-led adaptation of Taking Lives, Bokenkamp later became known for creating the NBC thriller series The Blacklistand serving as co-showrunner for its first eight seasons, while also co-creating its short-lived spinoff, Redemption.
The Last Frontier serves as Bokenkamp’s first series since The Blacklist ended, telling the story of U.S. Marshal Frank Remnick, who lives a somewhat quiet life with his wife in a small town on the outskirts of Alaska. Haunted by a past tragedy, Remnick is suddenly thrust into a race against the clock when a plane crashes and leads to numerous prison fugitives escaping, threatening the safety of everyone nearby.
Bokenkamp has assembled a star-studded roster for The Last Frontier‘s cast, with Oppenheimer‘s Jason Clarke leading the charge as Frank Remnick alongside Yellowjackets‘ Simone Kessell as his wife, Sarah, Preacher‘s Dominic Cooper, Magazine Dreams‘ Haley Bennett and Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard. Behind the camera, the show also has frequent collaborator Richard D’Ovidio as a co-creator, as well as Extraction helmer Sam Hargrave onboard as the pilot’s director and executive producer.
In honor of the show’s premiere, ScreenRant interviewed Jon Bokenkamp and Jason Clarke to discuss The Last Frontier. The creator opened up about making the leap from network TV to streaming, the show’s epic one-take opening and how the series is a spiritual successor to The Blacklist. The star, meanwhile, warmly talked reuniting with longtime friend Kessell and their characters’ dynamic.
Bokenkamp Brought 1 Key Lesson From The Blacklist Going Into The Last Frontier
Jason Clarke as Frank looking up at the board of fugitive prisoners in The Last Frontier
With it not only marking Bokenkamp’s first major TV project since stepping down from the NBC thriller, The Last Frontier also serves as the creator’s first streaming effort after The Blacklist‘s network run. In reflecting on this transition, one of the main things Bokenkamp felt was important to bring over from the James Spader-led series is “collaboration“, having gone in with a “trial by fire” after making his TV debut on the prior show.
Denoting that one of The Blacklist‘s ultimate goals was “trying to top the twist or the idea” set up in prior episodes or seasons, Bokenkamp recalls this often led to that show embracing anything, “even if it feels ridiculous“, as long as they could “ground that“. This, in turn, is where The Last Frontier proves to be something of “a relative” to the NBC thriller, but points out that while there is “a little bit of a case-of-the-week” structure, it’s still “not a procedural“.
“We try to have each episode feel like its own movie,” Bokenkamp explained. “Each episode sort of features one of the inmates, so while we have that episodic feel, we’ve also got a longer overarching mystery that takes place over the course of the season. So that hybrid, I think, is a fun space, and I think Blacklist fans will recognize and like that.“
I think we’re still trying to understand what the format is, what streaming is.
In comparing streaming to network TV, in particular, Bokenkamp went on to share his perspective that the former is still in flux, particularly from a viewer’s standpoint, in which he’s often wondering, “Is an algorithm telling me what to watch?” or is he himself “finding stuff” through his own browsing and word of mouth from others.
The primary thing the creator finds himself looking for in any show is something that “excites me” and that he feels has something “to surprise me” within its structure, as much as what “makes me laugh“. This, in turn, is part of what inspired the creation of The Last Frontier‘s opening one-take sequence, which has “spectacular action“, but is still set to Elvis Presley’s coverage of “Unchained Melody”. In short, a sequence designed to “tell you right up front, ‘This is a very specific tone, and it’s going to be fun.’“.
One of the key differences between the two fields, in Bokenkamp’s eyes, is how a show can adjust to audience reactions. With network TV, creators have “an opportunity to see what people are reacting to” as a season is still in production, whereas with streaming, “this is all produced and finished“. Ultimately, though, Bokenkamp says the best philosophy is “follow your gut“, and praised Apple TV+ for being “fantastic” in allowing him and his Last Frontier team to do so.
“We’ve had more time, and we have more resources,” Bokenkamp explained. “We have this crazy idea of what this show is. They say, ‘Go do something big and fun,’ and they backed it up. They delivered and let us do a really fun, unique, and I think different, show for the service. It’s a different kind of show for Apple, and I hope people find it.“
The Last Frontier Will Get Crazier After Its One-Shot Opening
Sam Hargrave as a prisoner coming out of the crashed plane in The Last Frontier
Where The Blacklist opened with Spader’s Raymond Reddington casually strolling into the FBI to turn himself in, The Last Frontier goes a little bigger. The Apple TV+ series kicks off with an all-out brawl breaking out on the prison transport plane, all of which is also shot in a one-take method, true to form for the episode’s director, Sam Hargrave.
On the page, however, Bokenkamp reveals that the series opener was envisioned slightly differently. Explaining that he had “maybe a half or a page of description“, he and co-creator Richard D’Ovidio had instead described the breakout as “like a zombie apocalypse“, with the group of inmates “coming out of the woods” in a terrifying fashion.
It’s this incredible ballet that is choreographed, and I was just a spectator at that point.
This is where Extraction vet Hargrave came in, with Bokenkamp praising the director as being “a guy who has this amazing technical skill of pulling off these crazy oners“, approaching the creator with the idea of “let’s try this” for the show’s opening. This led him and D’Ovidio to “stand back” and let Hargrave and his stunt team “do their work“.
What Else We Learned About The Last Frontier From Jason Clarke
ScreenRant: Your scene partner for a lot of this series, Simone Kessel. I was reading that you guys are longtime friends.
Jason Clarke: Yeah, Kessie was a lovely young lady from New Zealand that came over early on in her career when we were all doing theater in Sydney. Her husband is one of my best friends.
ScreenRant: And you two obviously play a married couple in this series with a bit of friction in their marriage. We’ll get into spoiler territory in the back half of this interview. But to start, how did that inherent relationship that you two have offscreen help develop that dynamic onscreen?
Jason Clarke: Well, Simone’s not scared to go there with me. She’s feisty, she’s strong, she’s everything the part needed. She’s a woman that has put Frank together, and we’ve gone back home to Alaska together, and we’re able to start our relationship well into, say, our 20-year relationship, which is what Kessie and I have. And then, without having to demonstrate that we’re together, we felt like there was a level of comfortability and a level of push with each other that we both enjoyed very much.
The Last Frontier premieres on Apple TV+ on October 10, followed by new episodes every Friday.
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