Apple TV’s The Last Frontier was supposed to have a very different ending, details explored 

Apple TV’s The Last Frontier was earlier supposed to have a different ending, per reports. Originally, the creators of The Last Frontier wanted a big twist by the end. The makers wanted to unveil that there’s no one behind the plane crash but Sydney Scofield. However, the show changed it as it was sounding like a classic TV trick, a cheap cliffhanger to make viewers return to it for season 2.

During the last minute, they took a call to change the climax for good. They decided to move this twist to episode 7 or 8 for an early reveal, and the last 2 to 3 episodes then showed the aftermath of the incident.

Read on to know why The Last Frontier changed its ending.

Here is why Apple TV's The Last Frontier changed the ending of its season 1

As mentioned, The Last Frontier originally intended to end season 1 with the cliffhanger reveal that Sydney Scofield was behind the plane crash. Whatever the audience understood up to that point was wrong and merely a cover for the deadly mission. The reveal was meant to be shocking for the viewers, as Scofield, the CIA operative, was all the time seen helping with the investigation.

Showrunner Jon Bokenkamp explained, while speaking with SlashFilm, that they felt that the original ending would be gimmicky:

“Oh my god, she was behind all of this? But then, as a TV show, that felt like it would be gimmicky [or] like a hook, 'come back next season,' as opposed to giving the audience full resolution, ending this story, living with the fallout of that reveal for two, three more episodes. And that's why we decided to move [the episode] up."

This is why the makers then introduced the twist way earlier and let the audience live in the fallout of the same. In the last few episodes, we see Frank, Havlock, Bradford, and Sydney herself dealing with the emotional and moral consequences of the betrayal.

The makers decided to make viewers witness the unraveling of the characters and see most relationships collapse. They wanted the viewers to witness if the characters try to understand Sydney’s motives and how they process the weight of the shocking betrayal. This created a fuller emotional payoff rather than a cheap cliffhanger that was only set to bait the viewers.

The showrunner further explained that if the episodes are rewatched, one could realize how Sydney was playing all this along:

"I think everything we were doing all season long is building toward that [reveal]. And if you watch it again, I do think you re-contextualize and do see things that they're saying, things that [Sydney's] talking about that all — she's playing fair the whole time, she's just withholding information like a good spy."

Trending

The final ending of The Last Frontier makes the viewers see how Sydney’s conversations had a double meaning after they know she planned the crash. Her fear of being exposed was always present, but no one took notice. Her actions towards the investigation were merely damage control, and she was hiding the truth about Havlock. This reveal impacted Bradford and Remnick, as both characters can now understand how they were being manipulated.

By the time we reach Episode 10, Frank, Sydney, and Bradford are forced to confront the conspiracy. The new ending indeed gives the characters a better arc and makes the audience feel the fallout and the emotional consequences of it, and not just drop a major cliffhanger and fade to black. This way, the major twist becomes character-driven and not plot-driven, cutting the exaggerated serialish drama further.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback