You know when you’re watching something, muttering about how everything is barreling toward one inevitable smash-up, and then you find out the episode is literally titled “Converge”? Yeah.
That was my moment of cosmic alignment this week.
Everything — and I mean everything — slams together on The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 9 in ways that make sense emotionally but absolutely defy time, space, physics, and maybe moral fiber.
Sidney was already gone by the time Frank arrived at the accident scene, which tracks, because this girl moves like she’s walking through black holes. Of course, Havlock refuses to spill anything about where she went.
Then Sidney called Frank like she was checking in with her ex after blowing up his car. All nonchalant and hey Frank.
She apologized, warned him off, and insisted he didn’t understand the layers she was playing on. And he doesn’t, but Frank was in full volcano mode anyway.
He reminded her that he had warned her what would happen if she messed with his town, and she did. So he’s coming.
“OK,” she said, before also warning him. But that “OK” is the most polite declaration of war I’ve heard in a while. But it was hardly the declaration she meant, even if he probably viewed it that way.
Meanwhile, Bradford arrived in Alaska with her very “I’m the smartest person in every room I enter” attitude and instantly snapped the puzzle into place: Levi breached their network, Sidney had Archive 6, and somebody was going to die today. Preferably Sidney.
Bradford was practically foaming at the mouth. And it was a look I recalled from Monsieur Spade, which made me wonder when Alfre Woodard became the go-to covert ops woman in so many shows like this.
I never expected this to be her avenue of typecasting, but she’s making the most of it.
Meanwhile, Frank dragged Levi past Thiago, hating that he had to rely on the guy. Not thinking that maybe the two shouldn’t see a familiar face. At that point, he still believed the CIA had downed that plane, and then Levi casually corrected him.
It was Sidney. And she’s trying to bring down Bradford, not the entire CIA. (Honestly, that’s generous of her. I would’ve embraced my disdain for the whole organization that let a woman like her thrive.)
Levi also reminded Frank that sometimes collateral damage is unavoidable for the greater good. And you know what? Frank should write that on Post-its because it’s basically his motto, just in a different outfit.
This is the guy who hides a gun inside a book to remind himself he once put the greater good ahead of one man’s needs, but suddenly, when the shoe is on the other foot, he’s out hunting. Make it make sense.
We see the same thing with Dwight Manfredi on Tulsa King. I’ve got an entire editorial dropping about it tomorrow. Hypocrisy, am I right?
Then Levi told him Bradford wants Sidney dead, not arrested, and if she dies, the truth dies with her. It’s the first moment Frank stops puffing and actually hears something. Not enough that he conceded, but at least the wheels started turning.
Sidney was tearing through the woods as if she were the gold medalist of running in several feet of snow, while Frank plastered her face all over town.
Think “rogue agent” meets “Have You Seen Me?” vibe. I need Frank to stop blaming her for every dead body in Alaska, but we’ll get there. Hopefully.
Thiago tried to talk sense into him — Bradford used Sidney, Sidney is doing what Sidney always does, and she’s not going down easily.
Meanwhile, Sidney beat down a full-grown man in his own cabin to the soundtrack of Free Bird. I can’t stress this enough: the woman fights like she has an unlimited DLC pack.
And then Bradford stopped by Frank’s HQ and treated him like dirt, the disdain dripping from her smug voice.
She called him a hometown hero with a tragic backstory who came crawling back to a place that “doesn’t matter.” Lady, pause. You cannot come into a remote Alaskan outpost and tell the law his entire existence is irrelevant.
I mean, you can, but really? How does that work for you?
Frank fired back that everything that works for her in D.C. is a liability here. He even threatened to arrest her “crooked ass.”
Not going to lie. If I’d had a shot of bourbon, I would have downed it, whooped it up, and slammed the glass on the table.
Meanwhile (because how else can you cover this episode without a bazillion meanwhiles? Tell me. I’m open), Sidney slipped, spotted her face all over the place, donned some sunglasses and chatted with a store clerk.
Of course, someone turned her in instantly, because posters only work in TV-land when the plot requires it. Have you ever paid one ounce of attention to a sign on a pole that wasn’t of a lost dog or cat with their big eyes staring back at you? I didn’t think so.
Bradford kidnaps poor Geraldo — who, bless him, has eczema and consequently cannot handle this level of stress — and dumps him in the snow like trash. He calls them “dickwads,” which honestly feels like the first correct diagnosis anyone’s made this season.
Sidney keeps moving. Levi builds a fragmentation grenade out of an apple and some grease because apparently prison cells are now stocked like Home Depot. He escapes, teams up with Thiago, and admits he loves Sidney. And look, yes, it’s chaos, but it’s earnest chaos.
Then we got the comedy-action mashup on the train where goons take turns attacking Sidney like they’re politely queueing. When nothing else is really happening, you notice these things.
In what world would grown men line up and take turns fighting anyone, let alone a woman? Those choreographed action scenes are really so silly.
But it gets better! Because Bradford’s men then somehow — somehow — got ahead of Sidney on snowmobiles, set up an ambush, and arrived at the hydroelectric dam before her.
They were scattered all over the Alaskan tundra one second, and every damn one of them arrived at Sidney’s destination, where she was already heading before anyone realized it… before she did.
TV time dilation is now at Marvel levels. And hey, it’s still fun, but I’m still going to point it out because it is kind of my job to talk about things others may not want to.
And inside the dam? Bradford is waiting for her in full villain monologue mode. The woman was across town, but she’s here now. Before Sidney. And prepared with a diatribe about good and evil to boot.
Sidney called her out. Bradford continued to babble on. And of course, right when everything had built to a fever pitch…
Frank heard Sidney’s pre-recorded 9-1-1 message revealing she had lured Bradford there on purpose. So, maybe she took the back roads of the back roads to let them all gather before she arrived. It seems so.
And all of a sudden, Levi appeared like he was shot out of a pneumatic tube and delivered a perfectly smug, “Hey, Jacq. Glad you could make it.”
The credits rolled.
Everything converges, indeed. One second, Levi is asking for Thiago to help him help Sidney, and the next, they’ve crafted and carried out a whole plan. What??
This show continues to walk that line between thrilling and are you kidding me? But honestly, despite my bitching, this episode hits a sweet spot. It’s operatic, ridiculous even, but still engaging.
It’s a Russian nesting doll of betrayals, alliances, and logistical impossibilities that somehow work because the emotional math checks out even when the physics absolutely do not.
We’re in fantasy land here. And since most of us have no clue about Alaska, it kind of makes sense.
Alaska is fantastical. Now, if a polar bear or two burst through the dam doors and pull Bradford out into the show, I’ll really be impressed.
Hope you all got the word that this episode of The Last Frontier was coming at you two days early. I nearly didn’t! But here we are, and that turkey is calling your name.
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving, all! And if you’re jamming along with me, say howdy do down below.
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The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 9: Converge Finally Forced Everyone Into the Same Fight
The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 9 pushes Sidney, Frank, Levi, and Bradford into the same explosive fight as every storyline finally collides.
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The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 8 Exposed Sidney’s Entire Life was a Lie
Sidney’s past finally explodes into view on The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 8, revealing the lies, betrayals, and heartbreak that shaped her — and what she’s fighting for now.
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The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Change of Time
Frank finally faces the truth about his daughter’s death as Sidney’s secrets unravel on The Last Frontier Season 1 Episode 7, “Change of Time.”
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