Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘The Last Frontier’ keeps the audience on the edge of their seats with the relentless twists and turns that never stop coming. The finale maintains the trend and delivers some shocking moments, one of which comes in the first fifteen minutes of the episode. The tenth episode picks up immediately after the events of its predecessor, where Alfre Woodard’s Jacqueline Bradford comes face-to-face with Sidney and Havlock, believing she has finally cornered and captured them. However, it turns out that they’d planned it all along, and now, Bradford must face the consequences of her actions. But again, they forget that their former boss is not so easily beaten, and that’s where things get really tricky for everyone involved. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Last Frontier Finale Seals Bradford’s Fate
Over the course of ten episodes, it is revealed that all the trouble that Frank and the town of Fairbanks are experiencing originates from Jacqueline Bradford, who made some very questionable choices. Not only did she initiate the Atwater Protocol with Sidney’s father, but she also decided to eliminate their secret operatives when they were no longer of use. Of course, no one knew about it until Havlock hacked into the system and accessed Archive 6, which he and Sidney now threaten to make public. When Bradford discovers this, she arrives in Fairbanks with her cavalry and succeeds in tracking down Sidney to the place from where she aims to transmit the file further. She thinks she has her target surrounded, but then it turns out that Havlock reached out to the operatives, called them out of the field, and now, a bunch of them are right there, ready to confront Bradford for what she did to other operatives and what she was prepared to do to them.
While this confrontation happens, Sidney slips away to upload the file. Meanwhile, Bradford feigns tears and emotion to catch one of the operatives off guard. As soon as she attacks him, the room turns into a battleground as her men fight against Havlock and the Atwater operatives. In the midst of this chaos, Bradford slips away and finds Sidney, preventing her from uploading the file by shutting down the electricity. The women engage in a battle of their own, where Bradford goes completely unhinged, ready to kill Sidney with whatever weapon comes to hand. Sidney, on the other hand, fights not only for her life but also for the truth. But she is no match for her boss, who has her career and reputation on the line.
At one point, it appears that Bradford will win, but then she and Sidney end up on the bridge. They both slip and end up hanging by a bar while the water flows with full force beneath them. While Bradford had stabbed Sidney, making her weak, the latter still has enough strength left to make a blow that leads Bradford’s grasp to slip, and she falls into the waters below. Interestingly, we don’t see her dead body, which raises a question about whether she is actually dead. Considering that the show is about CIA agents who fake their deaths all the time, one can’t help but wonder if Bradford has done the same. However, the show does give us confirmation in the form of the update that Hutch gets. He is told that the operations manager of the dam came on site and powered down the turbines and found “what’s left of Bradford.” This suggests that she met a death so gruesome that it was kept off-screen.
Alfre Woodard May Return for The Last Frontier Season 2
While it may look like Jacqueline Bradford is dead, there is still a chance that she may return for the second season. Now, considering that the turbines didn’t leave enough of her body to be identified, it is fair to assume she is dead. Still, a dead body would be a good confirmation, because she is not the only one capable of faking her death. However, even if she is dead, there are many aspects of Archive 6 and other operations that remain unresolved. Since ‘The Last Frontier’ has previously resorted to flashbacks to explain certain aspects of the story, we believe that Bradford could appear in those flashbacks to give us a better sense of the scope of her plan. This means that Alfre Woodard could reprise her role in the future. The veteran actress was excited to be a part of ‘The Last Frontier’ and its thrilling universe.
Reportedly, Bradford’s role was initially written for a man, but when she came on board, she brought her own touch to the character, without having a single word changed. She found ways to empathise with her character, and even created a backstory for Bradford, imagining her to be a military brat who has travelled all over the world and seen what most people haven’t. The actress found a base for Bradford’s beliefs, and particularly how she rationalises her choices, convincing herself that she is a good guy. Woodard leaned into the character’s dark side, delivering a performance that makes Bradford a truly intriguing character. With all that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if the writers found a way to bring her back for future storylines, giving Woodard another chance to portray the morally gray character who is ready to go to any lengths to get what she wants.
Read More: Is The Last Frontier Based on a True Story?
