TV Review: ‘Last Light’ On Peacock

Review by James Lindorf

Though it may not feel like it, it has been seven years since we have last seen Matthew Fox on any screen, large or small. He was a leading man for the better part of two decades with hit shows “Party of Five” and “Lost.” Now Fox is coming out of early retirement for the new Peacock limited series “Last Light,” based on Alex Scarrow’s best-selling novel. The five-part thriller imagines the devastating effects that would be felt around the globe if something were to happen to the oil supply. The world comes to a grinding halt on September 8th when all five episodes are released on Peacock.

Fox is petro-chemist Andy Yeats, an American ex-pat living in London while frequently consulting in the Middle East. His wife Elena (Joanne Froggatt) is a stay-at-home mom who pours most of her time into their youngest child Sam (Taylor Fay. The eight-year-old dreams of driving race cars like Lewis Hamilton, but he suffers from a degenerative eye disease slowly taking away his sight. Finding a way to slow or halt its progression has consumed Elena and is a source of stress between her and Andy and their teenage Laura (Alyth Ross). Laura, a passionate and informed university student activist confronting the mounting climate change crisis, also clashes with Andy over the harm done by his job. When the family is split with Laura left in London, Elana and Sam in Paris for a new surgery, and Andy in the Middle East on an urgent request, the world is turned on end. The family has to fight through the chaos and attacks by those responsible for the mayhem.

Let’s start with what was successful in the production of “Last Light.” Under the eye of director Dennie Gordon (Jack Ryan), cinematographer Patrick Murguia crafted a sharp-looking series. As they move from shooting locations in Prague, Paris, and Abu Dhabi, they highlight and embrace their differences by traveling from a desert, to the catacombs, to a beautiful lake hidden in the woods. Murguia also did a solid job shooting the action, making the attackers feel like genuine threats and giving energy to the scenes without excessive editing.

Another factor in the series’ favor is its running time. Each episode is no more than 45 minutes long, with about 50% of the time going to Andy’s story and 25% each to Elana and Laura. It helps keep the story moving as they each move towards their own climax and reunion as a family. Elana’s storyline is the weakest of the three, being saddled with an obnoxious surgeon and the need to remind everyone that her son is going blind. Ross has the second-best story when she goes on the run with a new love interest and learns more about her dad along the way. Fox got the best of the story elements and the best of the supporting cast. Amber Rose Revah plays Mika Bakhash, a member of the British government overseeing Andy’s work, and Hakeem Jomas is Khalil Al-Qatani, the head of a big oil company that requests Andy’s assistance.

The acting is the biggest strength of the series, from the supporting cast all the way up. Fox is as good as he has ever been, and newcomer Alyth Ross is fantastic. Ross may be new to the world of acting, but she is fully capable of leading her own series or movie today. Of the main cast, she gives the broadest performance because Laura doesn’t have all the stressors of adulthood. She can still let loose between studying and attending protests. Froggatt provides a good but forgettable performance. Not because she doesn’t have the talent, but because she has the most limited character, we don’t get to see all she can give us. She does excel in the frantic moments as she and Sam make their journey home.

There has to be bad with the good, and there are a few notable missteps. One that will trigger some audience members is Elana’s ableist attitude towards Sam’s condition. Nothing is more important to her than preventing him from living with this disability, and it consumes her. Without a global catastrophe, I have no doubt it would have cost her relationships with her husband and daughter.

While I complimented the film’s overall look, there were some shortcomings in that area. They struggled to give natural weight to how bad things had gotten. There are several shots of incredibly long lines at gas stations, a few references to crashed planes, and one terrible car accident sequence. When Elana, Sam, and the Doctor have their car accident, they all play the part, and the camera is shaking like something terrible is happening, but it is all bluster and no payoff. It is the worst car-based action scene I have seen since “Spectre” seven years ago.

Those issues pale in comparison to the tonal issues. There are zero thrills to be had in this apocalyptic thriller. The devastation that we should be experiencing is always off camera. And the action scenes we do get while competent are over before your heart rate can go up by more than a beat or two. In the dramatic moments, they were so worried about playing things down the middle that it felt like an eco-terrorist debate, not an attack. It is what you would get if “there were good people on both sides” became a television series. If they didn’t feel the need to strike that balance, they could have delved deeper into one side, heightening the excitement.

“Last Light” is an easy watch with solid performances and beautiful imagery, but it leaves you with a sense of what could have been. “Last Light” gets a slight recommendation with a 3.5 out of 5 score. If the story had been less ecological lecture and more “On Deadly Ground,” we would be looking at a much higher score.