The Last Thing He Told Me

These days, so many of the tv shows and films we watch are adapted from best-selling novels. After all, there's already a built-in audience, and The Last Thing He Told Me follows that trend.

Billed as a thriller, The Last Thing He Told Me is an Apple TV+ original, based on Laura Dave's book of the same name. She also developed the miniseries with Josh Singer.

Starring Jennifer Garner, Angourie Rice, Aisha Tyler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, it premiered on April 14, 2023.

So what is it all about, and with so much content to choose from, is it worth watching?

What Is The Last Thing He Told Me About?

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I have never read the book. So in terms of expectations, all I knew was that it starred Jennifer Garner, and I like her, so was happy to give it a go.

This show starts with an introduction to Hannah Hall, her husband Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his teenage daughter, Bailey Michaels (Angourie Rice).

Attempting to make their blended family work, Hannah works as a wood turner and Owen for a tech company. All is going well until one day the FBI arrests Owen's boss, raid the company and Owen disappears.

All he leaves behind to his wife Hannah is a note that says ‘protect her' and a short letter to his daughter along with a bag of cash.

Not content to leave things to the FBI, Hannah quickly realizes that she needs to begin her own investigation into his disappearance. And along with Bailey, they discover that Owen is not who he says he is.

Before you know it, the duo are leaving California and heading for Texas to find out who exactly he is and why he changed his identity. But as they get closer to the truth, their lives are put in even more danger.

Not only do they not know who is after them, but they also don't know why and with few people to trust, things become increasingly dicey for Hannah and Bailey.

So who is Owen Michaels? And can Hannah get herself and Bailey to safety? Find out in The Last Thing He Told Me!

The Last Thing He Told Me Official Trailer

Is The Last Thing He Told Me Worth Watching?

I had high hopes for this show, but the longer it goes on, the more frustrating it becomes.

It's one of those series that is peppered with characters who make stupid decisions every single chance they get.

And at this stage, I am begging any writer out there to please create a teenage girl who is not completely obnoxious and petulant.

Almost everything that goes wrong is because of Bailey's choices, which becomes more obvious as the episodes roll on.

Even in the face of imminent danger, she lacks all common sense and thinks she knows best. It's eye-rollingly cringe to see her lumbered with every trope and cliche ever been written about a 16-year-old.

And yet, Hannah isn't much better. Running around Austin, Texas, asking anybody you think might know who your husband is, questions about his past is not clever when you don't know what he's running from.

And while that might all seem quite frantic, The Last Thing He Told Me is anything but. In fact, it's quite slow going and very little happens from episode to episode.

It's our after hour of Hannah trying to pacify Bailey, permanently walking on eggshells around her, hoping her stepdaughter might actually start to like her. And in between, they try to figure out who Owen is.

The Last Thing He Told Me had the bones of being a great thriller, but the characters are all wrong. Maybe it's me, but watching a whiney teenage throw her toys out of the pram for seven episodes is really no fun at all.

The Last Thing He Told Me TV Series Cast

Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyer's Club) as Hannah Hall, married to Owen and stepmother to teenager Bailey

Angourie Rice as Bailey Michaels, Owen's daughter who discovers her father has been hiding her true identity

Aisha Tyler as Jules Nichols, Hannah's best friend

Augusto Aguilera as Grady Bradford, Hannah's ex-boyfriend and lawyer who tries to help her

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Owen Michaels, who mysteriously disappeared when the FBI raided the company he worked for.

John Harlan Kim as Bobby Park, Bailey's boyfriend

Geoff Stults as Jake Davis, Owen's boss