Apple TV's 'Last Seen' Star Confirms How the Finale Breaks the Typical Crime Drama Formula

Published Oct 7, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT

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Editor's note: The following contains major spoilers for Last Seen.

Summary

• In the Apple TV series 'Last Seen,' former police detective Ian Ridley’s grief over his missing daughter simmers as he refuses to believe she's gone forever.
• Ian never relinquishes hope that he'll find his daughter again, but the search affects all the relationships in his life.
• The finale foregrounds Sarah’s agency, and the father-daughter reunion leaves scars while opening a fragile future.

The Apple TV series Last Seen followed former police detective Ian Ridley (Patrick Brammall), who has essentially lived his life in limbo after the disappearance of his daughter, Maggie (Chloe Jean Lourdes), 11 years ago, as he’s searched for answers about what happened to her. Refusing to accept that she might be gone forever, he receives a distress call during his shift at the emergency services center where he now works, he becomes convinced that he spoke to the child everyone else was sure had to be dead. More determined than ever to find her and bring her home, Ian faces off with the man who took her, but it’s ultimately up to the young woman whose life was unknowingly disrupted to figure out what’s next for her.

After screening the six-episode season, Collider got the opportunity to chat with Patrick Brammall about shooting the Aussie drama series and how the emotionally intense events played out. During the interview, he discussed keeping such extreme emotions simmering all day, why Ian just wasn’t willing to let go of Mags without a fight, exploring the dynamic between Ian and his ex-wife Debbie (Jessica Wren), shooting that final confrontation between father and kidnapper, and whether he thinks this father and daughter could form a relationship in the future. He also talked about his time on Evil, why he’s so proud of Colin from Accounts, and what’s it’s meant to him to voice a character for Bluey.

COLLIDER: I appreciate you talking to me about the series, but first I want to ask you about a different project. Evil is one of my favorite TV shows. I absolutely love how subversive and insane that show often was, and I’m thinking of rewatching it as a whole piece this Halloween because I only ever watched it when the episodes came out and I want to see it all together. How was your experience on that show, playing that character? How did you feel about the way his story ultimately played out?

PATRICK BRAMMALL: I remember talking to (creator) Robert King, and he was like, “We don’t know how every season is going to end when we start filming the season.” And you can see that. I was living in L.A., so they would fly me to New York to do a scene here and an episode there. By the time we got to Episode 5, I was like, “What next? What is my character going to go through next? I’ve lost track. I trust you guys.” It was crazy. I really enjoyed it. I loved it. And Katja [Herbers], who played the lead, is one of my dear friends, and I think she’s sensational.

Patrick Brammall Really Connected to the Story of ‘Last Seen'

"You want to embody these extreme emotions, but the trick is keeping a lid on it, simmering all day."

When it comes to Last Seen, I can’t imagine living with not truly knowing whether your child is alive or dead, and having them missing from your life, but having no answers about what happened. And then, you learn they’re alive, but you still don’t know how to get them back. Was this a hard shoot because of those intense emotions? It feels like there would have been a high level of anxiety throughout all of this.

BRAMMALL: Yeah, it was a weird headspace to maintain for four months, definitely. That’s also part of the fun of acting. You want to embody these extreme emotions, but the trick is keeping a lid on it, simmering all day. If you’re shooting this emotional scene, it might take half a day to shoot it, or maybe all day to shoot it. You’ve just got to be there and let it be there in an appropriate way when the scene is happening, and then put a lid on it because now we’re going to change cameras and change the lights and do another take. That’s the trick and that’s really the hardest thing. Accessing the emotion wasn’t that hard. For whatever reason, I just really connected with the material. It’s exhausting, but it’s also joyful.

It feels odd in this circumstance because he is isolated and he doesn’t really have anyone that he emotionally connects with. His emotions are bottled up, but also just constantly always there under the surface.

BRAMMALL: Yeah, and that helps me perform it. Ian required a bit more stillness than I’m used to doing in comedy or even in Evil. That internal stuff is all bubbling away there, and I think that helped. I could let the camera find that stuff rather than me moving or being front-footed as a person.

Unlike his ex-wife, who is trying to move on with her life, Ian can’t really do that. He’s just not in that place. Do you think he really believed that his daughter might not be gone forever, or was that just something that he said to people so he didn’t have to further the conversation about it with anyone?

BRAMMALL: Good point. I think he just said it because he was like, “I’m not going to believe it until I see it for myself, and no one is going to tell me differently.” But also, it’s not just about finding his daughter, it’s about re-finding himself. He failed as a father and as a policeman. His whole life has really unraveled since that moment. So, I think it’s as much about redeeming himself as it is about finding his daughter. He’s pinned a lot on this thing, and I don’t think he’s going to let it go without a fight.

There’s something so interesting about that relationship between Ian and Debbie. It’s so complicated because of what has happened, but then he also has to see her married and eight months pregnant. What did you enjoy about digging into that dynamic and finding that not just with her, but also with her new husband, Bill?

BRAMMALL: It’s a great dynamic. It makes for a good story, to play this ex-couple who have both been through this very intimate trauma together but have had very different responses to it. There’s a moment, at the end of Episode 1, where I want to help and I want to move on. I want us all to move on. And then, he receives a phone call in Episode 2, which means he absolutely can’t and he never will be able to. He does try, but it makes for good conflict. They’ve got the same problem, but they don’t have the same response.

The ‘Last Seen’ Emergency Call Was Emotionally Powerful Because of Everything It Meant for This Father and Daughter

"It was really exciting to shoot. And then, to see it cut together, it was very moving."

Image via Apple TV

What was it like to shoot everything with the phone call? He’s convinced that it’s really his daughter on the phone, but it’s hard to convince other people of that because it seems insane. What was it like to figure out and find that level of panic, but then also not have the other actor there in the scene with you?

BRAMMALL: Well, I did actually. She called in. Christian [Schwochow], our director, made sure she called in. It was super helpful. So, on the day, she wasn’t there at all, but she would call in. I wouldn’t speak to her between takes or anything. I would just speak to her [in the scene], and she would be in that state emotionally. I employed the tactics that I learned when I went and spent a day with the emergency services guys. They’re very calm and very reassuring. Thank God for those people.

And then, you have this emotional person [on the phone], and I was like, “Okay, I can handle this. This is my job. No problem.” And then, she says what she says, which is, “I think my name is Mags,” and [everything] has been kicked up for him because of the discovery that was made in the last episode. As soon as he hears it, he knows this is it. It was really exciting to shoot. And then, to see it cut together, it was very moving. It was quite chilling to see that point of view. It was a very good scene.

In the last episode, Ian tracks down Henry so that he can get his daughter back and ends up in the middle of a shootout on a farm. What was all of that like to shoot, with Ian confronting Henry after dealing with all of his father’s men?

BRAMMALL: We were lucky to be shooting it very late in the shoot. It was a very action-packed sequence. It’s very of its genre. By that time, we were so invested in the psychological drama of this whole thing and the personal stakes of it, that it felt very real and not just an action sequence. It was amazing to do. What I love about that sequence is that with these two men, not one of them emerges victorious over the other. In a way, yes. But what really happens is that the agency is suddenly invested in Sarah, and that’s something you don’t see in this sort of show. She gets to make a decision, and it may not be the decision that we expect her to make. I think that makes this a very modern story. We’ve never seen the victim actually become the person. In many ways, it’s a coming-of-age story for her.

If his daughter hadn’t stopped him, do you think Ian would have killed Henry? What do you think would have happened if she hadn’t stepped in?

BRAMMALL: Yeah, he would have killed him, for sure. As he says, “I’ve been dreaming about this for so long.” And then, she says, “Stop,” and that’s why. This is a fantasy in his mind. He wants to live it out, for sure. He’s lost all sense of what’s appropriate in proportion. He wants to see this through, and he’s not thought about the consequences at all.

Patrick Brammall Believes His ‘Last Seen’ Character Could Establish a Relationship With His Daughter Again

"It's not the ending you expect because that scar will always be there."

Image via Apple TV

Do you think he’ll ever be able to have and establish some sort of relationship with his daughter, even if it’s not quite the relationship that he wanted or hoped for? Do you think they will find some kind of connection down the road?

BRAMMALL: I think they’ve got a shot at it. It’s not the ending you expect because that scar will always be there. There’s no denying that. There’s no healing, really, of that scar. But he’s put himself in a position to be able to learn. What’s a beautiful moment in that ending is his reconnection with his son, who he has overlooked and blamed and not treated well for a long, long time. That’s a really nice connection.

You also co-created and have been starring in Colin from Accounts. What has it been like to be so involved with the creation of something like that, and to see how people have fallen in love with it and really connected with it in the way that I would imagine you hoped they would?

BRAMMALL: Beyond our hopes. We made the show and we were lucky enough to be with collaborators and producers who allowed us to make the show that we wanted to make. And you never know how a show is going to land, especially comedy, because it’s so much about point of view. I remember when we finished the edit of Season 1, Harriet [Dyer] and I looked at each other and were like, “Well, we think it’s funny. I hope people agree.” And it’s gone far beyond our hopes. I love when people connect with that show because it’s very, very close to us. I’m very, very proud of last season. I invested a lot of myself into it, as an actor. With Colin from Accounts, that’s our idea. That’s our tone. Everything is us. So, it means a lot to us when people connect with that.

You can’t point the finger at anyone else for anything good or bad that might happen because it’s all you.

BRAMMALL: Exactly, yeah.

It Means a Lot to Patrick Brammall To Voice a Character for ‘Bluey’

"It's easily the biggest thing I've ever done."

Image via BBC Studios

Is it also fun to voice a character and have yourself connected to something as huge as Bluey, especially when I don’t think there’s anything more popular in the world at this point?

BRAMMALL: It’s easily the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve done three or four episodes and people are like, “Oh, my God, you’re Uncle Rad?!” Although my eldest daughter is not impressed, and she never would be impressed by that. Yeah, that was great. I feel very fortunate to be a part of that. I love Bluey. We were watching it the other day with the kids. They’re so good at doing this, but Chilli spends the whole episode chasing her dad. Her dad’s meant to be resting, and he’s got hot medication and stuff, but he’s running and chasing with the kids, and she eventually catches up with him. He’s sitting on the fishing dock and she says, “You used to teach me to swim here.” And he goes, “Yeah, I did.” And she goes, “God, that was such a long time ago.” And he goes, “No, that was just yesterday.” And suddenly, the animators make her a little kid. And I was like, “Oh, my God!” It’s killer. Bluey is amazing.

I’m always like, “How dare you make me so emotional?”

BRAMMALL: Yeah. My kids will just totter out of the room, and Harry and I are on the couch bawling.

Last Seen is available to stream on Apple TV.