When a man disappears after his workplace is raided by the FBI, his wife is bluntly informed: “People don’t run for no reason.” That’s exactly what he’s done: The man has dropped out of sight. Starring Jennifer Garner and “Game of Thrones” alum Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, “The Last Thing He Told Me” on Apple TV+ is adapted from the 2021 novel by Laura Dave, and if there ever was a candidate for “shoulda been a movie,” this series is it.
Instead, it clocks in at seven episodes. The good news: It gets better as it goes.
Garner plays Hannah, an artist who makes wooden bowls, which is a character trait that is both specific yet tells us almost nothing about her. She’s a jeans-and-clogs kind of gal, that’s all I got. She’s recently married to a software ace named Owen (Coster-Waldau) and they live on a charming, idyllic houseboat in Sausalito, California, along with Owen’s 16-year-old daughter Bailey (Angourie Rice). Unhappy to have a stepmother foisted on her, Bailey barely tolerates this new woman in her home and is annoyed by Hannah’s sweaty efforts to ingratiate herself. Their relationship is polite but tense.
