The old man
VIII
Season 2
Episode 1
Editor’s Rating
Photo: Bryan Cohen
If you’re like me, you’re probably both excited The old man is finally back on our screens after a long two-year hiatus (due to the 2023 writers’ strike) and still confused by the plot. But there is good news on that front: the more we peel back the layers of the convoluted plot – which unfortunately doesn’t come anywhere close to clarity in season two – the easier it is to accept that The old man is basically a family drama, only camouflaged as a spy thriller. Although it’s harder to digest, generational trauma is more gripping than global intelligence games. However, it will always be a joy to watch Jeff Bridges maim a Taliban villain half his age without much effort.
Since it has been a minute since The old manBecause of the cliffhanger of season 1, I needed a quick refresher before jumping into season 2, so here’s a quick cheat sheet for you too:
When we last saw Bridges’ renegade ex-CIA agent Dan Chase and John Lithgow’s former FBI deputy director Harold Harper, they were on their way to Afghanistan to rescue Alia Shawkat’s character, who they both consider their daughter. Initially portrayed as model FBI agent “Angela Adams,” Shawkat was eventually revealed to be “Emily Chase,” the secret daughter of Dan Chase and his Afghan-born wife Abbey (real name: Belour Daadfar). However, in the season finale, it was revealed at the last minute that “Emily” was actually Parwana Hamzad, the biological daughter of Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), the Afghan warlord Dan Chase betrayed decades earlier when he ran off with Belour, Hamzad’s wife.
In the final moments of season one, we saw Emily/Angela kidnapped by Hamzad’s sister Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian, joined the main cast in season two) and taken back to her childhood village in Afghanistan.
The season two premiere picks up about three weeks after Emily’s kidnapping (thanks, explanatory dialogue!) and focuses on Chase and Harper’s attempt to enter Afghanistan undetected. That’s difficult now that the Taliban are back in control. I also feel obligated to share the most glaring bad news from The old man‘s two-episode premiere: Dave and Carol are still missing. Frankly, that’s because “VIII” is set in Afghanistan and Chase’s loyal Rottweilers were last seen handed over to an unnamed woman in an LA parking garage.
So Chase and Harper are smuggled into Afghanistan in the back of a truck. Everything seems to be going smoothly until they are attacked by Taliban soldiers who kill their driver, who is the only one who knows the identity of their next contact. So that’s fun. We get some excellent buddy spy comedy from Bridges and Lithgow as these grumpy old men argue about how they can’t die. There’s also an exchange about how Harper has to ask a mysterious “she” for help.
They manage to get to the meeting point without any problems (thanks to GPS and satellite phone!), but the men inside are not particularly happy about the two gray-haired white men bursting in. But everything is fine: seconds before Chase and Harper are about to get a bullet in the head, a dashing Afghan named Omar (Artur Zai Barrera) rides up on a horse, calls out all the right names, and the old men immediately trust him as a contact person.
At first glance, Omar seems too good to be true (always a red flag): he’s a member of the Taliban resistance, and he offers too much insightful information about Faraz Hamzad. Essentially, Hamzad is enmeshed with the Taliban government thanks to his control of a large lithium deposit, while also trying to protect the people of his community. The convoluted details are negligible here; what’s more important about this scene is that Omar might as well be carrying a giant sign that says, “Hello! My name is Omar! I’m a Taliban double agent!” He knows this “woman” Chase and Harper are trying to find is a valuable agent, and that makes him, to put it politely, curious.
Plus, we get our first flashback this season, where we learn more about Belour’s role in Emily’s family trauma. During that fateful dinner in the series premiere, young Johnny (Bill Heck) and young Belour (Leem Lubany) plan their new lives as Dan and Abbey Chase. (All while little Emily sleeps on her mother’s lap.) The decision to keep Emily’s identity a secret came from her mother, and Belour thought this kind of fresh start would open up unlimited possibilities for her daughter. Not, you know, decades of heartache, grief, and untold friction between mother and daughter.
I can understand why Belour is so determined, though. She’s terrified that Faraz Hamzad might be after Emily, and so she decides that Johnny will be the “only (father) she’ll ever know.” (Heck does a fantastic job here of silently cycling through several different emotions before landing on acceptance.) So when we cut back to Bridges in the present, and his face signals utter failure, it’s clear that he feels like he’s let Belour down.
At this point, Chase and Harper still believe that Omar is on their side, although Omar is completely on Chase’s trail. He knows that this old man is the same American who fought alongside Faraz Hamzad against the Soviets and is capable of “unspeakable brutality.” SighEver heard the phrase “go fuck yourself and find out,” Omar? The three men reach their next safe house, a rebel soldier camp. But oh-oh, everyone there has been massacred! Chase begs Harper to finally call “her.”
This mysterious woman is Marion (Janet McTeer), and although she appears only off-screen, she is apparently the only person who can rescue Harper and Chase from their current predicament. Is she a fixer? Whatever the case, she is clearly someone from their past: not only does she know Chase’s real name, but she and Harper have not spoken in 30 years. The writers also use Harper’s conversation with Marion to reveal dun-dun-dun! Omar was not your contact person!
Just as Harper uses the age-old “your ally is really your enemy!” cliche of concern, Chase does the same with Omar and his relentless interrogation. This culminates in the big fight scene of the season premiere, in which Chase once again mauls a guy half his age with his bare hands. Or rather, with his teeth. That’s right: Chase takes a huge bite out of this guy’s face!!!! Well, this guy is known as a monster…
But not before Omar stabs Chase in the chest while reciting his character’s mission statement: “I’m a Taliban spy who wants the glory of finding out why Faraz Hamzad is risking his influence with everyone!” There’s no better time for Harper to gallop up the trail so the two friends can escape into the mountains while Taliban soldiers on motorcycles pursue them. For the sake of the plot, Chase has let Omar live.
And for the sake of the plot, Chase somehow survives his ordeal because, despite his fatal-looking wounds, he remembers the exact location of his cave hideout from 35 years ago! And, hey, look! His 1980s first aid kit with all of its inexplicably unexpired supplies is still there, too! With Chase and Harper safely ensconced in the cave, the episode’s denouement begins by tying the narrative to their conversation in the opening scene about Emily’s childhood soccer team. This wasn’t just a boring after-school pastime: The day Emily demanded to play soccer with a conviction he’d only experienced during his years in Afghanistan was the moment Chase knew she was still Faraz Hamzad’s daughter and that “there would always be a part of her that wasn’t mine.” He’s devastated that she’ll learn the truth. Chase also expresses some legitimate fears: There’s a good chance that Emily will remind Hamzad of Belour and he’ll take out his anger on his own daughter.
But we can’t worry about that now, because it’s time to end this episode with a triple blow: First, while Harper is on the phone with his wife Cheryl, we learn that the mysterious Marion is his ex-Woman! Then we take a brief trip into the depths of Chase’s subconscious, where an apparition of young Faraz Hamzad (Pej Vahdat) taunts his former friend for his evil true self – and for keeping Emily’s identity a secret her entire life.
When Chase finally wakes up, he realizes that Hamzad’s presence is not just a dream. Old Faraz Hamzad slowly approaches Chase and points a gun at him. The camera pans away as we hear a gunshot.
Normally I would roll my eyes at such a cliffhanger cliche, but since the season premiere is in two parts, I’ll let it slide. See you in the next recap!
• If you’re as fascinated by the illustrations in the episodes’ title sequences as I am, you can read more about the artist Hana Shahnavaz here.
