Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Old Man Season 2 Episode 7.

You know you’ve got a complicated past when the past can’t quite seem to stop catching up with you. Such is the problem faced by Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper (John Lithgow) as The Old Man Season 2 heads into its penultimate episode with Chase now in the custody of Suleyman Pavlovich (Rade Serbedzija), and Harper realizing that his ex-wife Marion (Janet McTeer) is more involved in things than previously assumed. Oh, and there’s the small matter of Chase likely being infected by an airborne toxin. It’s really all in a day’s work for these two. But how will they get out of it? Let’s find out.

The infection doesn’t seem like much of an issue for Pavlovich, as the episode begins with Chase tied up in what looks like an abandoned building acting as one of Pavlovich’s bases of operations. While Chase is alone, he’s visited by a vision of Emily (Alia Shawkat), who promises she’ll see him soon — a grim musing on his likely fate — before disappearing as Pavlovich finally arrives. He wonders why a man who has eluded him for so long would finally allow himself to be caught, and Chase tells him it was for the antidote. He also loosely promises information in exchange, and Pavlovich agrees to supply the antidote if the information is to his satisfaction.

Dan Chase Turns Himself in to Pavlovich in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Episode 7

He tells Chase that his inclusion in the rare earth minerals cartel is contingent on him killing Chase and Zoe (Amy Brenneman) — or rather, Henry and Marcia Dixon — and as he believes he can get hold of Zoe fairly quickly, he’s not particularly inclined to let Chase live. Chase, however, counters that Zoe will have ruined Pavlovich’s plans by the time he gets his hands on her, so it’s not going to be quite as easy as Pavlovich imagined. As the two talk, the vision of Emily returns, possibly a side effect of the mental alteration Pavlovich said would accompany the toxin, and predicts that her dad will kill Pavlovich, leaving him without the antidote, but feeling as though he got revenge for her death. At least Chase’s subconscious is actively aware of his own self-destructive tendencies.

Meanwhile, Zoe arrives at the police station, as she promised Chase, and asks the constable to take her into custody for her own protection as she’s just witnessed a murder. The constable is understandably skeptical, especially when Zoe insists she speak to someone from the CIA rather than the senior constable. I, having watched the episode before this, understand her urgency, but I don’t know why she or Chase seemed to think the authorities would just jump to do as she asked when, without context, it looks like she herself might be the murderer in question. Zoe then asks for her to call the U.S. embassy and get the chief of station, because the murderers have not only killed Nina Kruger but Morgan Bote — names the constable obviously doesn’t recognize, but that the chief of station will. Likely deciding that however much she gets paid is simply not worth the effort of fighting, she makes the call.

Harold Harper Heads to Hong Kong in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Episode 7
Image via FX

The action moves to a city brand-new to this globe-trotting adventure: Hong Kong. There, a young girl asks her mother to buy her candy, and when she’s refused, an older lady — Marion, in the flesh — quietly tells the girl she should have just asked her first, and slips the candy into her pocket. The little girl in question turns out to be Marion’s granddaughter, and she parts ways with her daughter and grandchildren when an unexpected meeting pops up. That meeting is with Harper, and is rather impromptu as he’s been tailing her for some time waiting for her to acknowledge him. He tells her they need to find somewhere private to talk, and she leads him away.

Eventually, someone from the U.S. embassy arrives to see Zoe at the station, which Pavlovich’s sentry reports back to his associate at the hideout. The sentry is ordered on standby until whatever is going on between Pavlovich and Chase is resolved. Inside the police station, Zoe is greeted by Pete (Nick Boraine), who is not the chief of station at the embassy, but who promises he’s the one who can help her get through this. She tells him that in exchange for the info, she wants assurances, namely immunity for any past actions that she may have taken to get to this point, and a clean slate going forward. Pete tells her that once she reveals the name, that puts her in a precarious position, as dangerous people the world over might seek her out in the name of revenge. He tells her that immunity from prosecution is one thing, but the kind of immunity she needs is far more complicated. She acknowledges this, and tells him to proceed with getting her what immunity he can in exchange for the name of Bote’s killer.

And speaking of Bote’s killer, back in Pavlovich’s hideout, he and Chase are still locked in a tense battle of wits. He tells Pavlovich that Zoe can either tell the CIA the truth, causing untold trouble for Pavlovich, or she can give them a different name and direct the trouble elsewhere. But it won’t just be any name she gives, it’ll be Chase’s. He tells Pavlovich that she’ll spin a story close to the truth, that an estranged associate of Bote’s came back after his daughter was kidnapped and sought his revenge. He says all they want in exchange for the misdirection is the antidote, enough money to start over, and the go-ahead to walk away. The final thing Chase demands — after revealing to Pavlovich that Emily was actually Hamzad’s daughter all along, much to Pavlovich’s surprise — is that Emily’s body be returned to him so he can say goodbye and lay her to rest.

The reveal, however, results in Chase losing control of the situation, as Pavlovich is suddenly much less willing to give in to his demands following this bombshell revelation. He worries that Chase will now direct his anger onto him, but Chase tells him that this is one time he won’t do that, despite wanting to, as he promised he would make it out of Pavlovich’s custody alive at whatever cost. Pavlovich is stunned that Chase would give up vengeance for a chance at life with Zoe, but given that he’s lost everything else, I can’t say I blame him. Pavlovich agrees and unties him, then tells him to make the call.

With so much of the past few episodes centered around Chase’s grief at losing Emily, this was a brilliant way to incorporate her into the episode to allow Chase to confront it face to face. The scene also plays out brilliantly, as both Bridges and Shawkat are as emotionally unrestrained as we’ve ever seen them. While Shawkat’s side plays out a little louder and angrier, Bridges’ side comes out with a quiet intensity that does no less to convey his grief, and hits hard precisely because he cannot shout, much as he’d like to. He’s making the decision to move on, to let Emily go, even as a part of his mind, manifesting as a devastated Emily, berates him for it. This is a man defeated, and this scene is such a good reminder of how The Old Man, for all its espionage, action, politics, and drama, really knows how to deliver a gut punch when it needs to.

It’s been a while since the series graced us with a proper extended flashback, but back in time we go, this time to a young Zoe (Caitlin Duffy) on her wedding day — and shout out to the performer for doing an incredible imitation of Amy Brenneman’s mannerisms. Her future father-in-law (John Ales) finds her sitting alone on a bench outside, having been tasked with tracking down the missing bride. Zoe worries that she isn’t cut out for marriage, never mind the question of whether she loves her future husband. Her father-in-law assures her that the concept of love she has is an exaggerated one, and that it’s really just about trust, and vulnerability, and not a magical ah ha moment. It’s easy to see why Zoe is thinking back on this conversation now, as both she and Chase are officially taking potentially dangerous steps to be together for good.

Things Go Wrong for Chase and Zoe in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Episode 7
Image via FX

Chase calls her, and he tells her they have a deal, and asks if she knows what to tell Pete. Zoe says she does, but before the conversation can go much further, Pavlovich and his men return to tell Chase the deal is off, having learned someone made a move against him. Pavlovich leaves Chase with one of his men (N ikolai Nikolaeff) who destroys the vials containing the antidote, as he is the son of one of the men Chase killed in Afghanistan all those years ago, and now has his opportunity for revenge. Meanwhile, Pavlovich gives the order to take care of Zoe as well, as he’s lost contact with the facility in Meshbahar, where the lithium deposit is, and he drives off to meet with the cartel.

Outside the police station where Zoe is waiting, a gunman arrives and kills Pete, before killing the constable on duty as well. With the gunman approaching her hiding place, another memory of her former life comes back to her — the ability to fire a rifle — and Zoe kills him with one powerful blast to the chest. She runs outside just as Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe) arrives to fetch her on Harper’s behalf.

Back in Hong Kong, Harper shows Marion the photo of her with Pavlovich and tells her he knows she’s involved with the rare earth minerals cartel, and that he knows Pavlovich was involved in both Morgan Bote’s death and the attack on the Hamzad village. While she doesn’t divulge how she knows Pavlovich just yet, she at least promises that she had nothing to do with the hit on Bote, though Harper doesn’t believe a word she says. He insists that they need to talk about all this right now, and welcome back Harold “Barely Hanging On To My Sanity” Harper, I missed this side of you.

Marion insists she and Pavlovich are no longer associated now that he has control of the lithium deposit in Meshbahar, and admits that she was the one that brought him into it in the first place. She tells him she couldn’t figure out why it was Hamzad (Navid Negahban) only wanted to work with Americans until she realized Emily —or Angela, as she knows her — was actually his daughter, and he wanted American help in tracking her down. Harper pieces together her plan to get him and Chase to make Hamzad vulnerable enough that other interests, like China, could come in and take over the mine. Marion claims her loyalties shifted towards the Chinese government as she was born in Hong Kong and considers it home, but Harper fires back, reminding her that she was also a British spy, and the trust of the Chinese government would have come at the cost of other lives.

At last, Marion admits what she hoped to get out of all this. She tells Harold that she did want to weaken Hamzad, but that there was more to it. While Pavlovich served her purposes at the Meshbahar deposit in terms of infrastructure and muscle, she also wanted a partner in the endeavor with a local connection: Parwana Hamzad. To her Parwana, or Emily, would be the perfect partner, as a woman with local roots, ties to the U.S., and top-tier FBI training. Harper is horrified that Marion would even think he would set Emily up for that, though to Marion, the prospect doesn’t seem that unlikely. She gets a call from Pavlovich, to her surprise, given their relationship is over, making her wonder what circumstances forced him to make the call.

While everyone else trades barbs and plans, Chase is looking worse for wear as Pavlovich’s man roughs him up, though he manages to get the upper hand as he pries a chunk of wood off a discarded chair and stabs his assailant with it before killing him. He makes it over to the antidote case to see if any survived, but unfortunately for him, Pavlovich’s man was very thorough. Meanwhile, the reason for Pavlovich’s call becomes clear as he meets with the other leaders of the rare earth minerals cartel, who demand to know why the reports are indicating problems at the Meshbahar deposit, including serious fighting. Pavlovich denies the reports but is told that a local militia with limited experience managed to take control of the deposit entirely. The reports, though he won’t admit it, turn out to be true after all, with the facility now in control of Emily Chase, or rather… Parwana Hamzad.

The first seven episodes of The Old Man Season 2 are out now. New episodes air on FX every Thursday and are available to stream next day on Hulu.

ReviewAfter a quiet week, The Old Man Season 2 is back in action, bringing answers to the season-long mysteries and setting the stage for an intense finale.ProsEmily is alive! Things are so much more interesting this way.New players like Marion enter the game in an organic way that promises an exciting finale.Jeff Bridges delivers a beautifully understated performance in this episode.

Premiering on FX in 2022, The Old Man is a Thriller and Drama series starring Jeff Bridges. The film sees Bridges playing Dan Chase, an ex-CIA operative and war veteran that kills an intruder that enters his home and then goes into hiding to avoid the law.Release Date September 19, 2024 Cast Jeff Bridges , John Lithgow , Bill Heck , Alia Shawkat , E.J. Bonilla , Leem Lubany , Pej Vahdat , Gbenga Akinnagbe , Amy Brenneman , Hiam Abbass , Echo Kellum , Moneer Yaqubi , Navid Negahban , Jessica Harper , Artur Zai Barrera , Michael Sifain , Jacqueline Antaramian , Kenneth Mitchell , Joel Grey , Noor Razooky , Milo Stein , Andrew Perez , Sara Seyed , Rowena King Seasons 2 Creator(s) Robert Levine , Jonathan E. Steinberg Streaming Service(s) Hulu , Prime Video Showrunner Jonathan E. Steinberg Expand

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