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

After a full season of shifting loyalties, family drama, and in one case, a massive identity crisis, The Old Man Season 2 comes to a close with even more of the above. The penultimate episode left things with Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) poisoned with no antidote, Harold Harper (John Lithgow) deeply relieved that divorce was an option for his first marriage, and Zoe (Amy Brenneman) safely in the hands of Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe). And then, of course, Episode 7 ended with the reveal that not only is Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) — aka Angela Adams, aka Parwana Hamzad — still alive, but she is currently the one in charge of the Hamzad family lithium deposit in Meshbahar. So how does this all shake out for them in the finale?

Emily Takes Charge in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Finale
Image via FX

The episode opens by taking things back to the night Emily was killed — or rather the night Chase believes she was killed — only this time showing the events from her point of view. She speaks to her dad on the phone while those remaining in the village shelter in one of the rooms in the main house as the gunmen — Pavlovich’s (Rade Serbedzija) hired thugs — approach. Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) goes to meet them at the door, and it’s her gunshots that Chase heard on his head of the line, mistaking them for shots that ended Emily’s life. Khadija is quickly killed, and the gunmen begin interrogating everyone else, alternately in Dari and Russian, looking for “Hamzad.” Emily reveals that she’s the only Hamzad there — and I lament that the show didn’t have her reveal herself in Dari, instead of English, showing what she supposedly learned during her time there. She promises to tell them what they want to know provided they leave the others alive.

The soldiers move into the village, keeping Emily in one of the houses where she’s ordered to write out everything she knows at the risk of being killed. She eventually forms a friendship of sorts with one of her captors, Pavel, after using the little bit of Russian she speaks — while also explaining to us why she didn’t use it when they first arrived. She gives Pavel directions to the weapons stores, wrestling with betraying her newfound family in the name of protecting them. He goes to visit Emily with a bottle of vodka from the captain, as a thank you for the information. He adds that the captain now wants the names of any potential troublemakers so that they can be eliminated. As she goes to write out the required list, he asks her whether she thinks that her family will take her back after everything she’s done, apparently struggling with the same questions himself — earlier he was looking at a picture of his own family back home, a wife and daughter, which almost certainly spells doom. That narrative tension pays off when Emily hands over the list of names and promptly smashes his head with the vodka bottle. Pavel comes to on the floor, but his relief is short-lived as he wakes up to find the other soldiers are dead or dying at Emily’s hands, or those of the fighters in Hamzad’s village. As Pavel also meets his end, Emily has officially taken control.

Over in Hong Kong, Harper is still stuck with Marion (Janet McTeer), who confirms that the lithium deposit is no longer under Russian control, and further that the Russians there were eliminated by a group of local fighters led by an American woman. Harper is beyond relieved to know that Emily is alive, but Marion tells him that Pavlovich is planning to take her down by calling up his reserves, and doesn’t seem especially inclined to stop him. Harper tries to get her to consider Emily as an ally instead, though she just flings his assertion that she’ll never side with her back in his face. For Harper, though, he’s willing to push Emily as an ally if it means saving her life, and asks Marion to help him put an end to this.

Related Jeff Bridges on What ‘The Old Man’ Has in Common with ‘Tron’ Amy Brenneman also talks about how this character is so much more than just the woman in a spy movie.

Harper and Zoe Move to Take Out Pavlovich in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Finale
Image via FX

Somewhere by the sea in Europe, Zoe and Carson are on the road, wondering if Chase is alive or dead. Zoe’s concern lies with whether Carson believes Chase is alive or not, reasoning that if he doesn’t, then he won’t help her seriously look for Chase, and only use her to get to Pavlovich. For all that Morgan Bote (Joel Grey) managed to get in both their heads, Carson does promise to hold up his end of the deal and get Zoe to Chase if she helps him take out Pavlovich. This falls right in line with Harper’s plans, as he calls Carson to set the plan in motion. On his end, Harper is still trying to get Marion on his side, telling her that it’s likely this is not the last mess Pavlovich will cause for her. The two reach an impasse, with decades-old problems that formed the basis for their failed marriage rising to the surface instead. This scene is really a solid example of the actors forming the backbone of this show in such a decisive way, because, in the hands of people less talented, the vague half-statements and unrealistically poetic statements they so often make would sound ridiculous. Here, it works. It’s compelling.

And the conversation is obviously compelling enough in-universe to convince Marion to go along with the plan, as she gives Harper the go-ahead to call Carson and tell him to move in on Pavlovich, pending instructions. While Marion feeds instructions to her contacts, Carson and Zoe pull up to a house crawling with armed security. At Marion’s prompting, the Chinese delegation’s security asks the other security details to ignore Carson for 15 minutes to give him time to get in, kill Pavlovich, and get out. Zoe asks how she can help, and Carson tells her she can’t do anything at the moment, but promises to keep one of Pavlovich’s party alive to get some information on the antidote Chase needs.

Carson sneaks into Pavlovich’s cabana, and the stealth approach only lasts until he fires his gun, which alerts additional security that Zoe warns him about. Even with the additional security, he takes out most of Pavlovich’s men, leaving one alive for information. He also keeps Pavlovich long enough to imply that this is revenge for Morgan Bote’s death, before putting a bullet in his head. You know, for a show called The Old Man, we sure are running out of old men, aren’t we? While he’s gone, Zoe sneaks into the car left unlocked by Pavlovich’s men, who ran to their boss’s aid. Lucky for her, the dashboard GPS still points at the location where Chase was taken, and after giving Carson the briefest of explanations, Zoe takes off to rescue her man. At Marion’s, she confirms to Harper that Pavlovich is dead. Now that the cause that united them is over, so is their temporary truce, and she has him taken away.

Zoe Saves Chase’s Life in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Finale
Image via FX

Zoe, meanwhile, tracks Chase to the abandoned church where Pavlovich took him and left him for dead, and finds him there barely alive. While she can’t find the pulse, she administers three doses of the antidote, though it doesn’t do much for him, so she turns to CPR next. The series makes some intriguing staging choices as Zoe goes through the CPR process, choosing to shoot from far away, while also cutting the ambient sound in and out, like Chase slipping in and out of consciousness. The Old Man consistently makes a lot of interesting choices with its use of sound, which, at least for me, elevates what might otherwise be a straightforward, uninteresting sequence.

Chase survives, because of course he does. This show needs at least some of its old men. He wakes up in a safe house with his dogs next to him, and Zoe in the next room. She joins him quickly and explains that the house they’re in belongs to Morgan, and they’ve been alone there for a few days. She promises him that they’re safe there, and not being followed, as the only people who know their whereabouts are Carson and Zoe’s son. Even Harper doesn’t know where they’ve gone. The two of them stay there for a while as Chase recuperates, and in time they develop a little life for themselves. Zoe stays in touch with her son, at least, for which I’m grateful because for a while there it felt like the series had little interest in that thread.

Idyllic as their life is, though, their retreat from the world begins to nag at Chase, with all the unanswered questions they just left hanging. He doesn’t know why they have no news about the cartel, and isn’t positive something they’ve done hasn’t left a trail to where they are now. As much as he says he’s enjoying their quiet existence, something soon comes along to shake him out of it in the form of a mysterious package delivery. The box contains only a flip phone, and a slip of paper containing a number, which he calls right away.

Emily Returns to Meet With Chase in ‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Finale
Image via FX

The package turns out to be from Emily, who is finally back in the U.S., and who arranges to meet her dad at a local diner alone with Zoe. While he’s just overjoyed to see her again, Emily is all business, saying the story of what she went through will have to wait, as right now she needs her dad’s help. She explains that Harper has been missing since he went to see Marion, as she’s keeping him somewhere in the hopes of striking a deal for control of the Meshbahar deposit. As far as Chase knew, the deposit had been taken over by some locals, but Emily tells him she’s actually the one running things there now, along with the rest of the Hamzad family.

As she doesn’t enjoy being toyed with, Emily tells Chase she’s going to get Harper back with his help, and Chase agrees to go along with it, whatever she asks. Emily tells him that one of the things she needs in order to pull this off is access to Lou Barlow — the same mysterious man Zoe once asked Chase about — to use his connections to get close to Marion. Chase insists they go about this another way, but when Zoe presses for Barlow’s identity, Chase reveals that he is actually Lou Barlow, and under that alias did things “uglier than violence.” Despite his reluctance, Emily insists getting close to Marion in this way is the only way to get Harper back.

Father and daughter don’t have much time to deliberate, though, as large vans pull up to escort Emily and Chase to her waiting plane. She explains that now that she’s in charge of the deposit, something coveted by governments all over the world, pulling strings with the FBI — to tap Zoe’s son’s phone and track them, and also to get a plane out of the country — became easier. For all the identities Chase has lived with over the years, it’s in this moment that he realizes he’s not dealing with Emily Chase anymore. He’s dealing with Parwana Hamzad, who always gets what she wants, come hell or high water.

As far as finales go, The Old Man didn’t go out on the same jaw-dropping note it did in Season 1. This is not to say the finale is ineffective, as, from a pacing standpoint, it would be exhausting for the characters to race from one adrenaline-fueled moment to the next with no lull in between. The episode also brought with it a massive status quo change for everyone involved, setting the characters up for intriguing arcs should the series return for a third season.

All episodes of The Old Man Season 2 are out now.

ReviewThe Old Man Season 2 finale brings the story to an understated close, while setting the stage for a third season full of status quo changes.ProsThe Old Man Season 2 finale brings changes that will keep things interesting in a possible Season 3.John Lithgow really gets his chance to shine this week as one of the last “old men” standing. ConsWith all the big excitement saved for last week, the episode is almost too quiet.

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 1 Creator(s) Robert Levine , Jonathan E. Steinberg Streaming Service(s) Hulu , Prime Video Expand

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