‘The Old Man’ Season 2 Episode 8 Recap: The Young Woman

Dan Chase’s first motion that thing is incorrect is that thing is wrong. 

He mislaid his girl Emily, yes. He’s retired of touch pinch nan only personification successful nan world he tin travel adjacent to calling a friend, Harold Harper, since contacting a high-ranking FBI charismatic is astir apt unsafe nary matter really observant he and Zoe mightiness be. She, astatine least, has figured retired a measurement to support successful touch pinch her semi-estranged son. Dan doesn’t look nuts astir nan risk, but it’s a mini value to salary for home tranquility. I’m not judge what names they’re surviving nether anymore — Henry and Marcia Dixon look good and genuinely blown — but they’re surviving together alright, and happily, dogs and all.

But again, there’s conscionable 1 problem: There are nary problems. There’s been nary news of nan uncommon world minerals cartel — each nan members of which looked nan different measurement erstwhile Zoe and Carson showed up astatine their gathering spot truthful that Carson could termination pesky Suleyman Pavlovich and avenge his “partner” (?) Morgan Bote — arising to shingle nan American system to its foundations. There appears to person been nary consequences astatine each from an American concealed supplier attached to nan American embassy getting changeable to decease astatine a constabulary position successful wide daylight during Zoe’s flight from Pavlovich’s assassin. They whitethorn beryllium disconnected nan grid and intolerable to find, but they tin still publication newspapers, and there’s conscionable thing doing. Something is up.

Then, successful a creepy small scene, that thing makes its beingness known. Dan (or Henry, aliases Johnny, each of which he’s called successful this episode) nervously eyes a transportation van making its measurement down nan ungraded roadworthy extracurricular nan aged Morgan Bote safehouse he and Zoe are holed up successful together. Is it an assassin successful disguise? No, it appears to beryllium conscionable a transportation guy. But what’s successful nan container he leaves successful nan mediate of nan road, and who knew wherever to nonstop it? It’s not for illustration they’re expecting a attraction package.

But wrong is simply a telephone and a number. And aft Dan calls nan number, this happens.

Friends, I flapped my arms for illustration an excited goose erstwhile I saw Dan and Emily reunite. This contempt nan truth that I already knew she was live — they revealed it astatine nan extremity of past section and spent nan first 3rd of this 1 explaining really she pulled it disconnected by sidesplitting each her Pavlovich-hired captors, duh — and that their reunion was almost surely inevitable. I’m conscionable that invested by this constituent successful really overmuch these 2 characters emotion each other. 

And why wouldn’t I be? The full constituent of nan show is astir really their emotion for 1 different persists contempt each nan madness and misery. It’s nan only changeless successful either of their lives, done aggregate identities and countries and continents and allegiances. You tin mobility whether their emotion for each different is healthy, you tin mobility whether master killers consciousness emotion nan measurement you and I do, but you can’t mobility that relationship betwixt them, flawed and befouled though it whitethorn be. 

The aforesaid is existent of Harold for some of them, of course. Our man successful Hong Kong winds up trapped location by his ex-wife Marion — seized arsenic a bargaining spot for leverage against Emily Chase/Angela Adams/Parwana Hamzad. In this past personality she is now successful patient power of nan hotly contested Afghan mineral deposit everyone’s been scrambling for. Parwana is now 1 of nan astir powerful women successful nan (under)world, and Marion needs immoderate limb she tin get to support her successful check. That’s meant taking Harold disconnected nan committee for what could beryllium weeks aliases months by this point.

Which is why Emily/Angela/Parwana shows up astatine her dad’s safe house. Turns retired that erstwhile you’re Parwana Hamzad, location are fewer houses that tin stay safe for agelong if you’re looking for them — not erstwhile you’ve sewage nan American overseas and home intelligence agencies astatine your beck and call. This isn’t a tearful family reunion: This is simply a recruitment mission, and Dan and Zoe person conscionable been volun-told to subordinate nan quest to rescue Harold by Dan’s warlord daughter.

There’s 1 further catch, though. Parwana’s not location for Dan. She’s location for Lou Barlow, different Morgan Bote protégé who’s been mentioned connected and disconnected passim nan season. The beardown accusation is that he’s an moreover darker customer than Dan was erstwhile he was Johnny, nan Monster of Afghanistan. You don’t person to beryllium a top-level intelligence expert to fig retired that Dan was erstwhile Lou Barlow, excessively — aliases to spot it’s 1 change ego he’d alternatively ne'er inhabit again. Unfortunately, Emily is not giving him that choice.

Quite beyond nan plot, there’s immoderate beautiful worldly successful writer-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg’s past Season 2 salvo. Parwana’s clip successful Russian captivity is handled pinch almost lyrical sensitivity, arsenic she befriends a conflicted mercenary named Pavel, who fears his clip successful nan section will render him emotionally unrecognizable to his woman and daughter.

“Will they return you back, nan ones you discuss yourself for?” Pavel asks Parwana, erstwhile it looks arsenic though she’s cooperating successful bid to spare nan lives of nan villagers. “What if you travel backmost excessively different, excessively changed, excessively — ”

“Ugly?” Parwana finishes for him. “What if I was ever this way, and it’s conscionable that nary 1 ever noticed? What if location is thing I americium not tin of to make nan group I emotion safe?” Pavel takes this arsenic a declaration of surrender, erstwhile it’s really a declaration of war.

Harold’s statement pinch Marion astir nan request for civilized absolutes is revealing arsenic well. Marion’s a low-down creep pinch nary morals that aren’t contingent connected her ain contiguous self-interest, but I double canine situation you to spell done Harold Harper’s afloat CV and spot which of nan 2 of them is responsible for much heinous shit. But we’re not talking astir authorities now, not really — we’re talking astir Harold’s consciousness of loyalty to those he cares astir about, for illustration Johnny and Angela. “The things we beryllium group we emotion should beryllium constant, involable!” he proclaims. He’s an admitted absolutist, but he’s much of an absolutist astir that than he is astir nan American way. (Politics connected The Old Man are mostly conscionable nan shape connected which nan quality play is performed; deliberation astir really each of this comes down to Johnny and Belour falling successful love, aliases thing adjacent to it, and moving distant pinch a babe for illustration a mates successful a soap opera.)

Marion’s not proceeding this from her ex. “You could person been a awesome man, Harold,” she says, “were you not truthful frightened of disappointing anyone.” From his civilized absolutism to his driving request to show his emotion and committedness to his wife, his friend, and his adoptive girl and frankincense gain their approval, Marion has identified successful Harold a superior lawsuit of Good Boy Syndrome. Now, Marion’s meaning of “great man” is astir apt different than yours aliases mine, but she’s perfectly correct that nan hopeless desire to beryllium seen arsenic okay successful nan eyes of everyone is simply a look for mediocrity. That’s astir apt arsenic difficult a pill for him to swallow arsenic getting swept distant by her goons aft their meeting. (“I’m sorry,” she says. “Yeah,” he replies, “I’ll bet.”)

And truthful we get astatine nan extremity of different grimly poetic play of The Old Man. “The Americans, but nan mates is Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow” is only half-jokingly nan measurement I’d picture this show to group now. The action/suspense sequences are that tight. (Carson taking retired Pavlovich’s full retinue pinch nan calm determination of a feline who has to get to nan supermarket to prime up beverage earlier it closes successful 8 minutes, for example.) The acting is that strong. (I didn’t perceive a mendacious statement aliases clunky statement reference from Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat, aliases Amy Brenneman each play — not that I expected to, but Steinberg’s scripts often publication for illustration prose poetry, and that tin beryllium a difficult sell. Not for this crew, though!) The quality emotions are that raw. (Though seldom that sexual; this is possibly nan show’s main flaw, that we don’t spot power betwixt Zoe and Dan, moreover though Bridges and Brenneman tin smolder astatine each different pinch nan champion of them.)

And now, successful Parwana Hamzad, we whitethorn person nan show’s reply to Keri Russell’s ferocious Elizabeth Jennings. Shawkat’s Parwana is simply a trained operative and (certainly by now) knowledgeable killer, but she grew up successful a benignant of psychological limbo, surviving a operation of lies and half-truths. Now she knows herself, and that knowledge has fixed her nan unspeakable powerfulness to leverage nan American authorities against her ain dada successful bid to get what she wants. She’s emotion herself, successful different words. On a show centered connected men whose superior struggle is that they tin consciousness it slipping away, what will unleashing this benignant of crescendoing power successful quality shape do? I look guardant to uncovering out.

Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes astir TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will person him, really. He and his family unrecorded connected Long Island.