The Old Man Season 1 Episode 3 Recap

III – The show begins with Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe) sitting on a bench. He is on the phone with his grandmother when a young girl approaches. As she prepares to board the bus, he helps with her bag. He receives a call from Harold Harper (John Lithgow) to discuss his services.

Raymond Waters (E.J. Bonilla) is filled in on a traffic stop that the police believe was Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges). Harold confronts Water about an incident involving him and Agent Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat). He admits to asking her a few questions. Harold asks about her response. He says she told him to go “fu**” himself. Harold warns him about the risks of investigating Dan’s case. Dan’s identity was confirmed from the traffic stop. SWAT is dispatched to the rental property, where Dan is staying. Waters congratulates Harold for proving he was wrong about him not wanting to catch Dan. Harold suggests the next time he has questions, come to him directly, not his people. Waters says there may be more than him just to worry about.

In a flashback, Young Faraz Hamzad (Pej Vahdat) tells young Dan Case (Bill Heck) that his sister assumed he would never be seen again. He admits to telling his sister that he lacked the smarts to quick while he was ahead. Dan informs him that he probably has the guns. Hamzad reminds him that the American government refuses to aid in their cause. Dan tells him that he is working against the CIA’s orders. They continue discussing why he is there when young Khadija (Noor Razooky) approaches. Hamzad warns him that she will need to be convinced to stay there.

Zoe (Amy Brenneman) discusses how other people judge you. Dan informs her that he must leave to meet with his contractor. He invites her to join him. They both agree on how much they enjoyed spending time together last night. She promises they will discuss his leaving when she returns. He assures her that his departure cannot be delayed. She says surely it can be delayed until after lunch. He asks why she felt it necessary to lie to the police about them being a married couple. She asks why the police were trying to find him. He briefly explains how he fought on the wrong side of a war. She asks if she should be worried about her safety around him. He gives her the option of leaving or going with him. Emily calls him to see if he is on the road. She explains to Zoe about Dan and Abbey Chase’s (Hiam Abbass) past, living under aliases to elude the CIA. Emily is actually Agent Angela Adams. Zoe tells him to be gone before she returns.

Zoe is sitting in her car when a loud noise can be heard in the background. Dan’s dogs begin to bark hysterically in the back of his vehicle. After getting out of her vehicle, she looks through the window to see Dan in a physical altercation with a man. When she opens the doors, the dogs run directly toward the assailant. Once Dan recovers, he shoots the assailant. Zoe is running to her car when he catches up with her. She threatens to go to the police. He warns her that they cannot just trust anyone.

Joe (Kenneth Mitchell) teases Angela about being late. She tells Harold that Joe assumed she went to the movies before coming to work. He tells her about his last movie experience. She gets upset when thinking about her movie date with Chip. He suggests she needs to talk about it. She informs him of what Sally Singleton told her about Waters. She claims everything detests Waters. He goes off on a rant about the no-rules game he and Dan played when they were younger. Marty (Tai Bennett) alerts them of a vehicle departing the scene. As they watch drone footage of the vehicle, Angela has a concerned look on her face.

After parking the vehicle, Dan assembles his gun and waits. He has a flashback of what Khadija said about putting a rigid mind to rest. She promises to do whatever is necessary to ensure the women there trust them. She isn’t happy with Hamzad’s decision to let Dan join their cause. She demands to know how he can aid their cause. He tells her about the possibility of getting them some M21 sniper rifles. She suggests when he gets them to start shooting the Russians from 200 yards. He promises to shoot them from 1,000 yards. Back to the present, Dan shoots the CIA drone down.

Waters confronts Harold about the American Government giving Hamzad whatever he wants. He warns him of how Hamzad will react to them losing Dan. He threatens to report Harold for intervening in the operation. As he prepares to leave, Harold tells him that his comment about Hamzad getting what he wants is the second time he heard it this week. Waters says so what. Harold suggests Hamzad personally requested Waters to be put on Dan’s case. He explains how he believes Hamzad’s plan is to interrogate Dan for answers. Waters asks him to tell what he knows. Harold informs him of Dan stealing Khadija from Hamzad 30 years ago. Angela suggests they go straight to Hamzad. Waters asks why he should do it. She tells him that he either fails or they get Hamzad the answers to his questions. They receive an alert that SWAT is at the scene.

While Harold is watching the SWAT footage, Waters threatens to hold Angela responsible if he is screwed over again. He promises to set up a meeting with Hamzad.

Julian is sitting in his car nearby. The assailant who Dan recently shot is in the backseat.

Dan pulls off onto a dirt road.

In a flashback, Dan compliments Khadija’s good English. He assures her that his only goal is to make sure Hamzad wins the war. She tells him about her parents securing jobs at an Ohio university as professors. She explains how she spent hours staring at the hopeful faces of young people on her father’s pamphlets. She says her plan to be like them one day was shattered by the coup. She thinks there are two different types of Americans, one believed nothing was impossible and another was determined to be right no matter what. As they are talking, an airplane drops something from the sky. He informs her that it is the M21 guns. He assures her that he isn’t a monster. Back to the present, Dan unlocks the trunk of his vehicle as the episode comes to an end.

 

The Old Man Review

Emily’s conversation with Zoe was uncompellingly cringeworthy. Emily promises Dan will protect her if she agrees to let him. Why? She doesn’t need his protection. She isn’t connected to Dan’s past and has only known him for about two days.

We now know Dan and Khadija ran away together. I felt they were somehow trying to recreate their relationship with Zoe. Unfortunately, the attempt failed miserably. The only thing Zoe is guilty of is trying to save Dan’s life by releasing his dogs. After watching how he aggressively tried to force her to leave with him, I question if he didn’t treat Khadija the same way. He took advantage of a vulnerable, frightened, confused Zoe. Did Khadija find herself in the same predicament?

The episode was packed with filler. The only interesting revelation was Dan and Khadija ran away together. Emily, turning out to be Angela is no big surprise. The telephone voice matched Angela’s perfectly.

The lame plot twists are a failed attempt to keep the story interesting. The dialogue is borderline cringeworthy while the acting feels forced.

I feel embarrassed for John Lithgow when he reads his lines. It is almost as if he doesn’t care, so he just unemotionally says them. This is a veteran actor who is caught between a rock and a hard place. He probably knows the writing is weak and just wants to get it over with.

The episode deserves a 5.5. Get more The Old Man recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link to learn more.