The Old Man Season 1 Finale

VII – The show begins with Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat) narrating a story of her childhood.

In a dream – A woman asks Emily (Michaela Rose Cortez) if her work is complete. She complains about not being able to understand it. The woman assures her that she isn’t “trying hard enough.” Emily says she fears for her father’s life and if something does happen, she will be to blame. The woman orders her to “get her head out of her a**.”

Angela Adams/Emily (Alia Shawkat) lays on a bed in a dark room. Agent Raymond Waters (E.J. Bonilla) and Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe) discuss their military service. Mike (Echo Kellum) tells Julian that he has a strange feeling something isn’t right. Waters receives a call from Harold Harper (John Lithgow) to discuss their plan.

Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman) tells Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) about her meeting with Hamzad’s lawyer. She suggests the attorney’s facial expression may be a sign of tension between her and Hamzad. Dan assures her that Hamzad wouldn’t people who are disloyal. Harold informs Dan that Morgan Bote (Joel Grey) is now involved in a plan to make everything go away. He says Bote collaborated with Hamzad to swap Emily for Dan. He warns Dan that what happens after he boards the plane is unclear, but probably not good. Dan asks Harold if he trusts Waters and Julian to follow through with the plan. Harold says he does trust them. When Dan tells Zoe that she is free to go home, she suggests having a plan to rescue him from Hamzad. She admits to caring about his well-being. He apologizes for getting her involved.

In a flashback – Young Faraz Hamzad (Pej Kellum) warns Dan Chase (Bill Heck) and Belour Daadfar/young Abbey Chase (Leem Lubany) that he must be cautious with what he knows. Abbey asks what it is he knows. He assures her it is something that she wishes he didn’t know. She suggests he should start by being honest. After accusing them of freeing the Russian prisoner, he demands to know why. She claims to be a loyal wife before asking him to trust her. Raising his voice, he demands to know the truth. She admits conspiring with the Russians against their adversaries by feeding them information to weaken them. He claims to have known all along what she was doing.

Dan admits he released the prisoner in hopes of repairing his relationship with the Soviets. Abbey says an ore deposit in the Panjshir drove the Russians there. Hamzad questions if this is what she was keeping from him. She claims to know where the ore deposit is located. He suggests the ore deposit could’ve secured them a win in the war. She assures him that everything is going as planned. Their discussion continues until she has had enough. With her out of the room, Hamzad warns Dan that he should be gone by morning.

Dan reaches out to young Harold Harper to request his assistance in returning to the states. Harold says he assumed Abbey and Hamzad were “inseparable.” Dan tells him that things changed after Hamzad discovered she had secrets. Harold voices his concern about the consequences of their supplying weapons and money to Hamzad. He agrees to help him but only if there is no chance of Hamzad contacting them again. Dan promises to take care of it but only if he helps him.

Back to the present – Julian asks Waters if he believes Harold will stick to his end of the bargain. Waters assures him that Harold doesn’t want anything to happen to Angela. Julian informs him that Bote controlled the CIA at one point. Waters says even though Angela is a cop, she is a lot like them. Confused, Julian questions what he is trying to say. After warning that a group of men is getting into position, Mike suggests they get on the move.

Harold asks Dan if he should be concerned about Zoe after she returns home. Dan assures him that Zoe is no threat before hoping she returns to her real life. Harold demands to know what happened before or amid Azur Maroc Air flight 31 that stopped him from getting rid of Hamzad. Dan refuses to answer his question. Harold tells Dan how he was introduced to Angela. Dan denies talking to Angela about her personal life. Harold tries to convince Dan to tell him what happened on his trip back to the United States claiming it is for Angela.

Dan says Old Suleyman Palovich’s (Rade Serbedzija) claims that he had been recruited by Abbey to help Hamzad win the war makes him question if she was using him as well. He suggests Harold tell Angela that her parents loved her. Harold receives a call from Waters warning that they are being surrounded. Dan suggests it is Hamzad trying to gain access to Angela. Frantic, Harold tells his men that the deal is off before making a U-turn.

In a dream – Emily sees a woman in a white dress standing in sand. She tells the woman that she is there to save her. The woman says she is her father. Emily asks why she can’t see it is her, not her father. The woman refers to her as “Freckles.” When Emily demands she not call her that, the woman asks what name she would prefer before disappearing. Emily gradually approaches the area where the woman was standing to find a doll in a white dress and bonnet. A woman’s wails can be heard in the background.

Back to the present – Waters helps Angela sit up before offering her a drink. Julian warns him that whoever is driving the van is likely to get shot by a sniper. Julian suggests they meet on the road after he takes the “overwatch shooter” down.

Julian takes out several gunmen as he makes his way to where the sniper is standing guard. He continues to take out gunmen until he finally takes down the overwatch shooter at which time, he alerts Waters and Mike.

While Waters provides Angela with an explanation of what is going down, a woman walks in front of the van. As he orders Mike to go, the woman fires her weapon, taking out both of them.

Harold questions why Hamzad would risk everything after everything the American government gave him. Dan asks why Hamzad would think taking Angela would bother anyone. Harold points out that Angela is more than his daughter but also an FBI agent. Dan asks why he would put Angela in even more danger. Harold suggests if he would’ve heeded his advice and killed Hamzad, they wouldn’t be in this situation now. A man orders Harold to return to the airfield or be arrested. Retrieving a gun, Harold says he will not turn around because Angela is also his kid like it or not. Dan moves to the backseat while Harold rams into the back of a vehicle and sideswipes another vehicle. Dan fires shots causing a rollover. Harold tells Dan that they are in it together.

Harold finds Mike and Waters’s lifeless bodies. Dan says he and Abbey contemplated if they needed three tickets for Azur Maroc flight 31 but thought it best to stick with the two from him. He suggests Hamzad was testing Harold to determine if he knew there was an additional passenger on the flight. Harold asks who the additional passenger was.  Dan admits he couldn’t kill Hamzad with his daughter in the room. We can see Abbey holding Emily as Dan stands next to a sleeping Hamzad.  They quietly exit the room.

We can see Hamzad Dresser (Shawn Mousavi) lying in bed. He gradually sits up on the side of the bed at which time he narrates how he never thought anything would come between himself and Emily. He assures her that she was everything to him. He tells about his dream to build her kingdom. He voices his concern for what she may have become after being taken from him. A woman tells him that Parwana is home. Emily emerges from a vehicle.

Harold and Dan arrive at the airport as the

 

The Old Man Finale Review

The finale ended as most viewers expected without resolution. In all actuality, it added nothing to the story other than Emily being Hamzad’s daughter. This is why it is never a good idea to prematurely announce a second season.

The dream scene in which Emily sees a woman standing in sand was adapted from the 1979 Soviet film “Stalker” by Andrei Tarkovsky. I would attempt an interpretation of the dream, but it would risk offending someone. Feel free to chime in.

The finale is a product of unimaginative, lazy writing. The airtime was wasted on Harold and Dan bickering back and forth about the Azur Maroc flight 31, which was way overused.

The highlight of the episode was Hamzad’s narration in which he addresses his daughter. Throughout the show, Dan is portrayed as an aggressively selfish man. He convinces Abbey to leave her husband, Abbey to take Emily away from her father, and Zoe to leave her son. What was the purpose of pulling Zoe into his life on the run? He drops her like a hot potato when he no longer needs her. I hope they didn’t expect all viewers to sympathize with Dan. I, for one, found him repugnant.

The finale deserves a 5. Get more The Old Man recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking on the link.