VIII – As this episode of The Old Man begins, Harold Harper (John Lithgow) sleeps in the back of a dark truck. Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) tells him he hasn’t been out long and they’re not far from the border. They talk about the Gumballs which was the name of her soccer team. She was nine when she woke up one morning and suddenly had an interest in sports. Chase warns him that things are about to get serious. Harold wants to be able to tell her how they’re trying to make sense of everything. The stories are how they’ll piece all that together. Chase says they’re out to find out if Harold’s man knows how to properly bribe a border guard. Chase welcomes him to Afghanistan when the vehicle begins moving. It worries him when Harold begins speaking like a cop.

Chase reminds him that Emily has been in this position for three weeks now. The truck stops and they hear gunfire. Before long, Chase and Harold leave the vehicle and find two men shot. Chase says Harold’s man Hameed was the only one who knew where they were going. He shoots one of the men to finish him off. Chase believes Harold is going to have to call her because they have no idea where they’re going. Harold finds what appears to be a satellite phone and says it’s only a little further to go. The destination on the phone is likely where they’re supposed to meet their contact in the resistance. Chase can get them there, but he’s worried about finding the guy without their driver. He wants Harper to call her, but Harold refuses to do so. They drive away moments later.

Before long, Harold believes Chase doesn’t know where he’s going. Chase says otherwise. Harper wonders how Chase knew it was there because he hasn’t been there in decades. They meet members of the resistance. A man approaches and asks who they are. Chase tells him they’re there to meet someone. They’re told they should not have come there. Chase and Harold are taken outside and guns are put to their heads. Omar (Artur Zai Barrera) yells for his men to stop. He approaches and explains that Commander Abdul Nazary sent him. Omar asks about Hameed. Dan Chase tells him that they were ambushed on the road. He goes on to say a woman has been kidnapped. They were assured the commander and his men would help them get her back.

Chase says the woman was kidnapped by Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban). Omar tells the men to let them go. He tells Chase and Harper that they have much to discuss. Their unit is one of the last offering any resistance against the government. There have been whispers that an agent with the FBI has been abducted by Hamzad. Everyone expected a response from Washington, but that response never came. Omar asks if they’re the response. Harper admits it’s complicated. Their friend who set it up is guaranteeing a funding windfall for Omar’s unit if he helps. Chase explains they’d be causing devastating trouble for Hamzad. They would need transport into the valley, supplies, and a few days to observe the village and build a plan. They’d need 20 men and small arms. Omar says that’s not enough time to observe the village because there’s supposedly a web of hidden passages beneath it. It would take weeks to plan.

As they travel together, Omar tells them about Hamzad. When the Taliban took control, the resistance commanders went to Hamzad and begged him to lead a fight to keep Panjshir free. Hamzad refused because he had business with the government. Omar shows them what is believed to be one of the largest deposits of lithium in the world. It’s called the Meshbahar deposit. Hamzad intends to exploit it. Chase says Hamzad doesn’t like the Taliban. He hated them almost as much as he hated the Russians during the war. Omar questions how much money would be needed to bring together mortal enemies. He shows Chase a picture of Hamzad with the Taliban. The government can’t take it because they’ve been sanctioned. Omar claims his people aren’t afraid to cross Hamzad. He wants Chase to know what kind of enemy he faces.

From this point, they’re going to be entering his territory. Omar is eager to meet the woman they’re after. Their journey continues. Dan Chase thinks about Abbey. In a flashback, Dan Chase (Bill Heck) and Belour talk about the young girl. Belour (Leem Lubany) says they’re going to tell her nothing and she will come from nowhere. Although she’s afraid of Chase, it’s become less and less every day. He will be her father. Belour insists she can never know anything about Faraz Hamzad. She knows he will look for her, but he cannot be allowed to find her. Chase promises not to let that happen. In the present, Harper admits he needs to stop again. Dan doesn’t need to stop so they continue. Harper yells that they’re going to stop. Omar warns Dan that Harper doesn’t fit. He believes Dan has been inside Hamzad’s compound.

Omar finds it hard to believe an American secretly fought in his service against the Russians. He talks about what the man was willing to do and how they called him Baba-khorkhore. Omar asks if the story is true and whether Chase is the monster. Chase says it’s a good story but that’s all it is. Harper hears something. He’s told it’s Taliban patrols. Omar is ready to take them to the commander. Dan tells Harper that he needs to call her now. Harper says yeah. Harper walks off in the distance to call Marion (Janet McTeer) to say they have a problem. He explains they connected with Abdul Nazary’s man as she arranged. Someone got to their camp first. Harper says they need to find another way forward and they don’t have time. She reminds him she hadn’t heard his voice in over 30 years. Marion agrees to try to find a new source of help.

She tells him to ask Ali to help him find a safe place to hide. Harper asks who Ali is. She says that’s the name of Commander Abdul Nazary’s man. Dan stares at the bodies scattered throughout the camp. Omar questions why the US government didn’t pour all its resources into finding missing the FBI agent, Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat). He attributes the timing of Dan’s arrival and Angela’s disappearance to his brothers’ deaths. He demands to know what Dan is hiding. When Dan refuses to answer, Omar makes a move at him. Dan repeatedly hits him until he gains the upper hand. The struggle ensues and ends with Omar knocking Dan down, straddling him, and stabbing him in the upper chest. As the knife penetrates Dan’s chest, Omar expresses his desire to find out why Hamzad is jeopardizing all his influence. In a foreign language, Dan says the stories about the monsters are true before biting Omar. Screaming in pain, Omar rolls onto the ground. Dan jerks the knife out of his chest and slices Omar across the face. Harold rides into the camp on a horse and Dan climbs up behind him. Omar watches as they flee on the horse with three Taliban on motorbikes in toll. The pursuit ends when the Taliban find the horse. Dan and Harold are walking through a mountain pass toward a cave entrance.

Upon entering the cave. Dan tells Harold that he and Abby utilized the cave in the past before starting to unearth his hidden gear. After helping him lay down, Harold goes off to dig up Dan’s first aid kit. Dan says the camp was part of Taliban intelligence which he should have known. Harold recalls Dan getting stabbed multiple times in the past. He looks at Dan’s stack of Taliban photos. Dan urges him to call Cheryl Harper (Jessica Harper) and Marion (Janet McTeer) to ask for transportation to get out of there. Not in the least surprised, Harold assures him that he was always stronger than he thought. Dan says there is no sense pretending Emily is still alive. Harold insists Emily’s training will keep her alive and Dan doesn’t know her very well. Something in Emily always reminded him of Hamzad. Harold accuses him of being afraid to face Emily. Dan claims he is out of options but Harold can still and should walk away from it all. Harold calls Cheryl to update her on their situation. She informs him of receiving a call from Marion who told her that they had been in contact. She recalls Harold warning her of how dangerous Marion had become. He admits to keeping the dangers of their operation from her. She asks if they will ever see him again. He doesn’t answer.

Dan is started awake by animal noises. He hears voices in his head. A short time later, he wakes to find Harold sleeping on a nearby mat and someone standing at the cave entrance. The man gets closer to reveal he is Faraz Hamzad. He cocks his gun. When the scene switches to a snow-covered mountain in the distance, a shot rings out. The episode ends.

 

 

The Old Man Review

The opening episode of The Old Man’s second season leaves a lot to be desired. During the 45-minute episode, very little happened. Everything that did happen felt unrealistic and/or cringeworthy. It’s still difficult to believe that a 74-year-old man is beating up younger, fitter guys, especially considering how visibly Chase hobbles around through each scene.

During the fight between Dan and Omar, Harold Harper was nowhere to be found. Sure, he was on the phone briefly, but the fight was prolonged and he would’ve returned. Even then, the fight was pretty lackluster and uneventful. Some of the performances are very shaky. It’s even hard to believe that these two old white guys are walking around so freely in Afghanistan with no one around and no one questioning anything. It helps it’s just in California.

Unfortunately, the whole thing is really dumb and it requires viewers to completely disconnect from reality. Otherwise, they’re going to find themselves questioning everything. The editing doesn’t help anything because it only muddles the story for whatever reason. It’s really just one implausible scene after another with no cohesion and no real reason to care about any of it with the dogs gone.

With 15 or more executive producers and co-executive producers and a novel in the background, one would think the story could at least be a little realistic. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10.

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