XI – The episode begins immediately after the attack on the village with Tarik (Amir Malaklou) scrambling to mend fences with the Military Minister (Amir M. Korangy). It appears he never even gets past his assistant. After Tarik briefs Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) and Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), Faraz demands to speak with Angela Adams/Parwana/Emily (Alia Shawkat). Tarik discovers Angela in a side room with Farouk (Michael Sifain), who refuses to leave his deceased mother’s side, Faruza (Sara Seyed). Reality hits even harder when they learn they’ve been given 72 hours to vacate the compound.
Harold Harper (John Lithgow) pleads with the Chopper Pilot for more time while Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) stares blankly down at the compound. After joining his side, Harper will attempt to comfort Dan by sharing with him a story of another time when Angela killed a man during an operation gone wrong. Although Dan will point out that all kills are not the same, their fears are put to bed when Angela comes ambling up the mountainside several seconds later. Not only does Angela have the non-English speaking Farouk with her demands they use their connection with Morgan Bote (Joel Grey) to save the village. It takes a bit of convincing but both Dan and Harper appear to be willing to give speaking with Bote a shot.
When Dan and Harper arrive at a military airport and are ordered to wait, Harper questions him about his earlier statement. Dan only gets a few seconds to attempt to explain before their plane taxis down the runway. At the same time, Angela and Faraz discuss the plans each of them has set in motion. Faraz appears immensely grateful for her attributes to Farouk but has to question her motive. She doesn’t really get the chance to explain before he asks her to leave. He will explain that he isn’t asking because she doesn’t belong or because it’s dangerous, but because he needs her help elsewhere. At Faraz’s request, Angela meets with Tarik, who asks for her help to save the village.
While Dan and Harper briefly discuss the best way to approach Bote it becomes clear that the trio have a long, storied past. Not only do they have vastly different ideas on how to accomplish their task, but it’s also suggested that Dan and Bote’s past is much rockier than Harper would like. Harper suspects that Bote’s motives for wanting to destroy the village go far beyond being sore over being double-crossed. It isn’t long after this that the two are dropped off in what appears to be a normal suburban subdivision. Harper will ignore another call from Marion (Janet McTeer) as they approach a gate.
The meeting with Bote goes about as well as Dan and Harper expected until he tells them that they have no idea as to what they’ve stepped into or who they might hurt. They will question that statement shortly but he doesn’t get the time to respond due to the sudden arrival of Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman) with Dan’s dogs.
Tarik continues to plead for Angela’s help by sharing a bit of his origin story. According to him, he was sent to study in the States because he reminded Faraz too much of her. He openly admits that he didn’t handle that well but it inspired him to pursue his own greatness, which he claims at the moment is to save the village. Although Angela doubts that the people would listen to her, she simultaneously admits that she isn’t 100% sure she wants the people to leave because of their connection to the land. This is when Tarik realizes that Faraz shared the cemetery with her. Despite this, Tarik claims if those elders were given the chance to leave, they would have. Angela doubts his claims and they are in the middle of debating that when Khadija interrupts with the announcement of Faraz’s passing.
Meanwhile, Harper and Dan are learning how Zoe had a hard time immigrating back into ‘real life’ after returning from Morocco. In an attempt to help Dan and Angela, Zoe would eventually reach out to Nina Kruger (Rowena King), but she never even bothered to return her calls. Instead, she would one day receive a call from Bote. It is Harold who asks the bigger question of why Bote was watching Faraz’s lawyer, Nina. This is when Bote tells them about learning Suleyman Pavlovich’s (Rade Serbedzija) plans to steal the Meshbahar Mine. Dan is completely disbelieving but shortly Zoe will receive a call that proves his statements true.
Once Zoe shares the news of the call, Dan returns to his save-the-village campaign. Although he appears to get through to Bote, Dan doesn’t like putting that conversation off until the morning. Dan takes a step towards Bote but thinks better of it when Zoe and one of the dogs immediately step in. It isn’t very long after this unpleasant encounter that she convinces him to allow her to speak with Bote.
By the time, Angela meets with Khadija, Tarik has made plans to return home after tomorrow’s burial. Before Angela is faced with the option of leaving or staying, she will attempt to share the truth about Faraz’s wound. Much to her surprise, Khadija apparently already knows and further claims that no one needs to know.
As promised, Zoe attempts to convince Bote to help the village. Their conversation will not go much further thanks to a stirring in the distance. It isn’t much longer that he’s shot an intruder dead and Zoe is hiding. Bote is in the middle of alerting or contacting someone on his phone when he’s shot. It isn’t long after this that Dan and one of the dogs arrive. Dan doesn’t personally know the intruders but can only assume they are Pavlovich’s people.
The episode ends with a conversation between Pavlovich and his Bodyguard or Head of Security (Trenton Rostedt) that proves Dan’s suspicion true. What he’s failed to realize, however, is that he and Harold were the intended targets.
The Old Man Review
Not a horrible episode and I appreciated the focus on family and roots. In the grand scheme of things, quite a bit actually went down. It probably didn’t seem like it at times, but the killing off of two central figures like Bote and Faraz could send the plot branching in an untold number of directions. It’s pretty obvious that Angela will risk life and limb to continue protecting the village. I’m a bit thrown as to why Dan and Harold were the intended targets of the assassins but there are several possibilities.
It was interesting to learn a bit more about Tarik roots while catching up with two central characters. I’d give the episode a 5 out of 10.
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