The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (2024)

Table of Contents
The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 1 – VIII’ Recap: How much time has passed between the first two seasons? Why is Hamzad important to the US and Taliban? Who is Omar actually working for? Where do Chase and Harper finally escape? Who was in the cave? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 2 – IX’ Recap: What does Emily learn about her father and mother? How does Emily’s kidnapping affect Hamzad? Does Emily settle in Hamzad’s camp? How does Omar and the Taliban push back against Hamzad? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 3 – X’ Recap: What is Emily’s goal? How does the standoff between Omar and Khadija finally end? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 4 – XI’ Recap: Why does Harper and Chase return to America without Emily? How is Zoe involved with Morgan Bote? Does Faraz Hamzad die? Does Zoe manage to convince Morgan Bote? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 5 – XII’ Recap: Where does Harper take Chase and Zoe to hide out? What does the call to Emily reveal? How does Chase and Harper deal with the death? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 6 – XIII Recap: How is Julian Carson brought into the story? How does Chase and Zoe locate Nina Kruger? Why does Pavlovich want to kill Chase and Zoe? Why does Chase give himself up? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 7 – XIV’ Recap: What is Chase and Zoe’s plan to deal with Pavlovich? Why does the plan fail? How is Harper’s ex-wife Marion involved with Pavlovich? Are Chase and Emily alive? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 8 – XV’ Recap: How does Emily survive the assault on the Hamzad village? How does Marion help in dispatching Pavlovich? How does Zoe rescue Chase? The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 8 – XV’ Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? Read More: The Old Man (Season 2) Trailer: References

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Starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Alia Shawkat, the hit espionage drama thriller “The Old Man” finally returns for a second season. Originally conceived of as a miniseries before being extended to two seasons (Bridges’ diagnosis of lymphoma and his cancer treatment might have been a motivating factor), the production for season 2 started in February 2022 before being halted in May 2023 due to the WGA strikes before finally resuming after the strikes had been lifted. Now season 2 returns, and while in reality and narratively, time has passed, the show itself hasn’t lost much of a beat. On the contrary, it might have tightened its focus slightly.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 1 – VIII’ Recap:

How much time has passed between the first two seasons?

The episode opens with Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper (John Lithgow) being smuggled into Afghanistan on the back of a truck. The relationship between the two grizzled vets has cooled considerably, with their bickering sounding more like a married couple. The last we saw them, they were off to rescue Chase’s daughter and Harold’s protege, FBI Agent Angela Adams, AKA Emily Chase. Only when she had been abducted by Afghan warlord Faraz Hamzad’s sister Khadija do we learn another astonishing truth, which had been on the cards since season 1 entered the weeds of its plot: Angela is Parwana Hamzad, daughter of Faraz and Belour, who escapes with Dan Chase to America, with—we later learn—her daughter as well.

As the truck enters Afghanistan, in Taliban-controlled territory, three weeks have passed already. The two men would spend the entirety of the trip bickering about their effectiveness, each other’s capability as field agents, and their differing memories of working together. But of course, there is history there, with the baggage of both Harper and Chase’s relationship with Angela, who also shares a fatherly bond with Harper. Considering that she is currently with Hamzad, this relationship, at its most optimistic, will get very complicated.

Why is Hamzad important to the US and Taliban?

Chase, taking into account progress occurring even slower than usual in Afghanistan, knows enough about the usual haunts to locate the rendezvous point, only to be held at gunpoint by the local militia upon seeing two white men. Omar would barely rescue them, ostensibly a guide sent by their point of contact. Considering that he knows both of their names and that he talks in fluent English, they have no choice but to trust him, though I would be reticent in believing the two of the grizzled agents not suspecting the man from the start.

It is fascinating, though, how much of the relationship between Emily and her father is getting more of a dimension as the show, in its eighth episode overall, is still cagey with its reveals. I do have to admire that for an opener for this season, the show, from an emotional and narrative standpoint, is jam-packed with reveals. On the one hand, we know why Hamzad is currently one of the more important people in the geopolitical landscape in Afghanistan, to the extent that the Taliban are in a shaky alliance with him—he has control over the largest lithium deposit and thus supports from the United States as a result as well. In contrast, that alliance built on the foundation of profits does ensure that Hamzad’s community remains secure.

On the other hand, we also learn through a flashback that Chase recalls—the pivotal diner scene between Abbey and Chase in the pilot episode—now revealing young Parwana/Emily already sleeping in her mother’s lap. In this crucial moment, Abbey decides not to reveal her true heritage to Emily for fear of retribution from Hamzad, who is and would be searching for them with a vengeance. Abbey instructs Chase to be the only father that Emily would know and never to let her daughter come into proximity with Hamzad. Considering the current situation they find themselves in, Chase believes he has failed her.

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Who is Omar actually working for?

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The final revelation is also the most telegraphed, but it also re-introduces viewers to Chase’s capabilities as a field agent. As Omar talks about the tale of the secretive and dangerous American soldier on Hamzad’s side, who would disappear and who would be known as a monster around these parts, we are inevitably preparing ourselves for the other shoe to drop. As it turns out, multiple shoes drop. Firstly, they find the rendezvous point has become a graveyard, with all the forces at the camp being killed.

This finally convinces Harper to call “her” Marion, a government operative with whom Harper is conducting a seemingly off-the-books rescue mission. But as he contacts through the satellite phone under his possession, his suspicions in full swing, he gets the shock of his life when he learns that Omar isn’t the point man they had been supposed to meet.

Back at the encampment, Omar’s curiosity about the woman being kidnapped finally morphs into statements revealing that he knows about an FBI agent being brought into the country by Hamzad, but considering that the US forces haven’t retaliated in full swing has made him even more curious. That curiosity is transplanted to Chase, who finally asks Omar about his identity, leading to a drag-out, knuckle-bruising fight.

To the show’s credit, Chase managing to throw around a man almost half his age is choreographed quite realistically. Still, as he is overpowered by Omar, who inserts a knife into Chase’s shoulder blades, he remarks that he wants the honor of knowing Hamzad’s true intentions. Chase barely manages to push Omar off by biting off his face and then gallops away on Harper’s horse, with Taliban intelligence after them on their motorcycles.

Where do Chase and Harper finally escape?

They are unable to catch them because the two octogenarian agents ditch their steed and gingerly climb up the rocky slope of the mountain to a cave that Chase recognizes as the one Abbey would come to hide. Chase had kept supplies, like first aid, locked inside a lockbox buried for decades. As Chase recuperates from the fire, he urges Harper to call his wife and request Marion an extract for Harper, which Harper refuses, reminding him that he isn’t as weak as Chase suspects he is.

Chase then takes a different emotional tack, stating that Emily is dead as he recalls the conversation they had in the car regarding her first soccer match. At that moment, Chase thinks of Emily’s strong-willed determination when she insists on playing soccer. This, in turn, reminds him that there was always a part of Hamzad within Emily—a part he could never fully reach. He is worried that Emily could talk back or make a fatal decision that would have cost her life, but Harper urges him not to give up and to trust his daughter. He walks out of the cave to call his wife, only to learn that she has already been informed about Harper being deeply involved in some off-the-books mission by Marion (who is Harper’s ex-wife), and now he has no idea when he will be back.

Back in the cave, as Chase recovers, he is visited by the ghost of Hamzad’s younger self, who taunts him by stating that maybe Chase likes being the monster, that rescuing his daughter is perhaps an excuse, and if that is the case, he is home. As Chase wakes up from his dream, he suddenly realises that the real-life Hmazad is standing near the mouth of the cave. With groggy eyes, Hamzad walks towards him before pointing the gun at his hand as the camera cuts away to a shot of the mountains, and a gunshot is heard.

Who was in the cave?

Unbeknownst to Omar, Hamzad would escape with Emily on horseback, taking her to a cave system he had informed his wife about as a place to hide when enemies attacked. As they make the walk up the rocky slope, the show frames their conversation as Hamzad finally conversing with the child Parwana rather than the adult Emily, whereby he apologizes to her before remarking that he doesn’t have a logical reason for bringing her here beyond an urge to see her and bade goodbye to her for the first and last time.

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (2)

It’s an intense heart-to-heart between a father and daughter of a broken family that further proves that “The Old Man” is a family melodrama in the garb of an espionage thriller. In return, when Emily asks what he thinks of her, Hamzad doesn’t answer her directly. Instead, he chooses to answer his impressions about Emily’s mother, informing her that life with Baldour had taught Hamzad one thing: you can either love someone or you can trust them. This dissociation is something Hamzad has learned the hard way, and he wishes for Emily to learn it as quickly as possible before life chooses to teach it to her in its own unforgivable fashion.

All of a sudden, they hear sounds from the cave, and Hamzad sneaks into the cave while Emily waits outside. It’s only when she hears a gunshot that she creeps in, gun outstretched, presumably at the cave system where Hamzad locates Dan Chase at the end of episode 1, with this episode ending at Emily’s shocked face.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 2 – IX’ Recap:

What does Emily learn about her father and mother?

The perspective shifts in this second episode, where we follow Emily being brought into Hamzad’s compound by Khadija, Hamzad’s sister and advisor. As Emily is brought into a single room, she is asked about her identity before Hadija reveals that, unlike Emily’s prior knowledge, Hamzad is more than a warlord or her enemy. Hmazad is her father, and her real name is Parwana. She had been stolen from her father by her mother and the American who worked as his mercenary.

To hammer home the knowledge, Khadija would send an old home video device (interrupting Emily’s attempts at escape). Skeptical, Emily would turn the machine on, revealing an old recording of Hamzad playing with Parwana and singing a lullaby to her. That voice must have unlocked something in her, perhaps a long-forgotten memory, which finally triggers a flood of emotions within her.

The following day, she is finally allowed to meet with Faraz Hamzad, and their interactions are expectedly awkward. While Hamzad begins their conversations with a discussion of a family tree of freedom fighters and warriors, Emily brings back the conversation to Balour, Hamzad’s ex-wife and Emily’s mother. Emily’s impassioned plea to find something tangible about her mother that could explain the lack of affection shown towards her. Her father refuses to answer Emily’s plea because she has been a “manipulative” person.

How does Emily’s kidnapping affect Hamzad?

As it turns out, Hamzad kidnapping Emily was a domino not even Khalidja could have predicted. The fallout comes in the form of Omar (not injured by Chase mauling his face, so taking place earlier in the timeline). Omar’s conversation with Hamzad reveals not only that he is aware that the woman kidnapped is an FBI agent but that the truce Hamzad has with the Taliban is on shaky ground because he hasn’t paid his tribute. His problems, however, could be solved if Emily is handed over to him and, by extension, the Taliban.

Hamzad is experienced enough to rebuff Omar’s threats by reminding him that he is also aware of Omar’s state of service within the Taliban intelligence, that his uncle had chosen over him for a promotion, and that this meeting is essentially a leverage play for Omar. Omar walks away, licking his wounds and revealing to Hamzad about two Americans looking for the kidnapped woman. However, once Omar leaves, a frazzled Hamzad asks about the late payments to Khadija, which she emphatically states he is responsible for because he pursues Emily, which has weakened his position between both parties. This impulsive move by him is going to cost him hard.

As it turns out, it is costing both Hamzad and Emily their emotional sanity. That night, Hamzad goes to Emily’s room to ostensibly kill her due to her manipulative nature reminding him of his ex-wife, and she reacts in the exact manner that Chase had feared—using her training to get in Hamzad’s face and threaten him to either make a move or accept he is a coward. The result is a physical altercation between father and daughter that is both sickening and sad, and that ends with Hamzad finally stopping himself from choking out Emily and killing her, instead breaking down.

Does Emily settle in Hamzad’s camp?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (3)

Ironically, though, Emily’s pushback might have helped her gain newfound respect from her father because she is shifted to better quarters under the care of her cousin. This begins a journey for Emily to try to understand through morsels of conversation about her mother, either from Khadija or Faruza, her cousin. Khadija, shocked upon learning that Emily’s mother is dead (she was shown to have passed away due to Huntington’s disease in the pilot of the show), states that none of the questions being asked by Emily are the right questions. She would be deemed to have answers once she was ready with the right questions.

But Emily’s time passes in a somewhat pleasant fashion overall. She learns from Farouza that after her husband died fighting the Taliban when they came back into power, it had been Hamzad who had protected them. Emily grows closer to Farouza’s son, Farouk, who teaches her the Dari language and shows her his hidden stash of toys buried in a tree trunk. From Farouza and Emily’s predilection for knitting, she starts to slowly understand her mother’s apparent hatred towards this, which might have been her only source of connection to her homeland.

How does Omar and the Taliban push back against Hamzad?

The timeline catches up to the present timeline (or the timeline of the first episode), where we see Omar, now wearing an eye patch, meeting with Taliban intelligence and informing him that Hamzad hadn’t been entirely honest with them. While the details of the lies aren’t apparent, their existence is. Omar’s superior agrees to a reevaluation with Hamzad, which leads to the Taliban directly attacking and seizing control of the lithium deposit and its operations. When Khadija notices that, she calls her contact (presumably within the US), informing him about their assurances to provide Hamzad and their operations with immunity. The fact that someone blatantly breaks the rules signifies something horrific is about to happen.

Omar moves with his group towards Hamzad’s village, where he is met by Khadija and surrounded by Hamzad’s men at gunpoint. Angry at being rebuffed and disagreeing with Khadija’s claims that Hamzad’s bribery could have helped Omar gain a stronger hold amidst the Taliban, Omar promises to conscript every man in the village to their cause instead of just being satisfied at having captured Hamzad.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 3 – X’ Recap:

What is Emily’s goal?

With the first two episodes dealing with the question of who shot Hamzad towards the end, “X” finally answers us by revealing that it was Harold Harper. However, the shooting of Hamzad also coincides with the arrival of Emily, and thus the reunion of Emily with her two fathers, albeit with its own share of confusion. Considering Emily hasn’t seen Dan in ages, Harper is still calling her “Angela,” and her biological father is lying on the floor with a bullet in his gut, the situation is melodramatically complicated.

With Emily hurriedly trying to put pressure on Hamzad’s wound and asking the two Americans to help take Hamzad to safety, irrespective of the fact that Harper’s chopper as the exfil would be there soon, Chase agrees to help Emily, convincing Harper on the side that refusing Emily might further push her away, a perspective that has affected Chase since his dream last night.

How does the standoff between Omar and Khadija finally end?

Back in the Taliban village, the standoff between Khadija and Omar continues. The stalemate of Khadija trying to push Omar and his armies and Omar refusing is broken by the arrival of Khadija’s son via helicopter, Tarik. Tarik, taking centre stage, walks right up to Omar with a massive bag of cash and convinces Omar that no matter what transpires, Faraz Hamzad still has enough power to ensure Omar answers for them, and it would be in his best interests to accept the money.

It apparently works because Omar takes the money and commands his army to fall back. But according to Tarik, Hamzad and his family are in trouble not because of the Taliban but because Morgan Bote, in anger at Hamzad having kidnapped Emily/Parwana, has frozen all their assets. Meanwhile, Omar, realising he can’t enter the village directly, begins to lay his charm on the young kid Farouk, which doesn’t work. As her mother Faruza races towards them in horror, she is shot. In the resultant gunfight (which causes significant casualties), Khadija manages to secure Farouk.

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (4)

Back at the mountains, Emily has managed to assist Chase in dispatching two Taliban soldiers laying guard at the foot of the mountains. With the help of one of their walkie-talkies, she manages to open a channel to Omar, where Omar lays down the law to Hamzad—either come back and surrender to Omar or face the death of his village. Hamzad acquiesces, but Emily also advises that she go with him, whereby she could reveal her identity to defuse the situation, but Hamzad refuses.

As the group walks down the mountains towards the village on horseback, Chase tries to convince Harper that Emily stating “There is no Angela Adams anymore” wasn’t a personal insult to Harper and that the woman they knew, either as Emily, Angela, or now Parwana, is still the same woman. Chase, very proud of his daughter, is scared to lose her because he still couldn’t parse out of Hamzad what the man has expressed to Emily to convince her to come to his side, but Harper angrily reminds him that whatever happens, he has raised “a hell of a kid.”.

As the group reaches the base, both Harper and Chase try to find the best spot for a rescue helicopter, while Hamzad bids a tearful goodbye to his daughter before travelling solo and collapsing in front of Omar. Realising that she couldn’t let her father die, Emily gallops directly up to the standoff. While Omar converses with her, we realise he already knows about her identity, but Emily is also assessing the situation, especially Faruza’s death. Having had enough, she answers Omar’s question by introducing herself as Parwana Hamzad before shoving a knife into Omar’s neck. As Omar falls, Chase opens fire while Emily takes cover with Hamzad.

All hell breaks loose as Harper’s chopper flies in and expressly causes the international incident he had been forbidden to a couple of minutes ago by firing on the trucks containing artillery and blowing them up, including a ton of soldiers. Amidst the haze of destruction, Omar tries to crawl away, but Emily walks up to the body and fires two shots to the head, killing him.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 4 – XI’ Recap:

Why does Harper and Chase return to America without Emily?

The aftermath of the killing of Omar doesn’t bode well from a political standpoint, and even as Tark tries to steady the ship and buy some time for the Taliban, he reluctantly informs Hamzad, his mother Khadija, and his new cousin sister Parwana (Emily)—they have 72 hours before the Taliban descend down on them. And considering that Faraz Hamzad isn’t doing so well, chances are they won’t be under the leadership of that man when it happens.

So Emily’s plan, by bringing young Farouk as added leverage to convince her two fathers, is exactly that: convincing them to go back to America without her and trying to persuade Bote to resume the flow of their funds; otherwise, they won’t be able to survive. Both Harper and Chase clearly aren’t ready to leave Emily to “certain” death, but Emily still manages to convince them, trusting them to get the job done. Thus reluctantly Chase and Harper return to America.

As the two octogenarians en route lay out a plan to handle Bote, it becomes almost like an odd couple dynamic in how both these old men want to handle the true “Old Man” of their lives—the nonagenarian head of the CIA. While Harper wants to converse with Bote and take a diplomatic stand, Chase is more interested in torturing the man and warns Harper that he better talk fast.

How is Zoe involved with Morgan Bote?

It all goes for naught very quickly for Chase, because as the two enter Bote’s mansion, the strained relationship between the three men doesn’t help either, with Harper’s methodology of convincing Bote to unfreeze the funds doing jack-all; Bote smugly reminding them that they don’t have a clue which story they are actually in. And considering Bote, he isn’t going to tell the story so easily. As Chase has had enough and moves forward with his plan, he is stopped in his tracks by the appearance of his two dogs and Zoe. Looking at Zoe makes Chase further put blame on Bote, but Bote shifts the blame back on him, with Bote trying to get them all out of this mess.

Apparently Zoe had tried to call Nina Kruger (Hamzad’s lawyer, to whom Zoe outed her true identity at Pavlovich’s party in Morocco), once she had picked up Chase’s dogs and tried to get back to her life. She would get a call back from Bote, who had been monitoring Kruger. What we learn is more complicated. The true villain of this entire situation is not Bote but Suleiman Pavlovich, who had been trying to steal it from Hamzad’s.

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (5)

Zoe connecting with Kruger and setting up a meeting for next week is the only intelligent play they have in convincing Pavlovich. But Chase doesn’t agree, countering that a week is too long, and angrily states that Bote isn’t trying his best to help them because he doesn’t want to, not because he is unable to find a solution. Bote tells them to come back tomorrow, and Chase angrily tries to pick Bote up only to be stopped by Zoe, such that she could convince him outside. But even Harper reluctantly agrees that Chase is right, and Bote counters by stating that if he had wanted Bote to help, he should have kept Chase outside.

Does Faraz Hamzad die?

Back at Hamzad’s camp, Emily is requested by Hamzad to not stay at the village but to rather continue the fights that need fighting away from this dangerous place. It is counter to Emily’s first conversation with her cousin Tarik, who reveals that Emily might be the only person who could convince all of them to actually leave the valley and fulfill Tarik’s purpose that he had set out to do by going to America—finding a life for himself beyond the valley.

Is it an unduly large amount of pressure to be put on a woman who had barely come to terms with her identity a couple of hours ago in a moment of high pressure and adrenaline? Yes. But the discussion pauses because Khadijha comes out of Hamad’s room, tinged with sorrow, to inform that Faraz Hamzad has passed away, having succumbed to his wounds. As Emily mourns, Kahdija reassures her that no one would know of her responsibility in her father’s death; rather, the narrative would be that Hamzad died defending his daughter and that she had sent two American agents back to the US for their aid.

Does Zoe manage to convince Morgan Bote?

Zoe manages to convince Chase that she would be able to sweet-talk Bote into coming around towards Chase’s side, but the execution of that plan is another matter. Bote is wily enough to see through her wiles and reminds her that she only believes he could help her because he is trained enough to convince her about that sentiment.

But no amount of wiliness from Zoe could save Bote, as barks from the dogs warn Bote, who takes a gun out while Zoe takes cover. However, the intruder manages to shoot Bote, and the only reason why Zoe survives is because the dogs resume their allegiance to Chase and follow Chase’s lead in attacking the intruder. However, the problem now is Emily’s exit home is compromised due to Pavlovich being successful at killing Bote.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 5 – XII’ Recap:

Majorly a bottle episode, the only time the episode would shift gear is in the opening, where we see Emily, AKA Parwana, putting her father to rest and writing a letter to her father similar to the one she wrote for her mother, whereby he asks her father to be kind to her mother once he meets her in the afterlife, saying that she did the best she could be amidst her broken nature. But she acknowledges that she is home before burning the letter. She sends Farouk away with Tarik to America, comforting him but also not hiding him from the truth—he would be alone and scared once he reaches that unfamiliar land.

Where does Harper take Chase and Zoe to hide out?

At the Harpers’ home in Washington DC, Cheryl Harper is swamped literally by a leak in their basement when she is surprised by her husband, who tries to convince her that not only is Angela (Emily) in Afghanistan and in danger, but so are they. Both Cheryl and his grandson Henry should move out of the house and stay at a hotel for a while, but Harper’s plans are doused with cold water when he learns that Henry doesn’t stay with his grandmother anymore.

Cheryl’s night is going to be a long one, as the stormy night ushers in Dan Chase, Zoe, and the two dogs. Cheryl Harper understandably hasn’t been prepared for her house to be boarded by so many people, especially considering her husband is reticent at divulging identities, except that Chase is Angela’s dad and that Angela has been a fiction. But amidst all these fabrications, Harper realises that his life in and of itself is hanging by a thread—his grandson has been sent off to their maternal grandparents’ house, and his wife is slowly getting tired of all the secrets that her husband is keeping from her, even though she knew the deal when she had married him.

What does the call to Emily reveal?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (6)

As the power cuts out due to the leak, the house drowns in darkness. Chase, meanwhile, had been trying to call Emily, which she finally answered. They are in the middle of evacuating the village using the tunnels, and while Chase breaks the bad news that Bote is dead and he is unable to help her, she too responds that Hamzad is dead and the enemy is already here. They are using the exact tunnels that Emily and the villagers are using now to get out.

As panic sets in for Chase, realising the utter helplessness, Emily bids goodbye to her two fathers. She apologises to Harper and Cheryl for managing to repeat the same sentiment of losing another child after the loss of their son, even though she doesn’t blame Harold for shooting Hamzad. Chase and Harper listen helpless as they listen to Emily and the villagers shot down, and the phone goes silent.

How does Chase and Harper deal with the death?

Chase’s response, to break down as a crumpled mess and take out his frustration on the Harpers’ water heater, is a fantastic Jeff Bridges performance. After taking out all frustration, Chase is now looking for a target. And he and Harold find a clue in the phone conversation, where they realise the shooters were conversing in Russian rather than Pashto. Realising that Pavolovich is involved, Chase goes outside to bring in the only surviving assassin from last week’s episode, now stashed in the trunk. Harper knows full well that the assassin wouldn’t know much of, if anything, but he is also cognizant enough to realise that Chase needs this solitude, engrossed in the torturing of his prisoner.

Harper too, in his moments of solitude at his son’s room, has a conversation with the ghost of his dead son Chip; he realises that so much fabrication and lies that Harper had taken the aid of will ultimately boil over as recompense. He also tearfully apologises to his son for not saying good-bye to his son, and through that extension, Angela and his grandson Henry.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Zoe and Cheryl, ostensibly for Zoe to calm her down, leads to an opposite reaction, whereby Zoe actually reveals most of the important events of the last two episodes. What that will ultimately result in is anybody’s game. In the midst of their conversation, Harold comes down and asks Zoe whether Bote had said something akin to “last words” before he had died. While Zoe says he hadn’t, she remembered him sending a message to somebody minutes before he was shot. Harper, realising the importance of last words, believes that Bote wanted to pass on a crucial piece of information before he passed away, and Harold might have a pretty good idea to whom.

As Chase walks up from the basement, the consequent steps become clear. The assassin couldn’t reveal about Pavlovich’s plans, but he did reveal his next targets: Henry and Marcia Dixon, AKA Chase and Zoe’s aliases as a multimillionaire couple at Pavlovich’s island in Morocco. Chase plans to get into the game and fly out to London to ask Nina Kruger about this, and Zoe too wants to tag along.

As they leave, Cheryl acknowledges that while she understands Harper’s work a tad bit better, she is starting to understand her husband far less. Realising that his marriage is hanging on by a thread, he still promises he would make everything better before convincing her to go to a hotel. The final step for Harold to clean out the involvement of their existence is to go back to the basement, take a saw and get to work on taking care of the assassin. The silent but determined look on Harper’s face is enough to unsettle anyone.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 6 – XIII Recap:

How is Julian Carson brought into the story?

We are introduced to Julian Carson, the assassin from season 1, who would moonlight as a male nurse. We see him reconnecting with the same woman he had helped to get on the bus way back in Season 1. We see Carson slowly getting into the groove of his new life due to the presence of an apparent new girlfriend, but ultimately he finds himself unable to escape from the past as he comes face to face with Harold Harper waiting for him in his apartment.

Harper believes that Bote’s last mail had been sent to Carson just before he had passed away. As Carson refuses Harper’s proclamation, Harper reveals that with the death of Bote, the protective bubble that Bote put around members of his inner circle will slowly start to break away, including Carson and his new girlfriend, and Carosn should help Harper to avoid such an end.

How does Chase and Zoe locate Nina Kruger?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (7)

As Chase and Zoe book a hotel in London as Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, Chase seems to be very particular at booking odd-numbered rooms. He also suffers from panic attacks due to him getting back to the thick of things so soon after Emily’s death, but he controls himself. At a restaurant, where Zoe waits for her meeting with Kruger, whereby Kruger would expound on information she hadn’t been comfortable sharing via phone, she passes the time by communicating with Chase. Chase had been keeping a watch on Zoe from a seat at the rooftop bar; conversation carried on via Bluetooth airpods.

Zoe also becomes Chase’s companion to learn more about Bote and what he had been interested in—specifically about Chase and how he had managed to obtain so much money or convince people to invest in him. She also brings up a man named Lou Barlow that apparently Bote had been interested in, and Chase isn’t interested in divulging. He also ends the spy game by walking up to Zoe and disconnecting her earphones because he is sure Anna isn’t coming. He then calls up her assistant Anna, who apologises for her boss’ absence, saying she is dealing with a personal matter and cannot be reached.

It seems Chase had already expected this because he walks up to the hardware store and picks up some tools, which he then uses to build essentially a laser gun that is revealed to be used to capture radio waves from phones and parse conversations through. Zoe realizes that the location of their room also becomes essential because their room directly faces Anna’s apartment over at the next building, where Chase inconspicuously walks up to Anna and states in no uncertain terms that he is searching for her boss, and next time he wouldn’t be so nice.

It all culminates in a moment of existential crisis for Zoe, who, since the beginning of this adventure with Chase, has responded completely against what is thought to be natural instincts for a civilian. Her added time spent with Bote had given her the confidence to perhaps finally understand the intricacies of spycraft, only for Chase’s latest moves to prove her wrong. As Chase has suspected, Anna would immediately enter her room horrified and call up Nina Kruger, and this action would reflect on the program connected with the radio-capture gun, whereby the phone number would flash up.

Now while Chase’s phone locator does the job, Zoe has to contend with the realisation that she has the same tools in her arsenal that Chase and the rest of the spies under Bote as well as Harper’s tutelage. However, unlike those professionals, she is still unable to stop herself from being wracked by guilt at having scared an innocent woman to give up the information they would require.

Why does Pavlovich want to kill Chase and Zoe?

The next morning Zoe and Chase drive up to Kruger’s country home, where Chase realises it has already been broken into. As he sneaks in, he finds Kruger sitting terrified, while a man wearing a gas mask is rifling through Kruger’s study. Taking a cane, Chase brutally attacks the intruder and finally dispatches him by ultimately shooting him with the gun the intruder had set down on the floor.

The problem, Chase realises as he ushers Nina outside to Zoe, is that the reason why the assailant wore a gas mask is because he had exposed an airborne poison at Nina’s place, and now Chase too has become exposed. The broken injector had been the antidote. With her dying breath, Kruger reveals what the man had been unable to find—a hidden thumbdrive.

The thumbdrive finally reveals some of the fog from this complicated bog of a case: Hamzad’s lithium deposit is the key to Pavlovich’s plan to form a cartel dealing with rare-earth metals that could work as a counter to the west and even cause the economy to crash. The only people standing in Pavlovich’s way are Henry and Marcia Dixon, who serve as his point of contact with the US, and that’s why he wants them removed.

Why does Chase give himself up?

Chase’s plan now becomes riskier but ultimately the only way to kill two birds with one stone—get to Pavlovich as well as be served as an antidote. The plan is to let Pavlovich’s men capture Chase while Zoe gets somewhere safe and calls up Harper. Meanwhile, Carson finally comes clean about Bote’s email, which has a picture attached that he didn’t delete—the members of the same cartel consisting of Pavlovich, a group of Chinese businessmen, and Harper’s contact throughout the time he and Chase had been on their Afghanistan mission—his ex-wife Marion.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 7 – XIV’ Recap:

What is Chase and Zoe’s plan to deal with Pavlovich?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (8)

The plan as it turns out for Chase is simple—essentially hand himself over to Pavlovich. Pavlovich, who it seems is very much aware of the nom-de-guerre of Henry and Marcia Dixon as ones utilized by Chase and ex-wife Belour, is understandably confused about the presence of this new Marcia Dixon, as well as enough of his devotion to her that he is prepared to offer a deal.

And that deal works entirely on the plan of Zoe walking off to a police station, announcing to the station that she wants to speak to the station chief of the US Embassy to proclaim the identity of the man who had killed Morgan Bote. As Chase would have planned, a member of the Embassy comes to brief her, sceptically looking at her as she asks for immunity while she would reveal that Pavlovich had been responsible for Bote’s murder. All the while, the station would be watched over by Pavlovich’s man.

Unless Pavlovich, having imprisoned Chase in an abandoned church near the English coast, gives him the antidote. If that part of the exchange is maintained, Zoe would shift the blame on Dan Chase’s head, and the Dixon’s would be given immunity, and they would walk away. A bit too neat of a plan, and one definitely Chase’s instincts, personified by the specter of Emily hanging around Pavlovich, calling him a coward and advising him on how to take out the man while he would be checking his restraints. But he doesn’t go with it, instead acting against his instincts and inwardly guilt-ridden about betraying her.

Why does the plan fail?

Thus, when Chase is finally allowed to call and converse with Zoe about the situation, they both admit that they are going to be in a world of trouble once they come out of this, but they are prepared. Except something occurs that spooks Pavlovich—someone has made a move on him. He has lost control of the Meshbahar mines, and now the head of the rare-earth metal cartel is calling him for an impromptu meeting. So the deal is off, he throws the phone away from Chase, and Pavlovich leaves one guard with a personal vendetta against Chase to torture and finally kill him.

As the deal turns sour, the police station is attacked by Pavlovich’s man, who kills the embassy guy, and the lone policewoman at the station (it’s still early morning). But as it turns out, Zoe’s friendly relationship with her ex-father-in-law as well as her marriage at least allowed her to hone her rifle skills, which made her an expert user of a shotgun rifle that she uses to blast the man away. As she walks out of the police station, a car comes to a stop in front of her, and out comes Julian Carson, having been sent by Harold Harper to look after her and take her to safety. Zoe looks at him with skepticism, but she has no choice except to follow him.

How is Harper’s ex-wife Marion involved with Pavlovich?

Meanwhile, Harper finally manages to meet up with his wily ex-wife Marion (Janet McTeer), a Hong Kong-born and bred former British spy now having gone freelance and up to her own personal benefit. Her meeting with Harold is one with strain, whereby she tries to act as the dutiful wife in making Harold realize that he doesn’t owe Morgan Bote enough to follow up and complete the old man’s missions, considering that Bote didn’t like him as much anyway.

But Harper, a product of personal experience, doesn’t buy into her act of innocence of not being involved with Pavlovich and urges her to speak the truth. We then learn her wily plan: while Pavlovich’s involvement in the cartel had been initially perfect in providing capital and structure, it wasn’t easy to convince Hamzad because Hamzad would only work with Americans due to the personal tie he had with his daughter. And that daughter is the perfect candidate for a new partner that Marion requires, which is why her badgering Harold for a dinner wasn’t anything innocuous but rather a request for an introduction to Parwana Hamzad.

Harper, flabbergasted and astonished, out loud proclaims his relief at being divorced from Marion and glad that he had not agreed to put Angela in Marion’s crosshairs, but their conversation comes to a halt when Marion gets a phone call from Suleiman Pavlovich. That in itself is cause for alarm bells, because that entails Pavlovich being terrified.

Are Chase and Emily alive?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (9)

It is valid because of the uncertainty of the entire endeavour. Both the viewers as well as Chase did not expect the Russian guard to be so angry and almost psychotic that he would break the vials of the antidote in front of Chase before trying to kill him. Chase, however, uses a shard of glass from a broken mirror and shoves it in the guard’s foot. With his legs giving way, the guard falls on the bear hands of Chase, who chokes him out and kills him. As the poison begins to overtake him, Chase crawls up the box containing the antidotes, only to find it empty.

Meanwhile, at the meeting between Pavlovich and the overlords of the cartel, we learn what had actually transpired at the Meshbahar mines. It turns out Pavlovich’s heavily armed soldiers were wiped out by local militia, led by none other than Parwana Hamzad. She might be Hamzad’s daughter, but she has all the terrifying qualities of Dan Chase, and it shows.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 8 – XV’ Recap:

How does Emily survive the assault on the Hamzad village?

This episode clearly has a very specific three-act structure. The first act follows how Emily, in the midst of her call with her father (way back in Episode 4), watches in horror as Russian soldiers enter the room where she is hiding along with her Khadija and the rest of the women in the village. The soldiers shoot down Khadija and a couple of women, until Emily reveals she is the woman they are looking for. More specifically, since Faraz Hamzad is dead, she is now the only Hamzad alive, and more importantly, the only Hamzad that knows about the details of the business. She uses her negotiation tactics to arrange for the safety of the rest of the women in exchange for providing information.

As it turns out, Emily Chase is more Dan Chase’s daughter than even she would like to admit. She cleverly manages to connect with one of the more empathetic soldiers amidst the team by conversing in Russian and establishing a connection, while also providing necessary information in the background. All this would be a ruse, as when the soldier finally comes to the room Emily is imprisoned in with a full dinner and a bottle of vodka as a reward, in exchange for a list of names—Emily starts writing the names while also conversing with the soldier and managing to nicely put him in an existential dilemma before suddenly bashing his head with the empty vodka bottle.

As the soldier regains consciousness, he realizes the door is open and something is very wrong. He watches terrified as he stops at the corridor to find the outside door open and a soldier’s silhouette slowly open and fall to the ground, stabbed from behind. The assailant reveals herself to be the outline of a woman. That is the only thing he sees before he is killed.

How does Marion help in dispatching Pavlovich?

The reveal of the last episode is finally presented to Marion and Harper—that of the local militia being apparently led by an American woman. Pavlovich, meanwhile, is bringing in reserves to push the full power of the cartel down on her, and Harper tries to convince her that he would ensure Marion could enter a negotiating table with Hamzad, contrary to his loud and proclaimed dismissal of the proposal presented by Marion.

It apparently works, as both Julian and Zoe are en route to the location of the meeting with the cartel members. Julian is signaled by Harper to enter, as Marion had ordered all the guards to ignore him while he enters unharmed. Thus, while Zoe waits and even calls out an intruder about to attack him from behind, Julian Carson moves quick and fast, shooting down Pavlovich’s guards, before finally managing to take down Pavlovich—taking the revenge of the old man, Bote.

Marion’s acquiescence for help comes at a cost for Harper. The contentious relationship between the ex-couple reaches a boiling point, where Harper’s absolutism and principles are antithetical to Marion’s own slippery beliefs, and that absolutism in rescuing his “daughter” Angela as well as Johnny is what finally lands him in hot water—him being captured by Marion and presumably taken as hostage.

How does Zoe rescue Chase?

The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (10)

Julian’s plan to search Pavlovich for clues that would narrow down Chase’s location becomes unnecessary. Zoe, while Julian had been busy, would walk down to the SUV belonging to Pavlovich and check the GPS, checking the last location, and driving away. As she reaches the church where Chase is lying apparently dead, she runs inside with the satchel that Julian had on his person the previous episode. We now know that it contains a case containing the antidote. Using the same earpiece that allowed her to connect with Julian, we see her managing to inject the three vials of antidote in quick suggestion. We then see Zoe crumple and break down as the antidote presumably didn’t work.

Except in the next scene where we see Chase wake up at an old safe house of Bote. This is the third act of the episode, where we see the show reconstitute itself like Chase, as both Zoe and Chase reconnect and recover off-the-grid. However, even in peace, Chase is restless. Questions remain unanswered; paranoia renders him restless. He is worried as to how safe and off-the-grid they actually are; who else knows about this location (Julian and Zoe’s son); how is it that the cartel just fell apart?

But we also see Chase and Zoe enjoying a couple of days, maybe months, of peace and serenity. Chase, while not letting his guard down entirely, is open enough with Zoe to warn her not to joke about him having lost his edge. As it turns out his peaceful sojourn would be disturbed very soon by the arrival of a package, with the delivery boy leaving the package in the middle of the field. As Chase walks up to the package and opens it, he finds a burner phone and a phone number scrawled on a piece of paper attached to the phone, which Chase finally calls.

The Old Man (Season 2) ‘Episode 8 – XV’ Ending Explained:

What does Emily Chase want from her father?

It’s a mess of an episode overall, but the reunion between father and daughter finally occurs at a diner located a couple of miles away from Chase’s hideout. Chase finally hugs his daughter after having thought to have lost her, while Emily finally meets Zoe, her father’s new companion.

The pleasantries, however, soon are tabled to the side for business purposes—Emily now is on a mission. Marion has kidnapped Harper and is now dangling him as a bargaining chip in front of her for control over the Mesbahar deposit. As Chase wonders confused, Emily reveals that she is the one controlling the deposit and now has her own ambitions regarding this business.

There is an urgency within her, but more importantly, the confusion that had plagued her since the beginning of the season has now gone, replaced with a quiet determination laced with a tad bit of anger towards her father for not revealing to her the truth about her parentage.

She knows the way to rescue Harper—ask for help from Chase. Her demands for help are what give Chase pause—she needs access to Lou Barlow. The mysterious character who Chase had hinted back in episode 6 with his reticence to elaborate to Zoe has now reared its ugly head. After all, this is an identity, an alter-ego that even he doesn’t want to resurrect, but now Emily has turned the tables.

She is now Parwana Hamzad, she is now Angela Adams, and she is now Emily Chase. She is all three of those personas, completely aware of the geopolitical power she wields as a result of ownership of the mine deposit. She flexes her power by showing off the FBI car driving up to the diner and how she had utilized the FBI to tap into Zoe’s phone and figure out their location. She is ready to cross lines, if any, to save her mentor, and she expects the same from “the old man,” irrelevant to whether he is hesitant about getting back into the Lou Barlow saddle.

Read More:

The Old Man (Season 2) Trailer:

The Old Man (Season 2) Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia
The Old Man (Season 2) Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, E. J. Bonilla, Bill Heck, Leem Lubany, Alia Shawkat, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Amy Brenneman, Navid Negahban, Jacqueline Antaramian
The Old Man (Season 2) Genre:Mystery & Thriller/Drama
Where to watch The Old Man (Season 2)
The Old Man (Season 2) Recap & Ending Explained: What does Emily Chase want from her father? (2024)

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