The Old Man: Episode VII Review
[This review contains spoilers for The Old Man Episode 1-6]
Having watched and digested The Old Man's windy, twisty finale, I have to say that I've come away from the series with a surprising bag of mixed thoughts. What started as a very strong espionage/on-the-run spy thriller has managed to keep my interest through much of the promise within its setup. Despite the rather slow burn pacing and a rather monotonous episode within the season, I felt like the show did a decent job establishing its premise while keeping an air of mystery about it that made me watch for more developments. The series as a whole presents itself rather well, knows what it wants to be, and doesn't cater to the expectations of an audience that may have come in thinking it would be a fast-paced action show about a government agent returning for one last call to duty.
At the same time, however, what makes the series unique is also what compromises it in some regard. For instance, in this final episode, Dan Chase is seen dealing with realization after realization that something is amiss regarding Morgan Bote's plan to draw Chase out of hiding, mostly due to interference from Hamzad, who apparently sees this as some kind of opportunity. We find out what the opportunity is later in a twist that, while often predictable, was also presented interestingly enough to play on the show's motif of names and identity quite well. I think The Old Man follows a few predictable cliches in this final episode, but presents them in interesting ways that at least keep me willing to sit down and watch Season 2 whenever it ends up airing. How much of the presentation ends up being like Season 1, though, is hard to say, as I'm pretty sure if the next installment in Chase's journey is just as slow-paced as this one has been, it's not going to feel satisfying.
That was the biggest problem I had with this finale. It was well-produced. It was well-acted. The cinematography in some scenes was refreshingly creative. Even the pacing, despite being very, very slow, worked for what the episode was trying to convey. My problem, though, is that the episode left me feeling unsatisfied. It's the seventh episode in a show, the finale, and yet it feels like the seventh episode in a show with at least two or three more hours of story left to tell. There are dynamic changes to the plot, as expected of any season finale of any television series. Twists and turns abound in every moment of the show, as well as action sequences that make the episode stand out, codifying it as important. But even with all of these well-produced moments, this episode just didn't feel like a finale. And knowing it was a finale despite all of the high-quality production value herein made me feel a little bored. I need to reiterate that I like the show and really want to see where the story goes next. But to make the audience wait another year or so for another season instead of giving us some level of closure with a tease for the next chapter felt very strange. I don't know how else to describe it. Watching the season finale of The Old Man felt strange. And to tell you why, I'll need to spoil a few things that happen throughout the episode. So:
[BEGIN SPOILERS]
Weird decisions were made throughout the finale and I don't really know how to feel about them. For one, within the first few minutes, Chase sends Zoe home, telling her that now that he's been caught and is partnering with Harold Harper to make a deal with Hamzad to ensure his daughter's safety, Zoe shouldn't be in danger any more. Zoe tries to argue against him, giving an example of reading the lawyer from last episode and believing she had knowledge they didn't know about. Chase hand-waves her ability to read people away and they part, Zoe absent for the rest of the episode. It felt like the sort of conversation that would lead to a return in an episode or two, with Zoe's skills somehow becoming useful for the plot to move forward. But instead, she just sort of leaves. It's a very strange turn of events, especially given how built-up over the course of the season her character was. She and Chase have a connection, one that is immediately severed after a short conversation. It sat with me the wrong way and gave me the impression Zoe had more to do, but because of a low episode count in the season, the writers weren't able to make her do it. Which is kind of sad, since she had a lot of potential to be a protege of sorts under Chase's wing.
Another odd decision is the sudden shift away from Morgan Bote's plans--at least, I think so. Bote's team is attacked by Hamzad's people, resulting in two members of the team being killed while another escapes. The only possibility I can think of is that Bote is in league with Hamzad. But, as far as I recall, that was never mentioned. Which is fine, of course. It's good to imply some things in a story and see if the audience can figure it out before you fill in the gaps. But the fact that we'll have to wait a rather long time before we see this idea resolved struck me as strange. It seems like the kind of twist you'd want to address right away, which also makes me wonder, if this isn't the case, why Hamzad's MO wasn't entirely accounted for during the mission. The whole presentation of Angela being kidnapped by Hamzad after being kidnapped by Bote's team struck me as strange. Even stranger is how a rather central character, Raymond Waters, gets killed off-screen. His body can be seen in the background in one shot, but other than that, his death is never really touched upon. It felt oddly rushed, but at the same time, not dwelled on enough.
What also struck me as weird was how the show sort of just ends. Chase and Harper end up on the same page as one another when they decide Angela/Emily's safety is more important to them than even their own lives. I enjoyed this development throughout the episode, and it sets up for an interesting dynamic between the duo come Season 2. But before anything between the two of them can be further expounded upon, the show just ends. It ends with a shot of them walking, clearly now on the same side together. But for whatever reason, I just felt like the alliance between the two of them hadn't been entirely earned by the show. Maybe it's just because I don't like to see things left unfinished when the buildup to said things hasn't felt like the most perfect of presentations, but I genuinely felt like the series just sort of ended in the middle of things. It's a bold move if anything, to end your show on such a cliffhanger without knowing ahead of time whether or not you'll be asked to produce a second season. But even so, it didn't feel like a satisfying ending, even if many major things happened and were revealed. It still feels like there's more to the story. Which I guess makes sense, given the advent of a second season. But as for the first, it just felt like it ended much too soon.
[END SPOILERS]
Despite the strange decisions made throughout the season finale that felt off-putting in terms of the finale's general quality, I felt like it still did a good job setting up the second season--even if the story halted at a wall with an unsatisfactory jitter. I'm looking forward to Season 2 whenever it airs, though I'm not so sure I'm going to be doing this episode-by-episode thing for it again. I mostly did this because it felt like the series had a lot of potential, and while I'm excited to see where the second season goes, I'm unsure how much I'll prioritize watching it as it airs. A good show, yes, but definitely something with a slow enough pace to leave me under-satisfied while watching week-by-week.
Overall, The Old Man's finale was a strong episode that felt more like the second act climax to the show than bookends. Which is fine, but it did leave me wanting more. For anyone who hasn't seen the show yet, the full first season is up on Hulu. While I recommend it for what it is, I can't say the overall piece stood out to me in any meaningful ways. There are some interesting thematics to do with identity throughout the show, but given how it felt like things stopped in the middle of something, I can't say for sure where those themes of names and identity are going to go. But hey, maybe I'm just too used to watching seasons over the course of a week or two to have a solid, grounded opinion on that. I'd say The Old Man is worth binge-watching, though isn't a perfect show. Adequate? Yes. Exciting enough to warrant notice of a second season? Sure. But the next great television series? Perhaps not. Either way, the show is unique enough to stand out from others like it, and I look forward to Season 2 alongside the inevitably great presentation that comes with it.
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