Season one of the FX espionage-thriller The Old Man ended as a surprise hit. With a premiere directed by Spider-Man director Jon Watts, The Old Man beautifully and naturally grew in characterizations, stakes, and events. Jeff Bridges’ Dan Chase became something more than his initial, quiet introduction. Likewise, John Lithgow’s Agent Harper also transformed from a simple bureaucrat into a deeper man with a secret past. The season ended with an adrenalized bang.

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And then it went away.

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Two years later, with central actors now all two years older, The Old Man finally returns but it does not jump out of bed with that same energy. In the premiere, Old Man Chase and Old Man Harper sneak their way into Afghanistan to rescue their daughter, Angela, from her biological father Old Man Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban). With all reveals now candidly out in the open, the pacing of the first four episodes retreats to more of a “My Three Dads” drama than a rocket with Homeland-style intrigue.  

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Angela (Alia Shawkat) has been captured by Faraz, who is revealed – suddenly and a little too easily – to be her biological father. Both daddies Chase, her believed-to-be biological, and Harper, her adopted, rush to the rescue. Harper tries to set up semi-official dealings with a shadowy Marion (Janet McTeer) while Chase runs purely on instinct. And luck. And a fair amount of convenience.

Chase and Harper complain about aches, pains, and each other before realizing that, of course, they are on their own. While Bridges gets all squinty-eyed and mellow, although not quite at Lebowski levels of mellow, the narrative shift focuses on Angela. She is presented with the ramifications of life in Afghanistan and introduced to a gray area in the life of Hamzad that belies her FBI training. As compelling an alternate view this becomes, it restricts building any momentum in the stories of Chase and Harper and their somewhat-diminished rescue.

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While Hamzad’s threats lessen, Omar, a member of the oxymoron-sounding Taliban Intelligence, seeks to rise in power. Even in this regard, Omar appears merely as a mustache-twirler to build Hamzad, who was the ghostly big bad in season one, some sympathy. When not focusing on Angela, the storyline flips back to Harper trying to deal with the political ramifications of his trip while Chase gets a reunion (finally) with Zoe.

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The plotlines all move forward but with less elegance as before. Created and developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine, The Old Man is purely a story continuation for fans of the first season – as well as readers of the Thomas Perry book, albeit with serious deviations between the written and filmed. There is minimal catching up and zero level setting for new viewers. FX has a good track record; they know what they are doing, series absence notwithstanding. The show looks good, and the symmetry between Bridges and Lithgow proves they make a helluva duo  - even if they are getting too old for this shit.