FX 'The Old Man' Episode 6 Review: Penultimate chapter sets up fiery finale and lays groundwork for Season 2
'The Old Man' on FX hurtles towards an epic finish, although it will have to continue the story in the second season. The much-awaited showdown between ex-CIA spook Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Afghan warlord Faraz Hamzad may finally happen in the finale, but it's Episode 6 that promises that they will indeed square off. In an episode that finely balances emotions and action, Chase is seen to be losing his edge and gets some much-needed support in the end from frenemy Harold Harper (Joh Lithgow).
Of course, the biggest reveal is Morgan Bote being the old man, thereby giving the massive twist that no one saw coming. He was always the man calling the shots and pulling the strings. Safe to say that Chase and Harper were practically puppets with Zoe (Amy Brenneman) and Emily (Alia Shawkat) looked at as collateral. This meant that Chase's attempt to take Suleyman Pavlovich's help to snuff out Hamzad was something Bote saw coming a mile away. The ending is bittersweet with Emily practically serving herself up, but it also sees two old salts team up to finish a job that they were supposed to have been decades ago.
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The episode also shows a different side of Belfour/Abbey Chase, Pavlovich reveals that he was one of the people in love with her, and she had her way of getting things done by men. Not just does it paint her as manipulative, but it also asks the question of whether she planned all of this from the start — marrying Hamzad, hatching against the Soviets, and running away with Chase to the US. It's all a blur after the reveal. There's less of Zoe (Brenneman) in the show as she continues to find her footing in the complex web of the world that Chase lives in.
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The storyline in the finale is fairly straightforward. Harper and Chase need to get Emily back from Bote. And while that remains unanswered for the time being, it also lays the groundwork for an already confirmed Season 2. It's likely the show ends on a cliffhanger and it may take another installment to reach Hamzad. But it's the Harper-Chase combo that will surely garner the attention in the much-anticipated finale. There are no concrete casualties yet, so that makes Zoe's future a lot more uncertain. Hopefully, FX doesn't take a cue from Jason Bourne or Condor and pull off a major character death in the seventh episode.
'The Old Man' airs Thursdays at 10 pm ET on FX.