In “The Old Man,” we’re back to CIA veterans in trouble. They are two old boys actually, played by Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, definitely really old, great actors both in their 70s, incredibly talented actors caught up in situations that require the bodies of much younger guys.
Where are the pills we know they have to be taking, and bottles of water to be taking them with, out there in old Afghanistan? In season one, Dan Chase (Bridges) admits to taking a pill for acid reflux, a statin, and a pill to prevent cognitive decline. So where are they?
Look at them, both of them should be at last on a daily carvedilol and Atorvastatin if not baby aspirin.
Okay, I know you can’t find a CVS out there where turbaned killers are riding around on horses, but seriously, who’s taking care of Chase’s wonderful dogs?
So we’re down to two white-haired spooks looking for a young woman who Chase raised as her stepdaughter and Harper (Lithgow) mentored at Quantico. Do we really care?
Okay, I’m kidding, sort of. I’m worried about dead cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio.
Sure, we were grateful to see Bridges back on our screens as a dark old man hiding in the woods with two massive man-eating dogs, hiding from the bad guys of the new CIA who have been sent to “take him out” on behalf of an Afghan warlord who holds a 30-year-old grudge.
If you watched season one with actors taken out of the darkness of show business, like Amy Brenneman, who was fooling around in comedies like “Frasier” that wasted her, you’re grateful for her.
And then there was the magical Joel Grey almost lost in a blanket robe and tiny glasses as an evil-incarnate, old-school spook. I almost expected him to jump up and start signing “Willkommen.”
It comes down to this in my opinion.
If you heard about this show and missed season one in 2022, nothing here in season two is going to make much sense. Go watch it anyway. It’s Jeff Bridges and maybe the dogs will come back.
“The Old Man” streams on Hulu. Season one is all there, and new season two episodes are up every Friday.
J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.
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