The first two episodes of The Old Man season 2 left us asking who was on the other end of that final gunshot: Chase (Jeff Bridges) or Hamzad (Navid Negahban). The spy drama doesn't keep us in suspense for long, as we see the scene play out in the opening moments of The Old Man season 2 episode 3.
As Hamzad stands over Chase, gun in hand, it's Harper (John Litghow) that gets off the shot, hitting Hamzad in the gut, though the Afghan leader is still alive. Emily (Alia Shawkat) comes to the cave, seeing all three of her father figures are there. She first goes to Hamzad to treat his wounds, then she hugs Chase. She asks how they got there, with Harper explaining it was Marion (Janet McTeer), who will also help get them out. But Emily isn't ready to leave, not with Hamzad in his state. She pleads with them to help get him back to his village. Chase agrees.
Harper isn't as enthusiastic about this plan, wondering why they should help Hamzad. It's not for Hamzad though, Chase explains. He realizes if they don't help they could lose Emily forever, which he's not willing to risk.
The man pulling the strings
Back at Hamzad's village, the standoff between Omar (Artur Zai Barrera) and Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) continues. She tries to convince him Hamzad is not as weak as Omar believes he is, but Omar brushes it off, believing if Hamzad had any pull left he would have been told to stand down. On cue, a helicopter flies over the village and lands on the outskirts.
The helicopter brings a young man (Amir Malaklou) to the village, who walks right up to Omar. The man explains Omar has no idea what he stumbled into or how much trouble Omar is going to be in if he antagonizes the villagers any more. He says Hamzad's last payment, which the delay of prompted Kabul to send Omar as a message, was slowed because of the complicated sanctions against the Taliban government. The man admits they got mired in them, but now they have the money, so the issue is closed. Anything Omar does now he'll have to answer for. The man tells Omar to leave, which the soldier does silently, though clearly frustrated.
Khadija asks the man, who is her son, where he got the money. He tells her she doesn't want to know, but right now they have bigger problems. Namely, Morgan Bote (the shadowy government figure played by Joel Grey). Bote arranged the initial trade for Chase, but he was furious when Hamzad broke the deal and took Emily/Parwana instead. In retaliation, Bote has frozen all of Hamzad's assets around the world and intends to see them ruined.
Omar, still stewing, spots Farouk (Michael Sifain) walking back toward the village. He stops the young boy and wants to ask him a question: has there been a new woman in the village, one that doesn't speak their language? While Faruza (Sara Seyed) attempts to rescue her son, she is held up, and the young boy is forced to answer Omar. Farouk nods yes. Omar then asks the woman's name, but this Farouk won't answer. He slaps Omar and tries to run back to his mother, but he is grabbed by another Taliban soldier. Faruza breaks free and runs for her son, but she is shot and killed by the Taliban. This causes the villagers to open fire against the Taliban. Khadija arrives and shoots two Taliban soldiers in the process of getting Farouk back into the village as the firefight continues.
Like father, like daughter
Chase, Harper, Emily and Hamzad overlook where Hamzad left their horses, which is now being watched by Taliban soldiers. Chase jokes he could have parked some place less public. Hamzad isn't in the mood for jokes though, telling Chase to go ahead and ask him what he wants to ask. That's just one thing for Chase: what did Hamzad tell Emily? Hamzad points out Chase had a lifetime to tell his side of the story, now he's concerned that Hamzad had the chance to share his. Chase asks again, but Hamzad tells him he can keep his concern, refusing to answer.
Chase and Emily go down to deal with the Taliban soldiers together. As they continue to scope it out, Chase starts to say, "Listen…," but Emily cuts him off. She can't deal with anything that starts with "listen" right now. She knows what's going on in Chase's head, saying how alike they both are, though that is a confusing sentiment now that she knows her true parentage. She admits she doesn't know what is happening to her, but she needs Chase to respect how important this situation is to her. He agrees. As they get ready to go, Chase tells Emily to get behind him. When she challenges that she knows what she is doing he doesn't doubt it, but her staying behind him is important to him right now.
Back on the ridge, Harper calls Marion, who is getting them a special task force helicopter to get them out of the country. When Harper asks what he owes her for this, she just says dinner, but Harper is nervous about what she really wants and tries to convince her whatever astronomical thing she may think she can get out of Harper, she can forget it. Marion ignores him, simply stressing for them not to cause an international incident.
Chase attacks the Taliban soldiers, easily killing one and then wrestling with the other. As Chase attempts to strangle the soldier, the Taliban desperately reaches for his gun that fell to the ground. He's just about to grab it when Emily arrives and stops him. This allows Chase to finish him off.
Omar calls in on the radio to check the status of the soldiers, but it's Hamzad who responds. Omar tells Hamzad if he surrenders and comes with him to Kabul, he'll spare the village. Hamzad knows he must go back, even if it means his death. Emily offers to go with him, thinking she can help defuse the situation. When Harper asks how, she says by explaining she is not FBI agent Angela Adams, she is Hamzad's daughter, making the incident a family issue and not compromising Hamzad's position. But Hamzad refuses, he says he created this situation and he won't let Emily risk herself.
As they head for the village, Harper tells Chase he was right: Harper's reluctance to help Hamzad means Angela Adams, the version of Emily he knew, is now gone. While he's frustrated, he realizes Emily came all this way to find out answers she's been searching for her entire life, to stare the truth in the eyes. Then when Harper tried to pull rank, she stared him down and told him to "f**k off." Harper believes Hamzad can say whatever he wants, but Chase raised a hell of a kid.
Showdown at the gates
The shooting has stopped, but Omar and his soldiers still wait outside the village, ready to attack. Inside, Khadija asks her son if they can call the Taliban minister for help. But with Bote seizing all of their assets, they're defenseless. Had he known what they were trying to do with Emily/Parwana he could have helped, but the cost of Hamzad keeping it a secret is just beginning to be known.
On a cliff overlooking the village, Hamzad prepares to leave, planning to go right up to the gate to meet Omar. Emily attempts to say something, but Hamzad cuts her off. He's sorry things worked out this way, but he's not sorry she saw her home. As Harper and Chase prepare their exit strategy, Emily decides she won't let Hamzad face this alone, riding off after him.
Hamzad arrives at the village gate and faces Omar. The Taliban soldier asks if Hamzad will come with him willingly or if they'll have to finish off the attack on the village. Hamzad doesn't answer, instead collapsing from his wounds. But Emily arrives shortly behind him, helping him up.
Omar, realizing this is the mystery woman, asks who she is. Emily doesn't answer. Omar continues: is she the abducted FBI agent that started all this mess? If he tells her what he is missing, he'll make things easier for everyone. Emily walks toward Omar, reaching her hand into her pocket as she does. She looks him in the eyes and says her name is Parwana Hamzad. As Omar's shock registers, Emily stabs Omar in the neck.
The shooting starts again, but this time Chase is providing an assist, firing a sniper from the cliff, while Harper calls redirects their ride's pick up spot. The chopper then arrives and opens fire on the Taliban, eliminating them (so much for not causing an international incident).
Emily and Hamzad survive the attack. Once everything has stopped, she sees Omar crawling away. She walks toward him, grabs a gun and kills him, very reminiscent of Chase from the first episode of the season. But is this Emily, or is she now Parwana?
New episodes of The Old Man premiere Thursdays on FX, then stream on Hulu the next day.
