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Jeff Bridges reminded viewers why he’s a renowned and distinguished talent in FX’s thriller series The Old Man, a role that the Academy Award winner will reprise when the show returns for The Old Man season 2. A follow-up seems obvious given the acclaim that season 1 of The Old Man generated, plus it had an open-ended finale. Also starring John Lithgow, The Old Man centers around Bridges’s ex-CIA operative, Dan Chase, who is forced out of retirement when an old foe returns. The cat-and-mouse game that ensues draws in several other characters such as Lithgow’s FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper, who was also once Dan’s military colleague during the Soviet-Afghanistan War.
While its debut season played around with familiar CIA-centric thriller tropes, Bridges and Lithgow’s performances as the main characters of The Old Man, along with Jonathan E Steinberg and Robert Levine’s gripping writing ensured that the show became one of FX’s most-watched original series. The reviews were also largely positive from audiences and critics alike. The show even managed to bag some major awards recognition with Bridges and Lithgow earning nominations for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor, respectively at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and SAG Awards — so it’s little surprise that The Old Man season 2 is inbound.
The Old Man Season 2: Latest News
The latest The Old Man season 2 news is disappointing but expected. With the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike affecting countless movies and shows, The Old Man season 2 is the latest series to be impacted, and filming has been delayed (via Deadline). Production for The Old Man season 2 began as there had already been five scripts completed before the strike forced a stop to the writing. The plan was for all five scripts to be filmed, but it was decided production would be halted following the filming of episode 4 as the fifth episode was in need of rewrites.
Deadline also reports that production on The Old Man season 2 in Los Angeles had been delayed previously due to picketing at the shooting locations. This led to star Jeff Bridges crossing the picket line to join the striking writers. Shows halting production is becoming a common occurrence in Hollywood these days and with the strike not seeming to have an end in sight, it remains unclear when The Old Man season 2 and all the other productions will be up and running again.
The Old Man Season 2 Confirmed
The Old Man premiered its first two episodes on June 16, 2022. Right after the third episode, on June 27, FX announced the show’s renewal for a second season. This seems obvious given the burning questions that The Old Man fans had after the season 1 finale. It is also an understandable commercial choice given how The Old Man was the most-watched primetime scripted series to premiere on television since 2020. Bridges’ return to the Western thriller genre also made it the most-watched FX series to premiere on Hulu in its opening weekend. Both Hulu and FX will obviously expect similar viewing records with The Old Man season 2.
The Old Man Season 2 Release Date Info
Jeff Bridges was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and later contracted COVID in 2021. So, even though the series was first announced in 2019, The Old Man underwent some production delays largely due to Bridges’ real-life health issues. But with the actor’s cancer in remission, the next season’s release is expected to not take that long. The first season was one of the most-anticipated summer releases of 2022 with a June premiere date. The Old Man season 2 has now been met with its own delays as production was halted in July 2023 due to the ongoing writer’s strike and the show running out of finished scripts to film. The season 2 release date will depend entirely on how long the strike continues.
The Old Man Season 2 Cast
While no major additions to the cast have been announced, most of the first season’s stars will be returning for The Old Man season 2. Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow will obviously be back given the ending shot in the season finale that finds the former partners reuniting in a car. With The Old Man making for one of Alia Shawkat’s best roles, the actress isn’t done with her character, Angela Adams, as viewers will now be briefed on the aftermath of her kidnapping. E.J. Bonilla’s Agent Raymond Waters will not return given his death in the first season, but as for the other characters, they still enjoy a better fate.
Amy Brenneman’s Zoe McDonald is a major case in point. The woman who inadvertently becomes Dan’s partner on the run carries enough room for more character development. Talking to Deadline, The Old Man executive producer Dan Shotz did confirm Amy’s return in the next season, “Amy is such a brilliant actress and partner in this,” he added with regard to the character’s role in the next season. As for Dan’s iconic Rottweilers who are as important as any other character in The Old Man, Shotz offered reassuring news: “I don’t know if The Old Man is a show without the dogs.”
With the penultimate episode of The Old Man season 1 revealing Angela’s father as the Afghan warlord Hamzad, it’s certain Navid Negahban will return to reprise his role. Pej Vahdat, who played Hamzad’s younger version in the flashback sequences might similarly appear, as the show leaves the potential to delve into more of Dan and Harold’s time in Afghanistan. This would signal the return of Bill Heck and Christopher Redman, who respectively played the younger versions of Bridges and Lithgow’s characters. Given that Heck was instantly recognized as one of the most perfectly cast younger versions of characters on TV, the actor might get more emotional flashback arcs to unravel.
The Old Man Season 2 Story Details
With both Dan and Harold back in action, The Old Man season 2 story will definitely raise the stakes, and both of the seasoned veterans will have to revisit their fighting skills. Alia Shawkat’s Angela is still abducted, so rescuing her might be one of the main missions in the season 2 pilot. Unlike the audience, Angela still doesn’t know that Hamzad is her father, so the big reveal for the character is also pending. Similarly, a few reveals around Zoe are also expected. With Dan Sholtz expressing his interest to explore more of Zoe’s background, it is possible that her presence in Dan’s life is more than coincidental.
A few flashbacks can be expected for more context to The Old Man‘s biggest twists. But it is also possible that season 2 tones them down. Now that they are in the same frame, Dan and Harold might still reveal more about their time together in Afghanistan, but expository dialogue might do the job more than flashbacks. This can be deduced from what The Old Man executive producer Jon Steinberg told Deadline, “Some of the season 2 plan is for these guys to go back to this place that they spent so much time in when they were younger, and to see the past through their present eyes.”
It is also important to note that The Old Man is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Thomas Perry. While retaining the general man-on-the-run premise, The Old Man season 1 took a new narrative route. Perry’s protagonist is being chased by a ruthless warlord and the American government — the novel’s equivalent of Hamzad — as he stole $20 million from him. But the monetary angle is replaced in the show with a more humanistic element: Hamzad’s wife, who also becomes Dan’s love interest. Similarly, Hamzad’s connection with Angela is absent in the novel, allowing the showrunners to explore new storylines even if they wrap up the novel’s events in The Old Man season 2.
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