The Old Man

What’s offered in the preview to critics of season two is excellent, engaging, and full of tense magnetism. Frankly, we’re hoping this is the end for the series, so it goes out on top with a big, wounding, powerful bang.

What might have just been a straightforward action show is elevated by canny pacing and a strong cast. Bridges is handed the chewiest material (and all the action), but Lithgow and Shawkat are right there with him.

The result is an engaging and sometimes thrilling two-hander.

The first two episodes of this season end on cliffhangers that maintain commendable suspense, despite some expository scenes that tumble into proverbial valleys compared to action packed and sharply acted road buddy sequences that are The Old Man’s peaks. Nevertheless, the exquisitely shot Middle East landscapes, Shawkat’s steely portrayal of a character in perilous danger, Bridges’ pitilessly pugnacious fight scenes, and his sparky chemistry with Lithgow make The Old Man a must watch, and prove some elder operatives need not be scurried out to pasture.

When Chase is dispatching his enemies, or sparring (verbally) with Zoe, The Old Man is a lot of fun.

The Old Man breaks no rules of the action genre other than a hero of an unlikely age, but plays by them dutifully enough that it’s occasionally gripping, frequently interesting, and never less than watchable.

Now, everyone seems fatally flawed – even Emily – and the body count is so high that the idea of being invested in a character’s survival feels almost quaint. The Old Man is bursting with puzzling alliances and long-buried secrets – but the biggest mystery of all is why we should care about any of it.

How anyone could rate this below an 8 is beyond me. Engaging interesting story. The acting is simply outstanding. It's rare nowadays to find series that keep you glued to the show and getting lost as to how many episodes you've watched but this is definitely one of them.

A series that starts off full of possibilities takes a dive midway and never recovers. Great cast, wonderful atmosphere and a gorgeous soundtrack is undone by meandering dialogue filled with brain-numbing aphorisms. The plot twists betray the earlier potential and wander into implausible territory. What a shame.

action, twist, action, action, backstory, backstory, backstory, more backstory, MAJOR TWIST!!! Drags a bit in the middle to late episodes with backstory and a love tale that means nothing at the end. John Lithgow is fantastic in this, Bridges is the perfect choice, however I'm not an Alia Shawkat at all and her performance here is a fair rendition as to why. At the end you're stuck scratching your head a bit with the choice of conclusion, but i'd say it's worth the wait.

Starts off ok but goes downhill fast. Incredibly dull, boring and low budget show targeted towards older low information viewer. The film mostly focuses on dialog which is ok at first but keeps trying to too hard and is overthought. The only good thing about this show is the actors. Everything else is a complete miss.

The pilot was terrific. Unfortunately, the remainder of the show was incredibly dull and filled with long, drawn-out dialog scenes. Shame.