(TV SERIES) The Old Man Season 1 - An Interesting Enough Original Drama Thriller Series with Strong Performance by Two of its Lead Cast

As I browse through series that I could watch over last few days, I came across this one that I did not realize was available on Disney+. It was already having its second season released more than a week before, so probably the first season was only shown around that time. Anyway I was intrigued by the plot, so I gave it a try since Thursday night and finished it on Saturday. All right, I'll get right on it then.

Brief Story Line

Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges - Bad Times at the El Royale, The Contender etc), a former CIA agent had been living alone peacefully in the past few years after his wife passed away due to sickness. But when someone tried to kill him at his home, Dan decided to leave everything behind and tried to escape to unknown location. During his run, Dan met with a woman named Zoe (Amy Brenneman - Sweet Girl, The Leftovers TV series etc) who he convinced to let him stay at her rented house.

Meanwhile FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow - Perry Mason 2020 TV series, The Accountant etc) who knew Dan from his CIA days was tasked to capture him. Together with his trusted agent Angela (Alia Shawkat - Arrested Development TV series, The Final Girls etc) and CIA agent Raymond Waters (E. J. Bonnila - Unforgettable TV series etc), Harold did his best to do what he was asked. Things gotten more complex when a hit-man named Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe - Fast Charlie etc) was hired to kill Dan.

So why was Dan being targeted after all those years? And what would happen to him? You could find out in the first season of the series.

End of Brief Story Line

When I watched the first episode of the series, I was quite surprised looking at Jeff Bridges portraying an old former CIA agent who had to perform some actions that looked pretty amazing for a man of his age (though likely a stunt double was used, but I think it was done very subtly and looked realistic). The action scenes in the first episode were very raw and not the stylish kind, but still felt violent and pretty entertaining. In the second episode though, the actions were less but the thrill of seeing Dan being pursued, plus the mysterious nature of the reasons for the chase was quite interesting.

And then came the third episode where there was a huge shocking twist, although I was a bit disappointed that I did not catch it sooner. After that twist, I was paying more attention to the series, which was why I was not that surprised when there was another huge one in latter episode. Thing is, aside from that surprising twist, the subsequent episodes felt slower in pace and less intense as the focus shifted to Dan and Harold's past. Not till I reached the 6th and the final episode where I felt the intensity increased. 

This series had plenty of flash backs where the people involved were played by different cast. In addition to those names I mentioned above, it also had people like Bill Heck (I Know What You Did Last Summer TV series etc) as young Dan, Leem Lubany (Condor TV series etc) as young Belour Hamzad as part of main cast, plus some recurring cast such as Pej Vahdat (Bones TV series etc) and Navid Negahban (Kandahar etc) as young & present Faraz Hamzad respectively, Christopher Redman as young Harold and few others. Obviously the main stars were Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow who got nominated for several prestigious awards including Golden Globe, Critics Choice & even Emmy for Bridges.

The series itself felt more like a drama thriller with some actions, instead of pure action with drama. For only 7 episodes with duration between 47 to 64 minutes, it was enough to keep me busy for 3 nights (which should have been sooner if I was concentrating more). Since season 2 was just starting, I did not want to move forward until all episodes are available. Btw, I saw the logo of FX before the start of each episode which was the original network where the series premiered back in 2022. The series co-creator was Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg who was also the creator of Percy Jackson and The Olympians TV series. Except this one was not based on any literary or previous movies/series.

During the first season of the series, I was quite entertained by the game of cat and mouse between Harold and Dan, and was pretty curious of how it would developed. But half way through, my interest slightly decreased especially when the pace slowed down and I basically already had an idea of how it would progressed. But I still remain upbeat on the second season and hopeful for a more fun and exciting story. Let's just hope it is as I wished for. So if you are interested in watching an old former CIA agent kick some younger adversaries and a bit of cat and mouse game with some shocking twists, then this one would be to your liking, especially if good acting is one of your forte. But if you prefer a more action series, then you need to manage your expectation. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars