The old man

XV

Season 2

Episode 8

Editor's Rating

4 stars

****

Photo: Chuck Hodes/FX

It took two seasons, but the women did it Finally taken over The old man. After “XV,” Harold Harper's power-hungry ex-wife holds him hostage while Dan Chase's new daughter forces him into espionage servitude. The question is: Will we get the third season with a female lead that we have been patiently waiting for? (As of this writing, FX has not yet announced a third season of The old man.)

“XV” may have been a disorganized mess, but The old man definitely gave us a cliffhanger worthy of the name: After Chase narrowly survived being poisoned by the Russian oligarch Suleyman Pavlovich, he now has to help his daughter Emily Chase (yes, she survived!), Harper from Marion's evil to free from clutches. But there are just a few small problems with this new mission.

First, Chase technically owes his life to Marion (we'll get into that in more detail). Second, the only way to get to Marion is for Chase to resume a toxic identity he buried long ago. As Chase and Emily cultivate unconditional father-daughter love, both must grapple with a new reality. In addition to her unresolved issues stemming from Chase lying to Emily about her biological history, Chase must also accept Emily's authority. As the person who now controls her family's priceless mineral deposits, Emily sets the tone, not him. So let's find out how we got here.

Three episodes after Chase, Zoe McDonald, Harper and Cheryl Harper were revealed to be audio witnesses to Emily's murder; We are shown the visual representation of what really happened: Yes, Pavlovich's armed mercenaries broke into the room where Emily was hiding with her Afghan family. Yes, they killed several people, including her paternal aunt, Khadija. Emily initially survives by identifying herself as Hamzad and using her negotiation training. However, Emily actually survives because she is Dan Chase's daughter. Sure, Emily's counterintelligence and language training helped her gain the trust of her captors. But even she can't help but hint at her violent nature during an exchange with a Russian soldier, mentioning that she was always willing to do anything to protect the people she loves.

What “no one ever noticed” was that Baba Ghor-Ghori 2.0 was hiding in plain sight: just like dear old Dad decades before, Emily killed a whole bunch of Russian soldiers in cold blood. She (almost) single-handedly regained control of her family's village, the Meshbahar camp, and became one of the most powerful women in the world. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. But it's still about making sure Dan Chase's internal organs haven't failed yet, so let's move on to that storyline.

In Hong Kong, Marion receives news from the enemy cartel that an American Pavlovich has retaken control of the Meshbahar deposit. Harper is relieved that “Angela” is alive, but there is no time for a happy dance. Now he must persuade Marion to go one step further: he demands that the Chinese government stand down while Julian Carson sneaks into the cartel meeting place to find out Chase's whereabouts – and assassinate Suleyman Pavlovich. She agrees, but Harper must know that this will come at a very high cost.

Back in England, Zoe and Carson drive to the cartel meeting point at a fancy cliffside resort. He's there to take down the man who killed his mentor Morgan Bote, while she just wants to save her friend's life. In a very tense sequence, Zoe and Carson arrive at the resort, where Harper gives them the go-ahead over the phone to assassinate the Russian delegation. The only reason this was even possible is because the influential Marion gave the cartel guards an order to ignore the men and women in non-tactical suits loitering around the resort for 15 minutes.

Gbenga Akinnagbe gets his only major scene, in which Carson expertly takes out Pavlovich's seven-man security detail, culminating in his own Inigo Montoya moment: the killing of Morgan Bote's killer. It's great, but Zoe is getting impatient. She jumps into a car left behind by Pavlovich's security detail, turns on the GPS, checks her recent destinations and voila! She sets off as soon as she finds Chase's location. Okay, clever, but also, WTF, Zoe? Why are you leaving Carson like that? Not nice.

Not nice either? Marion. When she informs Harper that Pavlovich is dead – and begins acting unusually friendly – Harper realizes he will pay handsomely for her latest favor. She handed him over to the Chinese and he is now supposedly her prisoner.

Zoe rolls up to the cliffside church where Chase is somehow still clinging to life, armed with an antidote (this was the bag Carson was carrying at the end of last week's episode when he met Zoe at the police station in connection). She injects Chase with the antidote and calls Carson to teach her basic life-saving techniques. Between you and me, I'm impressed that Carson even answered the phone. She left him after he killed eight people.

Suddenly, Chase wakes up in a quiet country house, surrounded by Dave and Carol (woo-hoo!!!), and Zoe tends to his numerous wounds. To be honest, I spent most of the episode's third act wondering if this was a dream sequence, which may have been the writers' intent.

According to Zoe's expository dialogue, Carson apparently stuck around long enough to help Chase and Zoe return to the United States under cover and give them a life off the grid before disappearing again. (No, really: Akinnagbe's final scene in this episode is a voiceover in which he coaches Zoe over the phone while she performs CPR on Chase.) I don't get it. Why does this show continue to treat Julian Carson like an afterthought?

Now hiding out in one of Morgan Bote's old safe houses, Chase and Zoe spend the next few scenes overcoming their shared trauma. The dialogue reveals that they have no idea that Emily is alive and that they do not know that the Chinese government is holding Harper. Watching Zoe and Chase take long walks on the lawn with the dogs is cute, but come on, Zoe – why are you calling your son on a library computer? (It's a plot device to throw in a few more hints about her marriage; Zoe's ex-husband constantly puts her on the defensive. However, she doesn't feel that way towards Chase. Hmmm…) It doesn't matter how many books he reads on the porch or how happy he is playing house with Zoe. Dan Chase is still restless and worried. Oh, don't worry, old man, your peaceful existence is about to be seriously upended.

A package arrives with a speed phone and a number, leading Chase and Zoe to a nondescript roadside diner where Emily is waiting! Father and daughter have an emotional reunion, but Emily's response to Chase's question about whether she's okay is quite telling: She doesn't say she's okay, just that she's “here.” First, Emily informs Chase and Zoe about Harper: Marion is using him as a bargaining chip to control the Meshbahar deposit.

Chase: “Huh? I thought some impostors in the valley had wrested control of the deposit away from Pavlovich.”

Emily: “Hi Dad! Lead Yahoo here!”

Emily asks Chase to help her save Harper, and he's all in. Until she lays out her demands: She needs access to Lou Barlow. We already know from “XIII” that this shady Lou Barlow guy can make even someone like Dan Chase cringe, and now it sounds like Emily is forcing her father to revisit one last demon for Harper's sake.

Chase adamantly refuses to go down that path again, but he doesn't understand that he's no longer in charge here. The big reveal is that Chase was Lou Barlow, a man capable of “things uglier than violence.” Oh my god, dude. What the hell did you do??? He swears to his daughter that he will find another way to help her, but none of that matters anymore. Unlike earlier in the season, it's either Emily's way or the highway.

But it's more than that: I loved this scene so much because Alia Shawkat flawlessly demonstrated every single intricate level of Emily's thinking while keeping her emotions in check. She loves Chase, but is also very angry at him for lying to her. Added to this is her newfound influence and an unshakable goal (to save her other father). You'd better assume she's not in the mood to negotiate.

And she won't, because Chase can't ignore the facts he's suppressed for decades: Emily now wields immense global power. She found Chase and Zoe because she asked the FBI for a favor, which resulted in Zoe's son's phone being tapped (I knew that was a stupid idea, Zoe!). But her favor with the FBI doesn't end there, because, as Chase notes, “Parwana Hamzad gets what she wants.” Like forcibly transporting Chase and Zoe out of the country to save Harper.

The final shot of the season shows several FBI cars circling the restaurant, confirming this, even if we don't get a third season of it The old manDan Chase is now his daughter's agent. Again, I just love how Shawkat played this scene. Emily isn't complacent about the new world order – she even has a tear in her eye. But she is angry and takes her life back on her terms. Are her actions revenge against her parents? Does power corrupt them? A bit of both? Maybe we'll find out in the third season.

• Amy Brenneman recently made a good case for a third season. I don't blame her, because we also need more about Zoe's cryptic backstory: from these few flashbacks, all we know is that she wasn't in love with her ex-husband, but through that marriage she learned the importance of partnership – and firearms skills . What else is she hiding?