Do you think not talking about it makes it worse? It doesn't make it better, does it?
Starting my trip down Empire's Top 50 TV Shows of 2022.
#19 : The Old Man
Battling both Covid delays and star Jeff Bridges' cancer diagnosis, it's almost a miracle that The Old Man was finished, let alone turned out as well as it did. Black Sails duo Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg adapted Thomas Perry's 2017 novel, and the result is much more than just Bridges kicking arse and taking names. It's a layered character study of a man whose sins have come roaring out of the past, and how that impacts those around him. Alongside the main man as ex-CIA agent Dan Chase, there was solid work from John Lithgow (as his former handler-turned-hunter), Alia Shawkat as Lithgow's star intelligence analyst and Amy Brenneman as a woman who is unexpectedly drawn into Chase's orbit.
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Skipping over The Responder (#20 here, #5 in The Guardian) we come to this which I know stars Jeff Bridges as an old man, but that's pretty much all I know.
Yeah - this is good. I'm not entirely sure I should tell you any more than Empire has because you're better off coming to it blind, but I will say it's very nicely plotted across the season, drip feeding us with important details at critical times with good use of flashbacks. And some of those important details really blindside you - you don't see them coming at all. The only other things I'd say is that it's a lot more violent than I was expecting and if you're looking for something that ties everything up nicely, then I'd avoid this because there's definitely going to be a season 2 (which I'll be watching).
The main characters in this are the quartet that Empire mentions and they all do a superb job. You'd certainly expect it from Jeff, but it still surprises you when he kicks into action mode and you'd also expect it from John, but he really delivers here and goes on quite the emotional journey. My eldest knew she recognised Mr Lithgow from somewhere but we had to resort to IMDB to work out where - for a man with an incredibly impressive and heavyweight body of work, it was amusingly How I Met Your Mother and Pitch Perfect 3 (I'm also going to mention his role in Dexter because he's fantastic in that and delivers quite the shock ending to that season).
The women are less well known but both have surprisingly large CVs. Alia is only 34 but has been in loads with most people probably knowing her from Arrested Development (which I've never seen) - I recognised her from Green Room (which is quite the film and nothing like anything else Patrick Stewart has ever done). Amy looks very youthful for her 59 years and most people probably know her from Private Practice or Judging Amy (over 100 episodes of each) but I know her from NYPD Blue and The Leftovers (and she's great in both). And they're both excellent in this, although they both surprisingly completely disappear in the last episode, which felt somewhat jarring and unnecessary.
It's all very well shot - they certainly spent some money on the locations with some absolutely gorgeous scenery on display (the mountains are AMAZING!). I'd also like to read the book because it's all well done in terms of the plot and timeline and the deeper consideration of the elements of guilt and trauma involved. It's also clever because of the way the title has various meanings and potentially applies to various people through the season - which is some heavy lifting for three three-letter words.
Yes, a lot of is quite unbelievable but it's very easy to suspend your disbelief and just relax into it and enjoy a good (and good looking) story decorated with some fine performances - I'm glad I followed up with Empire's list to pick on this and it definitely feels like a miss by The Guardian.
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