Jeff Bridges’ return to FX in Season 2 of The Old Man was always going to have a tough time matching the near perfect critical response to Season 1. And so it has proven as the first episode of the new season has landed a split opinion from Rotten Tomatoes critics, debuting with a 50% Tomatometer score. While there have been only six reviews so far, that is a huge drop from the 97% rating held by Season 1.
The Old Man originally debuted in 2022 with strong viewership and an exceptional set of reviews to boot. Enlisting the star power of Bridges and Jon Lithgow, the first season may have delivered a slow-burn drama, but the sheer force of its leading stars was enough for many to go along for the ride. However, even though the two “old men” spend more time on screen together this time around, it seems that they have not managed to enthrall in quite the same way in Season 2’s debut.
It seems that while Collider’s Arezou Amin noted that the season benefits from being “significantly more grounded,” while The AV Club’s Samantha Nelson said the series still packs some punch with its “signature brutal fights,” it seems that for others, the show’s leaning into long-form storytelling means the opening episode is just too slow. Kaiya Shunyaya of RogerEbert.com says that the series “continues to spiral downhill as it goes on” thanks to the world not being a “culture that was interested in nurturing longer television seasons.” For Nick Schager of The Daily Beastthe “many miscalculations” of the Season 2 debut makes it a “creaky shell of its former self.”
Jeff Bridges and Jon Lithgow Finally Share Screentime in The Old Man Season 2
Despite being veterans of the industry, before their pairing on The Old Man, Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow had never crossed paths before. Even when they final did come together for the show, the first season did not give them much chance to work together either. As Lithgow explained to TVLine:
We barely worked together in the first season. That was part of the real power of the first season: You knew these two parallel lines would come together, and they did.
For the most part, Lithgow’s Harold Harper and Bridges’ Dan Chase only interacted over the phone, and even then, according to Lithgow, the only person at the end of his phone calls was the script supervisor and not Bridges. However, Season 2 remedies that by throwing its two leads together on a “crazy mission.” Lithgow teased:
“Chase has been leading a sedentary life in Vermont, and [Harper has] been a desk jockey in Washington. And so we’re hurled into the wilderness on this crazy mission to find this kidnapped young woman, a needle in a haystack. It throws us into that maelstrom, and I think it’s extremely exciting.”
Whether audiences will stick with The Old Man long enough to see that excitement come through during the season is yet to be seen. Perhaps the promise of more action coming as the season progresses will be enough to make some of the early reviews turn out to have been a little premature.
The Old Man
releases new episodes on FX/Disney+ (Star), depending on your territory, each Thursday.
