Interview with Abe: Sean Porter

I had the pleasure of speaking with Emmy nominee Sean Porter, cinematographer for “The Old Man.” Check out our great conversation for Below the Line News.

What I’m Watching: The Old Man (Season Finale)

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 7 “VII” (B+)

This finale contained a big surprise that I definitely didn’t see coming, one that makes Dan and Harold much more like each other than Harold knew. It also weakens Dan’s cruel reminder to Harold that Emily wasn’t his actual daughter, since, apparently, Dan isn’t either. Though we saw his face for only a moment, I immediately recognized Navid Negahban, who has appeared in series like “Homeland,” “Legion,” and “Tehran,” as the older Faraz, who looked wearied but elated to see his daughter finally return home to him after being taken decades earlier. That explains why Faraz hated Dan so much, since Abbey was involved in the decision to leave with Dan but Emily couldn’t have been. What she knows, however, is more of a mystery, and theoretically she’ll be safe in her real father’s care, even if the two men who love her like a daughter will stop at nothing to get her back. Dan didn’t waste much time in disposing of their escorts once they were told that they had to turn back since the deal was off, and he and Harold do make a good team even if they don’t get along particularly well due to all they’ve endured over the years. Zoe appears to be out of the picture now but I’d be surprised if that remained the case, especially considering how Harold referred to her as a loose end that might need cleaning up. I don’t know what to expect in season two but I am intrigued to see these characters return and to see what the terrific Negahban does with his character.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: John Lithgow as Harold

What I’m Watching: The Old Man

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 6 “VI” (B+)

There was lots of talk about names from both duos in this episode, stressing the importance of remembering who you are while considering that maybe the name a person goes by isn’t all that relevant or defining. The concept of pinning everything on Angela made some degree of sense since she’s always been ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of protecting her father. Her calling to get Harold taken home so she could take the fall showed that she was more than ready to do it and was taking proactive steps to ensure it happened that way, though now she appears to have been taken by a different old man than I thought this show’s title was referring to when it first started. I like that Harold and Dan are now teaming up to go get Emily back, and how much Faraz figures into that equation remains uncertain. It was interesting to see Dan opt to save his traitorous former ally rather than punish him for his attempted betrayal, and he also has plenty to think about when it comes to the woman he loved most in this world, who may have been using both him and Faraz as assets without their knowledge. Zoe reacted calmly to being recognized abroad while she was supposed to be someone else, and Dan got there right in time to spirit her out of that situation. Knowing that a second season is already on the way means that there can only be so much resolution in the finale, and that we’ll likely see these characters again in some capacity in the future - and maybe also the past.

What I’m Watching: The Old Man

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 5 “V” (B+)

Zoe’s big move didn’t end up being the centerpiece of this episode, since Dan essentially accepted her as a new part of his plan and focused on getting to Emily so that he could protect her. But they did have some very interesting and enlightening conversations on the drive, culminating in a moment where Dan was prepared to go into Zachary’s house and make sure what he wanted to happen did. Zoe was less pushy than when she made her dangerous gamble from the previous episode, but she still thought - and rightfully so - that she could accomplish what he was planning in a smoother and less risky way. Her first attempt didn’t go well but then she managed to pull it off, and though Dan was evidently impressed, he did issue a stern warning about gender roles where they were going and how that kind of boldness might end with them both dismembered. Emily and Harold were having a much more open dialogue than in the past, but she was still talking in riddles that Harold wasn’t in any mood to hear. Referring to both Harold and Dan as fathers certainly complicates matters, but they’re also in a very precarious situation where they’ll need to be on the same page in order to survive. Both fathers also don’t realize that a man who considers them his two sons is actively working against them, recruiting two people who they’ve pissed off and who may be best equipped to take them down to find and hurt them.

What I’m Watching: The Old Man

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 4 “IV” (B+)

It still took a minute or two for this show to confirm that Zoe was in fact still alive as she slowly climbed out of the trunk and emerged safe. Dan was treating her as someone who had somehow signed up for a life on the run, and even she couldn’t believe that she was apologizing to the dogs for not doing a better job of taking care of them after she had been kidnapped. But it turns out that Zoe is a far more interesting supporting character than she initially seemed, since she took advantage of Dan’s carefully crafted cover story to create leverage for herself. It was very smart of her to make it so that she couldn’t be quickly disposed of like he had imagined doing had the traffic stop gone bad, and maybe he won’t be quite as angry once he realizes that he could have a great partner who’s as resilient and inventive as he is. Dan may have additional trouble on the horizon with Zachary not wanting to go for his very risky play, and his sudden appearance for the first time coupled with his seeming urgency likely will only serve to raise flags. The flashbacks to his suggestion of a way to get revenge that he then pointed out didn’t have to be bloodless showed how violence and collateral damage doesn’t bother him. Angela calling him from the bathroom right outside a meeting she had just had with Harold does seem quite risky, though probably not as much as flying to meet Farzad to gather intel as directly and efficiently as possible.

Take Three: The Old Man

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 3 “III” (B+)

As soon as I saw Alia Shawkat’s name in the cast, I was sure that she was the one playing Emily, but then she showed up as a different character, so I thought I was wrong. But this episode confirmed in an intense way why it was that the reports showed Emily died nearly twenty years earlier, since she is both Harold’s go-to dependable agent and Dan’s daughter. It’s a fascinating dual role, one that she’s obviously been able to hide for a long time and which positions her perfectly to be able to help her father. Her plan to get a message to Faraz to get him the answers he’s looking for is a bold one, and I’m curious to see if it will work. When Dan asked Zoe why she had lied to the police to protect him, she got upset and wasn’t convinced by hearing Emily’s voice on the phone, but things took a very violent turn which made it hard for her to escape. Those dogs are quite reliable and helped to take down the cleaner sent by Harold, who appears to have survived but isn’t in great shape. The flashbacks to a younger Dan’s first meeting with Faraz’s wife helped to explain how he got into this mess, and it was powerful to hear him insist that he wasn’t a monster as he went to open his car trunk. The decision not to show whether Zoe was in there alive or dead added a lot of weight, especially since a new episode didn’t premiere for another week past this one’s airing.

Round Two: The Old Man

The Old Man: Season 1, Episode 2 “II” (B+)

It wasn’t clear exactly what the extent of Dan and Harold’s interactions were in the past, and we got to see that they were quite intimate, with Harold warning him that he would be the one they would send to kill him eventually. That’s not quite what’s going on now, but given the way that Dan responds to situations and how he imagined doing so if the need presented itself, this can’t end any other way than either Dan or Harold dead (though news of a second season being ordered so quickly by FX suggests that it won’t happen for quite a while). I’m always happy to see Alia Shawkat, most recently the star of the genre-bending “Search Party,” and this feels like a much more serious role for her, one in which her character Angela is fiercely protective of Harold and not eager to give Raymond a warm welcome. The news that Emily died by suicide years earlier is startling, and it raises so many questions about who the woman on the other end of the phone is since Dan seems to believe that she’s his daughter. Dan, posing as Peter, nearly had to rethink his entire getaway plan when Zoe told him about the no-dog policy, but he proved that it wasn’t going to be a problem. I wondered whether him shooting the two cops and then her was a daydream moment since it went on for a very long time, but there’s still plenty to worry about given that Harold knows exactly where Dan and Zoe are and is calling in a top asset to find them.

Pilot Review: The Old Man

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.