Warning: The following story contains spoilers from “The Old Man” Season 2, Episode 8.

FX’s second season “Old Man” It may have resulted in a truly jaw-dropping power transition, but for series developer and executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg, it was “going to take a long time.”

Season 2 revolved around saving Angela/Emily (Alia Shawkat); It was a goal that required Chase (Jeff Bridges) to team up with his former partner and rival, Harper (John Lithgow), to save the woman they both considered a daughter. This journey forced them to put aside their differences and go to Afghanistan. However, as Angela/Emily spends more time in the country, she learns that her real father is actually Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban). In the process, she embraced her new identity and discovered her heritage, becoming Parwana Hamzad.

The season ended in complete disappointment. Harper has partnered with his ex-wife, former British agent Marion (Janet McTeer), to ensure Parwana’s safe return to America. However, he disappeared in the process. In the final moments of “XV,” Parwana firmly tells Chase that she will help him do whatever it takes to get Harper back. Just as Season 1 ended with Chase reluctantly teaming up with Harper, Season 2 ends with him reluctantly partnering with Parwana.

“From the beginning of the story, there was a big part about parenting an adult child, being an adult child, and dealing with aging parents,” Steinberg told TheWrap. The showrunner noted that this power dynamic shift between Chase and Parwana is like “realizing that your child has real authority and authority and doesn’t have to listen to you anymore.”

“This is obviously the biggest version we could imagine,” he continued. “It felt like an interesting place to take a story and an interesting place to take the relationship between Jeff and Alia’s characters.”

The scene featuring Bridges, Shawkat and Amy Brenneman as Zoe McDonald was shot over two days. “It took a long time because they did a lot of special footage. Even though it seems like such a simple scene, there are so many angles that will give this dramatic effect,” Shawkat told TheWrap.

Shooting the scene over several days allowed the actors to experiment more with this important scene. However, both Bridges and Shawkat emphasized that the emotional weight of that moment was reflected in the script.

“I am a photographer. “When you’re taking photos, sometimes you have to bracket your exposures,” Bridges explained, referring to the process of taking the same photo multiple times. “That’s what I like to do with my acting, too. The actors paint their pictures, then the editor and director cut those pictures up and collage them. It’s a common art form there.” So I want to give my friends as many options as possible about what will work when they start putting the pieces together.

Bridges is a big proponent of trying different paths. “It can give yourself and everyone else nice surprises,” he shared.

“It begins with their reunion in this beautiful scene; It starts with them seeing each other after they thought he was dead. Then he finally puts her in a situation where her hands are literally tied and she’s going to get on the plane no matter what,” explained Shawkat. “It’s a great scene that spans the entirety of the show in the first season. It’s kind of saying that what you thought you knew wasn’t the truth, and now you’re going to have to pay the price for it.” .”

Shawkat leaned into the atmosphere of the series and its relationship with her racial identity to portray Parwana’s discovery of her own identity.

“I am a hybrid. Unfortunately, I did not go to Baghdad, where my father came from, but whenever I am in an environment with people from there or other Arabs, you say, ‘I am one of you, but I am me.’ “I’m not either,” he said, noting that there were times when he didn’t feel “ethnic enough” or “white enough.” “I don’t feel like I fit in completely.”

“I’m extremely leaning into that. He wants to be a part of these people. “He knows he’s like them – they’re the same – but he’s had a very different life, so he doesn’t feel the same,” Shawkat added. “It’s an identity thing, wondering who he really is and feeling lost.”

The actor kept Parwana’s inner turmoil in mind while approaching this final episode. “This season is falling apart, then what is left? “I played that as best I could,” Shawkat said. “When you get to the diner scene, I wanted it to be like he’s been through a lot and has nothing else to hide. He’s just looking at (Chase) like, ‘You’re going to get on this plane.’ There’s nothing else to do.” “At that point, he wasn’t wearing a mask anymore.”

As for claims that Chase has seen and done things “uglier than death,” Bridges told TheWrap that he spoke with Steinberg about what that might mean. “I don’t know exactly where it’s going. But I have an idea,” he said.

Steinberg also noted that the team around “The Old Man” is now building Season 3’s story around “the answer to that.” “It’s not as simple as killing bad guys anymore. It’s much more complicated,” Steinberg quipped.

The future of FX’s thriller remains uncertain. But both Shawkat and Bridges are hopeful there will be another season. “I’ve signed on for three of them and I love working with people and I’m excited about where the story is going, so I’m kind of playing it by ear. I haven’t thought that far yet,” Bridges explained.

“Even though the story has already been covered, the relationship between Jeff and Alia’s characters has really just begun in a way. What would excite me about Season 3 was watching them occupy the same space in the story and deal with each other. They can’t use the phone as a buffer,” Steinberg said. “We all feel really good about the story we’re telling and the team that’s been put together.”