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

FX’s second season “The Old Man” may have ended with a truly stunning power reversal, but for series developer and executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg, it was “a long time coming.”

Season 2 was all about saving Angela/Emily (Alia Shawkat), a goal that required Chase (Jeff Bridges) to team up with his former partner-turned-rival Harper (John Lithgow) to save the woman they both see as their daughter. This trip forced them to put aside their differences and travel to Afghanistan. But as Angela/Emily spent more time in the countryside, she learned that her real father was actually Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban). In doing so, she embraced her new identity and discovered her heritage, becoming Parwana Hamzad.

The season ended in total upheaval. In order to ensure Parwana’s safe return to America, Harper has teamed up with his ex-wife, former British agent Marion (Janet McTeer). But then he disappeared. In the final moments of “XV,” Parwana tells Chase in no uncertain terms that he will help her do whatever it takes to get Harper back. Much like how 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, a big part of it is about being a parent to an adult child, being an adult child and dealing with aging parents,” Steinberg told TheWrap. The showrunner noted that this exchange of power dynamics between Chase and Parwana is similar to “realizing that your child has real authority and agency and no longer has to listen to you.”

“This is obviously the most disproportionate version we can imagine,” he continued. “It was an interesting place to tell a story and an interesting relationship between Jeff and Alia’s characters.”

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

Shooting the scene over several days allowed the actors to further experiment with this pivotal scene. However, Bridges and Shawkat emphasized that the emotional weight of the moment was built into the storyline itself.

“I am a photographer. When you take a photo, sometimes you change your exposures,” Bridges explained, referring to the process of taking the same photo multiple times. “I also like to do that with my acting. The actors create their painting, then the editor and director cut these paintings and make a collage. It’s a community art form here. So I want to give my compadres as many choices on what’s going to work once they start putting everything together.

Bridges is a big proponent of trying holds in different ways. “It may have some nice surprises in store for you and everyone else,” he shared.

“It starts with them meeting in this beautiful scene – they see each other after he thought she was dead. Then, at the end, she really put him in a position where his hands are tied and he has to get on a plane no matter what,” Shawkat explained. “It’s a great scene that captures the entire spectacle of the first season. In a way, it’s saying that what you thought you knew was the truth and now you’re going to have to pay for it. »

To play Parwana’s discovery of her own identity, Shawkat leaned into the atmosphere of the series as well as her own relationship with her racial identity.

“I’m mixed race. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to Baghdad, where my father is from, but whenever I’m in an environment with other people from there or other Arabs, it’s that feeling where you say, ‘I’m one of you, but I’m not either,’ she said, noting that there were times when she didn’t feel “ethnic enough ” or “fairly white.” “I don’t feel like I fit in fully.”

“I looked into this in an extreme way. She wants to be one of those people. She knows she’s like them – they’re the same – but she’s had such a different life, so she doesn’t feel the same,” Shawkat added. “It’s this identity thing about wondering who you really are and feeling a little lost.”

The actor kept Parwana’s inner turmoil in mind as she addressed this latest episode. “It falls apart this season, and what’s left after that? I played as much as I could,” Shawkat said. “By the time you get to the dinner scene, I wanted it to be like she had been through so much and she had nothing else to hide. She just looks at (Chase) and says, ‘You’re going to get on that plane.’ There is nothing else to do. At this point, she no longer wears masks.

As for Chase’s claims that he saw and did things “uglier than death,” Bridges told TheWrap that he spoke to Steinberg about what that could mean. “I don’t know exactly where it’s going. But I have an idea,” he says.

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

As for the future of the FX thriller, it remains unclear. However, Shawkat and Bridges hope there will be another season. “I signed on for three, 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 imagined that far into the future yet,” Bridges revealed.

“Even though the story has already come a long way, in a way, the relationship between Jeff and Alia’s characters is only just beginning. What would excite me about season 3 is seeing them have to occupy the same space in the story and interact with each other. They can’t use their phone as a buffer,” Steinberg said. “We all feel really good about the story we’re telling and the team that’s been assembled.”