Jeff Bridges Reveals the Shocking 'Old Man' Season 2 Finale.

[This story contains major spoilers from the season two finale of The Old Man.]

In the world of espionage it can be said that nothing is ever as it seems. And this idea certainly proved true in the season 2 finale of The Old Manaired Thursday night on FX.

Last week's episode featured Emily Chase/Angela Adams' (Alia Shawkat) father, former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), and her surrogate father, former FBI Deputy Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow ), wander around the world to avenge the then-believed death of their beloved daughter by Russian mercenaries who are part of an international cartel in Afghanistan trying to take control of a mega-rich lithium deposit of property of a small tribal community.

The leader of the community was a man named Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), who was Emily's real father. Emily, now going by her birth name Parwana Hamzad, was taken away as a child from her mother to grow up in America after her mother fell in love with vicious CIA assassin Chase. As she grew up, Emily became known as Angela Adams and was also adopted into Harper's family, while she trained to become a top-notch FBI field agent.

But Emily/Angela always felt (and even heard voices) that she didn't truly belong to the American families who loved her dearly. Something or someone was dragging her to the Middle East. In season one, he thought it was part of the mission to kill one of the deadliest terrorists known to the free world. But as viewers discovered at the end of that season, and much of the second, the alleged terrorist was Hamzad pulling the strings, just to lure back the daughter who was taken away from him many decades ago.

Which second season The Old Man reveals is that the loving, searching, and seemingly sensitive Emily/Angela/Parwana may actually have been a cunning wolf in sheep's clothing. Having fallen in love with the Afghans, Parwana is shown to be just as violent, vengeful, and ruthless as the old man when the enemy, or anyone else, tries to hurt those Chase loves.

Ironically, both Chase and Harper end up in danger trying to find out why their daughter was killed (not yet knowing that she survived her attackers). Chase is poisoned by a chemical in the air and his only solution is to get caught by his enemies, the Russians, who have the antidote. And Harper goes to Hong Kong to visit his ex-wife, a former British agent named Marion (played by Janet McTeer), who has selfish reasons for wanting to see Parwana survive the cartel leader's invasion of the warehouse lands Russian Suleyman Pavlovich (Rade Šerbedžija) and Chinese members. Once she learns that Parwana is alive, she decides to hold her ex-husband hostage and use him as a pawn to lure the new tribal leader. Parwana, however, will not tolerate this. And if she's anything like her father, this could be the deadliest mistake Marion has ever made.

In the final scenes of the finale, Emily finds Chase, lets him know, in no uncertain terms, that she is not the sweet daughter he once thought he knew; and that he must go to the extreme and find Lou Barlow to help him save Harper from Marion's clutches. She doesn't care how much blood is shed.

The Hollywood journalist I recently spoke to the old man himself, Jeff Bridges, to talk about it this shocking finale, what it's like preparing for the physical challenges of playing a senior spy, the love between daughters and fathers, and wondering: Who the hell is Lou Barlow?

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Jeff, no one will call you old after seeing your performance these two seasons. How do you prepare mentally and physically for filming?

Well, the physical aspect, you know, I have to get in shape, do some exercises and stuff like that. I work with Tim Connolly and Tommy DuPont, the two stuntmen on the show, to really work out the fights and stuff like that. They are physically demanding. I love that they are inspiring. But Tim, above all, specializes in making it seem very real.

The show is called The Old Man. So the old man fights like an old man. He might have some fighting shots and stuff, but you know he's an old cat. And a lot of times, well, you might see a little bit of white in your beard there. You're an old man, sometimes you write checks your ass can't cash. You say, “Oh, I know that move.” But yes, you think you know. Your body has forgotten it.

So it's the lithium reserves in Afghanistan that have them The Old ManAre world leaders willing to break ranks with their countries to form a super-wealth conglomerate and become an autonomous superpower? We are talking about, among others, rogue agents from Russia, China, Great Britain and the United States.

Well, it's the future. They are all those types of items that you will need for all modern equipment. Computer and you know this quantum computer. I don't know if you know this, but eliminating ones and zeros is a completely new thing. I mean, everything is moving so fast now. And the guys who have what it takes will be ahead of everyone. So, this is the purpose of the fight.

In the diner meeting between Dan Chase, Zoe (Amy Brenneman) and Emily, Chase did not seem shocked that his daughter was not only alive (after mourning her heavily), nor that she presented herself as a formidable force and the new leader of his Afghan father's tribe. Chase sees his daughter as fierce and willing to do anything to get what she wants. Does he now see Emily as the monster he created?

I don't think he has any idea. But I don't think he's a guy who spends too much time being shocked. These CIA spies and guys have something called OODA. This means observing, orienting yourself, deciding and then acting. It's a kind of game these spies play with each other. And the faster you will go through the orientation process of: “What is happening here? Where am I in this situation? What am I going to do?” and then take action, that's kind of where her mind is going. And she did this quick thing to him. I mean, those cars are coming, she completely turned the tables. Just like the episode where he decides: “I have to let these guys capture me; that's where the antidote is, I can't escape.”

He's pissed at his daughter for doing that. I have three girls of my own and I could be mad at them all the time and still love them. He can't believe it. But he's not the type to show shock like someone else might.

Did Angela/Emily ultimately transform into the characters of all three of her fathers – Dan Chase, Harold Harper and Faraz Hamzad – as the vengeful Parwana Hamzad (all played by Alia Shawkat)?

Yes, interesting, in my opinion. But I don't think any of us really know who we are. We may think we know who we are, but life's challenges really bring out who we are. And I think one of the reasons Chase might not be that surprised is because he knows he's taught Emily everything he knows; so, he's not that surprised that she's so casual and changes things and works that way. It's like playing a game of chess with another great chess player. If he makes a good move, it doesn't surprise you too much.

So, Zoe saves Chase's life and takes him to a place that's kind of like Shangri-La; yet there is still something that does not rest in his spirit. Why?

I don't think he trusts that. He knows he wants it; he knows she wants it. But his desire scares him because he knows he can be satisfied with it. He made a profession out of being inauthentic, creating the illusion of being all these different people. I don't think he really knows who he is. And he wants to know who he is and have some authenticity, and that's what draws him so much to Zoe. Here is a person who begins to know more and more about him. And it's wonderful when you're lucky enough to have someone who knows all the different aspects of you, some not so flattering and some good. And as the last episode indicates, he doesn't want to bully Lou Barlow on her, man! He's not sure she can swallow that gag.

By the way, who do those dogs love more, Chase or Zoe?

(He laughs) It's fun! Well, in a way I'm on Zoe's side. Seems like they break old Dan's heart a little. Who knows, we'll see.

We need to talk about this Lou Barlow.

(He laughs harder) I'm not telling you anything! I'm glad you asked.

Lou Barlow must have forced Dan to do some terrible things.

So Dan is Lou Barlow, right? I mean, that's what he says at the end, he admits it. I don't want to bring it back, man!

I guess we'll see a third season.

I don't know, the show hasn't been picked up yet.

Finally, Morgan Bote (played by Joel Grey, the real “old man” who trained Harper and Chase) do you really love Dan and Harold? Do you think he cared for them or just trained them to be killers for the sake of their country?

Yeah, I know, but I think he liked Zoe too, man! (He laughs) I keep teasing Amy. I said, “I know you guys made it.” She said “No no”. I said, “Let's go!” Joel Gray was wonderful to work with and I think he really adds a lot to the show. I'm sorry to see him go.

The thing that really makes a project unique for me is who you work with, the different artists; that's one of the joys. It's kind of a community art form. Everyone plays together and everything comes down from above: [FX boss] Joe Landgraf, [producer] Warren Littlefield, our showrunner Jonathan E. Steinberg. All those guys are creating a wonderful atmosphere for all the other artists to play.

The cinematography was fantastic; the directors. I was a little worried about working with different directors, but they were all well chosen. Casting, not just with the actors, but with all the kids you bring together. That's it, basically. You get a top-notch cast that goes and does their thing. I think that's where you get the best kind of stuff.

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The Old Man The season two finale aired Thursday on FX and will stream the next day on Hulu.