The Old Man Season 3: Cancelation & Everything We Know

FX's thrilling action series The Old Man returned for an explosive second season in late 2024, but FX canceled the show before season 3. Based on the eponymous novel by Thomas Perry, the series concerns retired CIA operative Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) who comes out of hiding after thwarting an attempt against his life. The series only grew and expanded across its first season, with drama between Dan and his estranged daughter (Alia Shawkat) as well as his complicated relationship with FBI Agent Harold Harper (played by John Lithgow).

Season 2 saw Dan and Harold travel to Afghanistan to rescue Emily from Hamzad, but it's never that simple in the world of the ex-CIA operative. With Emily learning her true parentage, Dan's mission wasn't as easy as he once thought. Though the first season earned decent marks from critics, season 2 of The Old Man was not met as favorably, and even scored a paltry 50% for its early episodes (via Rotten Tomatoes). While this may not have been enough to doom the series, FX decided to pull the plug on The Old Man after only two seasons.

Related The Old Man Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail) The Old Man's ending poses some interesting questions, including where FX and Jeff Bridges take the show next. Here's what it all means.

The Old Man Season 3 Is Canceled

The Series Won't Return For Season 3

TV has become an expensive business, and if a show like The Old Man doesn't cut the mustard, it only makes sense to pull the plug.

After a few months of uncertainty regarding the fate of the thriller, FX finally put the matter to bed when it canceled The Old Man after only two seasons. The move wasn't particularly surprising considering the negative reception to the sophomore outing, but critical scores are rarely enough to doom a show. Though FX didn't explicitly state why the show was canned, the likeliest culprit was the declining ratings. TV has become an expensive business, and if a show like The Old Man doesn't cut the mustard, it only makes sense to pull the plug.

The Old Man season 2 premiered on September 12, 2024.

Unfortunately for the audience that the show did garner, it's highly unlikely that the series will get revived elsewhere. The somewhat uncommon practice of resurrecting abandoned shows was all the rage a few years ago, but it has yielded few positive results. More often than not, a revived series is quickly axed again, and there is usually a reason why it failed in the first place. While its financials aren't known, The Old Man is probably a costly experiment that another streamer or network wouldn't want to take on.

The Old Man Season 3 Cast

Would Bridges & Lithgow Have Returned?

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Perhaps the biggest draw for the FX thriller was the cast of The Old Man, and season 3 would have been no exception. Leading the charge was veteran star Jeff Bridges as ex-CIA operative, Dan Chase, and his unique charisma was needed to carry the show forward. Likewise, John Lithgow's turn as FBI Counterintelligence Director Harold Harper has shown another side of the character actor, and his rapport with Bridges was a weekly treat. Though her character's trajectory was left uncertain, Alia Shawkat should also have returned as Emily Chase, Dan's estranged "daughter".

The presumptive cast of The Old Man season 3 included:

Actor The Old Man Role Jeff Bridges Dan Chase John Lithgow Harold Harper Alia Shawkat Emily Chase/Parwana Amy Brenneman Zoe McDonald

The Old Man Season 3 Story Details

Emily Could Have Turned The Tables In Season 3

The biggest strength of The Old Man is that it never feared change, and the ending of season 2 took the series in an entirely new direction. Parwana (aka Emily, aka Angela) flipped the script on her real father, and became the leader of his group following his death. This possibly led Parwana to abandon all of her morals in favor of the same ruthlessness that drove Hamzad. However, much like the man that raised her (Dan), she could simply have inhabited a new role in order to achieve her goals.

This set up a tense finale for season 2 in which Parwana approached Dan and volunteered him for a new mission that he had no choice but to accept. With Harold captured, and Parwana firmly in control in Afghanistan, Dan was tasked with bringing back his darkest persona and transforming into the cold-blooded killer that's really inside of him. How this would have played out in The Old Man season 3 will never be known, but it could have been an exciting new chapter in FX's action-packed series.