Joe Sarno, the grey-haired enforcer played by James Caan in the Tarantino-like 2000 film The path of the weaponmakes an ominous promise about himself when he is sent out to clean up a mess about halfway through the film: “The only thing you can assume about a decrepit old man… is that he’s a survivor.” It’s a great line, and I’d argue it’s also as good an introduction as any to the kind of deceptively rumpled, aging ex-spy that Jeff Bridges plays in FX’s The old man – a series in which Bridges’ Dan Chase lives far from civilization and looks like he could be someone’s nice grandfather. But even in his old age, he’s a walking weapon of mass destruction. He’s the spy who never came in from the cold.

FX today released a full trailer for the upcoming second season of the series, which on 12 Septemberand promises a return to form for a series that adds another must-see gem from FX to a growing stack that also includes can’t-miss TV highlights like Shogun, The bearAnd Fargoamong others. In fact, this collection is growing so much that FX actually feels (at least to me) like the new HBO.

Shows like The old manare the kind of TV dramas I live for. As for the story, Bridges’ Chase is a former (but still extremely cunning) CIA agent who has been in hiding for years due to a mission gone wrong. An assassin scares him away and forces him to flee, which turns out to be The old man in, basically, Chasing the old man.

Whoever cast Bridges in this role deserves the warmest thanks from all of us who crave well-acted, fast-paced and gripping spy dramas. He delivers a layered and compelling performance as a believable former CIA operative, a multilingual and highly resourceful warrior who looks and acts the part even when he’s not saying anything – his bearded, craggy face a topography of the pain he both experiences and inflicts.

Jonathan Lithgow plays Chase’s counterpart, FBI agent Harold Harper, and while I don’t want to give too much away about his character for those of you who are new to the show, I will just say this: the scenes between the two are almost always fascinating. Like that scene in season 1 when a team of special forces is sent to bring Chase back and Harper sends him a warning to prevent an even bigger scandal from coming to light.

From the official synopsis for season 2 of The old man:

“Former CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and former FBI Deputy Director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) embark on their most important mission yet – to rescue Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) after she is kidnapped by Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban), a powerful Afghan tribal leader. With all three men claiming her as their daughter, Emily faces an identity crisis with devastating consequences.”