"The Old Man."

Wherein watching and liking are two different things. Or maybe "appreciating" is the culprit here. My struggles with this FX series.

I was eager to watch “The Old Man” on FX even though the trailer (and eventually, the series) instantly reminded me of those disposable Liam Neeson movies were an older, out of service white guy is pulled back into the shit to save someone, usually his daughter (or himself, if he’s been discovered). I thought I was out and they pulled me back in is not exactly a revolutionary idea, nor is I was hiding and then you found me and boy I need to run in a hurry.

Nothing wrong with those ideas. But pretty well-tread. And yet — AND YET — I do really love the Bourne movies. Not “love” them in a way where I would spend 2,000 words speaking on their greatness, because they’re not really great. They are an enjoyable diversion. Actually, it goes beyond that, slightly — they are intelligent enjoyable diversions. That matters. Most of the James Bond movies, including the most recent, “No Time To Die,” which I just finally watched, entertain without being intelligent. See, there’s a difference. It’s not too difficult to spot. (I always think it’s funny that a paint-by-numbers movie franchise like Bond needs five or six writers to finish it, which speaks badly to the executives and the money behind it — and the industry itself — and not so much the writer or writers).

A really smart, entertaining diversion is a thing I almost always seek out. My tendencies are to like more dense fare and I often need to circle back and just watch shit blow up and shots ring out and cars chase each other or people tracking others in remote locations with a thumping soundtrack. So, yes, I can think of no one more appreciative of that style.

But “The Old Man” is really not that style — I figured out one of the major reveals within almost no time and then sat stunned that the show would build upon that with another, even more obvious reveal. Having loved “Mr. Robot,” I thought, for a second, “Oh, I get it — you’re trying to make me think I’ve figure it out when I haven’t.”

Nope.

Within minutes of watching it I wondered about the book it was based on, by Thomas Perry.