The Old Man (TV Series)

II (2022)

Amy Brenneman: Zoe McDonald

Photos 

Quotes 

• Dan Chase : How long has it been since your divorce?

  Zoe : About the same as you. Five years.

  Dan Chase : Hmm. What happened? I mean, we don't have to talk about that.

  Zoe : No, no, no, it's fine. He...

  [scoffs, chuckles] 

  Zoe : Is it strange that you have an easier time talking about your wife passing away than I do about my husband leaving me?

  Dan Chase : No. No, it's not.

  Zoe : No, it's not, is it? Uh... Well, we... we married in our 20s, and, you know, it made sense. Um, we... I supported him however I could. Enjoyed his company, he enjoyed mine. We picked up slack. We hosted and fought and apologized, and... laughed and compromised.

  Dan Chase : Mm-hmm.

  Zoe : And had a son.

  Dan Chase : Mm-hmm.

  Zoe : Loved him, cared for him, and... We had a life, you know. We worked at it. And it... it made sense until one day I woke up and it didn't. And then there was a woman... much younger than me. And then it was over. And my house got very, very quiet.

  Dan Chase : Oh. You didn't deserve that.

  Zoe : Thank you.

  Dan Chase : I mean it.

  Zoe : Oh? You sure about that?

  Dan Chase : Yes, I am.

  Zoe : [inhales sharply]  Then let me tell you the story a different way. When we got married in our 20s, it made sense to everyone. I was pretty sure it made sense to me, too. We enjoyed each other's company. We had a life. Until one day, I woke up, and I couldn't breathe. I dragged myself to the mirror, and I... I recognized the eyes but not the face. It wasn't my face. It was my mother's face, or... a stranger's face. Nothing made any sense. So, I got the courage to talk to my husband, and I said, "Something is very wrong, I am living the wrong life." But I wanted to fix it somehow. I wanted to fix it with him. I wanted to live the right life with him. And he agreed, and he sacrificed, and he supported, and he picked up slack, and he compromised, and...

  [scoffs] 

  Zoe : I didn't get any happier. But I tried. I tried. I tried. So, eventually, he couldn't sacrifice anymore. Eventually, he found a life that made sense with a woman who, when she tried to get happy, she succeeded. And the happier he got with her, the more and more resentful he got towards me, and spiteful. And my life got really, really quiet.

  Dan Chase : Why would you tell the story that way?

  Zoe : I tell it to myself both ways. Honest to God, I don't know which one is the truth.

  Dan Chase : I don't, uh, I don't think what happened was your fault.

  Zoe : Well...

  [interrupted] 

  Dan Chase : Oh, you can't control how you feel, you know?

  [exhales sharply] 

  Dan Chase : You're not the villain here.

  Zoe : [tilts head, smiles and looks skeptically at Chase]  I hope that's true. I think that's true. But here's what I do know. Nobody ever sees themselves as playing that role. Right? But there they are. There's a villain in every story. Maybe that's why. Maybe the only one who can play that role is the one who can't see it happening.

• Zoe : [Chase is cooking]  Who taught you?

  Dan Chase : Oh, this guy I served with.

  Zoe : You were in the army?

  Dan Chase : Yeah. A long time ago. He was a local. Uh, very... very well-respected. And he took his kitchen very seriously. I... I found that rather odd. I talked to him about it. And he told me this story that he was told as a young boy about this wise old man and his garden. This, uh...

  [exhales] 

  Dan Chase : this wise old man, he never spoke. And, uh, it wasn't because he couldn't or because he had nothing to say. It was because he believed that language deceived. That by its very nature, it clouded the truth, so it made the world harder to know. And, uh, this... this wise old man, he believed that the truth... the truth lived only in silence. Communicated by other means. That the food he prepared from his garden, that conveyed, you know, his affection, his gratitude or his indifference... far better than any words could convey. And it was said that this wise old man...

  [chuckles] 

  Dan Chase : He could change minds in that way. He could soften the hardest of hearts... without ever saying... one word.

  [plates food, chuckles] 

  Dan Chase : [Zoe takes a bite, looks at Chase, smiles and softly chuckles]  Am I getting anywhere?

• Zoe : [Carol saunters out and sits alertly to Dan's right] 

  [apprehensively] 

  Zoe : I see you have a dog.

  Dan Chase : I do. Yeah, I do. Is that a problem?

  Zoe : The listing should have said no dogs.

  Dan Chase : Oh, did it? I...

  Zoe : The listing definitely said no dogs.

  Dan Chase : Oh, I see.

  [Dave saunters out and sits alertly to Dan's left] 

  Dan Chase : That's it.

  Zoe : I'm sorry, I... I don't... I don't think this is gonna work out.

  Dan Chase : Oh, they're exceptionally well-behaved dogs.

  Zoe : I'm sure they are. But it... My ex-husband and I, he... I just... I just can't have them eating his sofa, and then he, uh, thinks that I let them do it. I just... I can't have that in my life right now.

  Dan Chase : I can make a security deposit if that would help. In cash.

  Zoe : Help... I'm so sorry. I, uh... I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you. Good luck.

• Zoe : Tell me more about the dogs.

  [flatly] 

  Dan Chase : Oh, they're sweethearts. Yeah.

  Zoe : They've been sitting absolutely still for 20 minutes. Is that because they listen really well or because they're giving each other ideas?

  Dan Chase : Oh, well, they're exceptional listeners. I asked them to sit. They're sitting.

  Zoe : And if you ask them not to eat the guest house, would they listen to that, too?