When Ethan Hawke made a shock visitor look within the penultimate episode of Reservation Canine, it wound up being considered one of my favourite TV episodes of all time.
Co-written by Reservation Canine co-creator Sterlin Harjo and star Devery Jacobs, “Elora’s Dad” noticed Elora Danan (Jacobs) meet her estranged father (Hawke) for the very first time. He introduces her to her half-siblings, and she or he catches him up on her life, together with her plans to go to varsity. The episode proved intimate and quietly electrifying, among the finest entries in among the finest exhibits of current years. And at its coronary heart had been two fantastically grounded performances from Jacobs and Hawke.
So think about my delight when Harjo and Hawke teamed again up for Harjo’s new FX sequence, The Lowdown. Then think about my downright pleasure when The Lowdown turned out to be a few of the most enjoyable I’ve had watching TV this 12 months.
What’s The Lowdown about?
Kyle MacLachlan and Ethan Hawke in “The Lowdown.”
Credit score: Shane Brown / FX
Described as a “Tulsa noir,” The Lowdown stars Hawke as Lee Raybon, a uncommon bookstore proprietor, citizen journalist, and so-called “truthstorian” decided to put naked the rot on the coronary heart of Tulsa’s most corrupt energy gamers. (Lee is predicated on the late journalist and public historian Lee Roy Chapman, whom Harjo labored with beforehand.)
Amongst Lee’s targets is the Washberg household, headed up by slimy gubernatorial candidate Donald (Kyle MacLachlan). Lee uncovers the household’s connections to white supremacists in a significant exposé, and simply days after its publication, Washberg household black sheep Dale (Tim Blake Nelson) dies underneath mysterious circumstances. For Lee, that may solely imply one factor: He is onto one thing main. So off he goes into Tulsa’s legal underbelly, a journey that would result in a significant bombshell (or extra seemingly, to extreme bodily hurt).
The Lowdown is a component neo-noir, half hangout comedy, and all pleasant.
Ethan Hawke and Ryan Kiera Armstrong in “The Lowdown.”
Credit score: Shane Brown / FX
Lee’s investigation prompts Harjo to have some neo-noir enjoyable, drawing inspiration from ’70s movies like The Lengthy Goodbye and Evening Strikes. Smoke-veiled conversations abound, together with clandestine conferences with Dale’s spouse, Betty Joe (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and PI Marty (Keith David).
The Lowdown‘s madcap thriller gives a change of tempo from Reservation Canine, as does its metropolis setting. Right here, hazard lurks round each nook, usually within the type of skinheads who’re indignant at Lee for… publicly writing that they are skinheads.
Mashable High Tales
But even with its moody noir ambiance, The Lowdown additionally preserves the hangout really feel that made Reservation Canine so particular, particularly in scenes Lee shares together with his daughter, Francis (Ryan Keira Armstrong). Francis spends most of her time along with her mom, Samantha (Reservation Canine‘ personal Deer Woman, Kaniehtiio Horn), however when she exhibits curiosity in serving to Lee with the Washberg case, who’s he to say no?
Lee and Francis’ candy dynamic bears shades of that of Elora and her father’s: tentative bonding makes an attempt, whilst Francis wonders whether or not Lee is a full-on deadbeat. Nevertheless, it is also an ideal showcase for The Lowdown‘s capability to mix its noir thriller with character-driven hangouts. Living proof: A father-daughter journey to a lake that doubles as a mission to seek out key proof.
In an identical vein, The Lowdown by some means manages to seize the big selection of human emotion, all inside its thriller framework. In Lee’s nightcap with a possible suspect, what begins as a drunken hook-up morphs from an investigation to a struggle to a soul-baring dialogue… then again to a hook-up. Elsewhere, Lee’s reunion with frenemy Randall (Peter Dinklage) kicks off an investigation and a soul-searching tribute to an outdated buddy.
In order a lot as The Lowdown is pushed by the central thriller of Dale’s demise and his household’s shady dealings, it is also fueled by the poetry of who we cross paths with. Like in Reservation Canine, The Lowdown builds out a group of fascinating characters who add oodles of texture to the present’s model of Tulsa, from vintage supplier Ray (Michael Hitchcock) to The Tulsa Beat editor Cyrus (Killer Mike).
Ethan Hawke is a hilarious wild card in The Lowdown.
Ethan Hawke in “The Lowdown.”
Credit score: Shane Brown / FX
On the middle of those characters is, after all, Lee. And my goodness, is Hawke having the time of his life within the function.
Hawke performs his novice sleuth like a complete wild card. In some moments, Lee is effortlessly cool, rolling into investigations like suave is his center title. In others, he is virtually pathetic, operating for his life after getting himself in too deep. Hawke’s maniacal laughter after Lee’s escapes or main discoveries is a endlessly reminder of what I like concerning the present: its capability to make me snort my head off, even after watching a person get his head shot clear off.
After all, between Lee’s extremes lies a wealth of complexities that The Lowdown takes nice pleasure in unspooling. He loves writing a lot that he’ll critique the prose in a murdered man’s diaries. He adores Francis greater than something however sometimes places his investigation earlier than her. He is obtained an ironic Accomplice flag tattoo.
All these particulars add as much as create a fascinatingly layered new TV detective, one whose adventures we have solely simply begun to discover. Here is hoping that viewers can observe in Lee’s footsteps and dive additional nonetheless into the truths on the coronary heart of Lee himself, and of his beloved group in Tulsa.
The Lowdown was reviewed out of its world premiere on the 2025 Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant. It premieres Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on FX. Episodes stream the following day on Hulu.
