The Lowdown left a strong impression on me. Here is an excellent review of the new TV series, The Lowdown.
📺 An Excellent Review of The Lowdown: Neo-Noir with a Knowing Wink
The Lowdown, the new eight-part FX series from creator Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), is a crime caper that drips with style, dark humor, and an unexpected layer of self-aware commentary. It succeeds by pairing its pulpy, neo-noir structure with a distinct, contemporary voice, proving that Harjo is one of television’s most inventive storytellers working today.
Hawke’s Terrific Turn as a ‘Truthstorian’
At the center of the series is Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon, a freelance journalist and self-proclaimed “truthstorian” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hawke delivers one of his most memorable performances, transforming Lee into a kind of shambolic, scruffy anti-hero. Lee is a delightful mess—a rascal who we somehow root for despite his glaring flaws. He’s narcissistic, short on child support, and constantly making a disaster of his own life, yet he dedicates himself to taking down the town’s most corrupt figures: white supremacists, crooked politicians, and sleazy real estate developers who are all seemingly connected.
Hawke plays Lee with a kinetic energy, capturing the character’s relentless, almost raccoon-like drive as he sniffs out clues, digs through metaphorical trash, and repeatedly finds himself in awkward, hostile, or absurd situations. It’s a performance that grounds the show’s chaos in a character who is both frustrating and undeniably compelling.
A Delicious Blend of Influences
The Lowdown is a literary and cinematic feast, clearly drawing inspiration from masters of the crime genre. The series is drunk on the hardboiled aesthetics and cynical worlds of Raymond Chandler and Oklahoma native Jim Thompson, whose crime fiction is even cleverly woven into the plot as a source of crucial clues. You can also feel the playful, often absurd atmosphere of the Coen brothers and the surreal edge of David Lynch coursing through the series’ veins.
Yet, The Lowdown never feels like mere imitation. Harjo and his writing team manage to strike a unique melody out of discordant tones, crafting a world where a bookstore owner can arrange Harold Pinter next to Harry Potter and have it perfectly make sense within the show’s manic, vibrant logic. The result is a crime caper that is deceptively lighthearted while tackling genuinely dark, sordid affairs.
A New Kind of Commentary
What elevates The Lowdown beyond a simple neo-noir is its subtle, powerful commentary on modern culture, particularly through the lens of its creator.
Harjo, who previously received immense acclaim for Reservation Dogs, makes a fascinating choice here: he tells a story about a white protagonist but retains his distinctive worldview, effectively flipping the usual exploitative equation in cinema. Watching Lee—who can often behave like a grandstanding “white savior” with a massive ego—through an Indigenous lens becomes one of the show’s most rewarding experiences.
The series doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, it offers a clear-eyed, practical warmth to the idea of noble work. It suggests that allies, even imperfect, narcissistic ones like Lee, are often the way difficult work gets done—a deeply generous and hopeful takeaway that contrasts sharply with the show’s cynical genre trappings.
Final Verdict: The Lowdown is a curious victory lap for Sterlin Harjo. It retains the playful spirit and local character absorption of his previous work while flexing new creative muscles in the neo-noir genre. With a terrific central performance from Ethan Hawke and a compelling mystery, it’s a must-watch series that’s much deeper than its pulpy surface suggests.
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