Ethan Hawke’s New Series Is Perfect For ‘Reservation Dogs’ Fans

Reservation Dogs fans who’re still reeling over the show’s 2023 conclusion, fret not. Series creator Sterlin Harjo is back with a star-studded new crime series, The Lowdown, led by four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke. The series premiered on FX on September 23, 2025, with two of eight episodes released on the same day. Hawke plays Lee Raybon, a bookstore owner in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who becomes an amateur investigative journalist digging into a family of shady politicians.

While seemingly unrelated at first glance, The Lowdown loosely shares a storytelling universe with Reservation Dogs. Harjo has connected the two crime series in distinct ways, which is sure to pay off as the series unfolds for its November conclusion. Cozy, quirky, and off-beat, The Lowdown is a no-brainer destination for fans of Sterlin Harjo and Reservation Dogs.

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What Is ‘The Lowdown’ About?

Created by Sterlin Harjo for FX, The Lowdown is a biographical neo-noir crime show loosely based on the life of Lee Roy Chapman. Chapman, who died in 2015. He was an investigative journalist who worked for The Land Press in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and published the scathing exposé The Nightmare of Dreamland: Tate Brady and the Battle for Greenwood, which outed the city’s founder, W. Tate Brady, as being associated with the Ku Klux Klan.

A local folk hero who fought injustice and attempted to make Tulsa a better place, Ethan Hawke’s character in The Lowdown, Lee Raybon, is based on Chapman. The series introduces Lee as a freewheeling bookseller and citizen journalist who recently published an article exposing Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson) and his powerful family (a proxy for the Bradys) and their ties to the KKK. Targeted by violent skinheads, Lee must look over his shoulder while digging deeper into the history of the Washbergs’ corruption.

With few people to trust in town, save for private eye Marty (Keith David), Lee feels pressure from tabloid editor Cyrus (Killer Mike) to pen a follow-up to his scathing article. Lee must also give attention to his ex-wife, Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn), and their daughter, Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). With Dale’s brother Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan) running for office, Lee traces the decades-long conspiracy to the state’s government and is met with resistance, kidnapping, jail time, and other legal roadblocks that impede the truth.

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‘The Lowdown’ Shares the Same Universe as ‘Reservation Dogs’

Although the captivating premise ought to sway fans of Reservation Dogs, The Lowdown loosely shares a storytelling connection. In The Lowdown‘s pilot episode, the beloved characters from Reservation Dogs, Willa Jack (Paulina Alexis) and Elora Danan Postoak (Devery Jacobs), appear in a makeup tutorial video. While their appearance doesn’t bear much consequence on the plot, series creator Sterlin Harjo referred to Willa’s cameo as a “handoff” to the new series to Gazzetely.

Also considered an Easter egg homage to Reservation Dogs, the cameo was said to delight the crew of The Lowdown, many of whom worked on Reservation Dogs with Harjo. But, make no mistake. Just because Willa and Elora appeared in The Lowdown doesn’t mean that the two shows will adhere to a similar tone or subgenre. Reservation Dogs remains a touching coming-of-age story with comedic crime tenets, whereas The Lowdown is a hard-boiled neo-noir crime story rooted in history.

Yet, with Harjo at the helm and Oklahoma linking the two shows as the primary setting, there’s enough connective tissue for fans of Reservation Dogs to take a flier on The Lowdown and be rewarded. Both shows are distinctly rooted in Tulsa’s history, culture, and customs. Moreover, both shows share near equal critical acclaim, with The Lowdown holding a 98% Rotten Tomatoes rating compared to Reservation Dogs‘ 99%. While audiences are slightly less impressed (72% RT audience score and a 6.9 IMDb score), such figures are likely to rise once the show airs more than three episodes.

As for other notable comparisons, The Lowdown shares the same cozy mystery, offbeat vibe as Memphis Beat, Hap & Leonard, Tokyo Vice, Poker Face, Bored to Death, and other quasi-comedic crime series revolving around amateur investigators out to expose a grand conspiracy but can’t help but get in their own way. With superb supporting actors like Tracy Letts, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Michael Hitchcock, Dale Dickey, Macon Blair, and Peter Dinklage, The Lowdown is off to a promising start. The show also shares similarities with Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, in which the history of Osage County, Oklahoma, is recounted.

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How & Where to Watch ‘Reservation Dogs’

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As an FX original series, there are multiple ways to watch The Lowdown. The first two episodes were released simultaneously at 9:00 ET on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Following the two-episode premiere, one new episode will be released weekly. The third episode, “Dinosaur Memories,” was released on September 30, 2025. With eight total episodes slated for Season 1, viewers can watch a new episode of The Lowdown on FX every Tuesday at 9:00 ET until the series finale on November 4, 2025.

Of course, Hulu subscribers can watch new episodes of The Lowdown on Wednesday, the day after they air on FX. As of this writing, the first four episodes are available to stream on Hulu, with the final five released one episode at a time every Wednesday. In addition to Sterlin Harjo directing for the first three episodes, co-star Macon Blair (The Toxic Avenger) directed Episode 4, “Short on Cowboys,” and Episode 5, “This Land?” First Nations director Danis Goulet directed Episode 6, “Old Indian Trick,” and Episode 7, “Tulsa Turnaround.”

No matter how viewers watch The Lowdown, Sterling Harjo’s unique voice, stark filmmaking style, and the show’s distinct Oklahoma setting will appeal to fans of Reservation Dogs.