{"id":646457,"date":"2026-10-14T20:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T20:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/646457\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T20:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T20:08:09","slug":"the-lowdown-season-2-review-ethan-hawke-fx-series-still-excellent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/646457\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Lowdown’ Season 2 Review: Ethan Hawke FX Series Still Excellent"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOn the one hand, it wouldn\u2019t be very apt for a show about a scrappy citizen journalist in a small heartland city to become a massive hit. On the other, FX\u2019s \u201cThe Lowdown<\/a>\u201d was one of the great TV debuts<\/a> last year, a follow-up from \u201cReservation Dogs\u201d showrunner Sterlin Harjo that upped the star power and changed locations while keeping the warmth, humor and texture. The drama squeaked into a Season 2 renewal<\/a> in January, but just barely: not even the presence of star and executive producer Ethan Hawke<\/a>, who plays Tulsa-area \u201ctruthstorian\u201d Lee Raybon, could make \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d an objective breakout.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhich is why it is paramount \u2014 nay, essential \u2014 that those who value truth, justice and well-crafted television show out in force for Season 2. The world could use more shaggy hangouts and layered mysteries, let alone series that manage to be both at the same time. In Season 1, \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d openly modeled itself after the kind of pulpy paperback Lee sells at the used bookstore he operates between freelance reporting gigs. Season 2 confirms the impression that, as in that earlier medium, Lee\u2019s misadventures can easily be serialized: a new case, new characters and the same inimitable vibe.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Harjo\u2019s Tulsa, it\u2019s been a few months since Lee published his story on the late Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson), the black sheep of a powerful local family. The resulting piece was more of a considered tribute than a searing expos\u00e9, Lee having learned the hard way<\/a> that airing dirty laundry could be more about feeding his ego than serving the public interest. But it was still well-received enough for Lee to earn some of the validation he not-so-secretly craves: a local journalism award, bestowed at a gala Lee turns into a captive audience for a drunken rant. While there, Lee also meets a public defender named Ginger (newly minted Emmy winner<\/a> Betty Gilpin) who\u2019s sure she\u2019s being followed \u2014 a problem the smitten Lee is all too eager to help her solve, thereby giving \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d its latest rabbithole to dive down.<\/p>\n

\n\tGilpin makes the perfect femme fatale for the show\u2019s loose riff on a noir. Which is to say: not cool, coy or composed in the slightest, but still an understandably irresistible draw for Lee. Ginger is worried about her former client Mekko Dean, a Native convict she\u2019s unable to get a hold of in lockup. The two shady guys on her tail only aggravate those suspicions; when Lee stops by the prison and a guy who\u2019s definitely not Mekko shows up to the visit, a switcheroo she deems a \u201crupidoop,\u201d they go into overdrive. Ginger shares Lee\u2019s bleeding-heart empathy, panic-induced logorrhea and perceptive eye for human foibles. That\u2019s why she has Lee dead to rights. \u201cYou\u2019re a hypnotist,\u201d she tells him in a fit of frustration. \u201cYou assault people with words until they do your bidding!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis season, we learn where Lee gets it from. The venerable Tommy Lee Jones comes to town as Lee Sr., an itinerant con man as fluent in lies as Lee is obsessed with truth. (Oppositional defiance: undefeated as a psychological skeleton key!) The emotional bedrock of Season 1 was Lee\u2019s relationship with his teenage daughter Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), for whom he wants to be a dependable presence more than he actually is one. Season 2 puts Lee\u2019s flawed parenting in context: He\u2019s doing better than what was done to him, but still burdened enough by resentment to betray his own principles. As the adolescent Francis is quick to point out, it wasn\u2019t very truthful of Lee to raise her believing her grandfather was dead. \u201cHe\u2019s dead to me\u201d falls flat as a defense.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Lee and Ginger follow Mekko\u2019s trail, a winding path that leads them to corrupt cops and a shady diversion program, \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d settles back into the ambling rhythm of its first outing. Giving Lee a love interest and expanding his family lore are natural avenues of expansion, but the show also has a strong sense of its core competency. Lee sticks to his uniform of short-sleeved shirts, sunglasses and a Stetson, and last season\u2019s persons of interest are now comfortable members of the ensemble. Keith David\u2019s Marty, once a PI in the employ of Dale Washberg\u2019s brother, is now managing editor of Lee\u2019s occasional employer, The Heartland Press; not to be left out, Marty\u2019s ex-boss Donald (Kyle Maclachlan), now governor, pops by for a midseason visit.<\/p>\n

\n\tHarjo and his team \u2014 including directors Scott Teems and Rafael Casal, who also plays Francis\u2019 stepdad \u2014 have an affectionate eye for Oklahoma and its people. Lee\u2019s investigation takes him to 4H fairs and on horseback rides, and acquaints him with a rich tapestry of strong personalities. Some are funny, like the kooky prison guard who strong-arms Lee into trying his cheeseburgers (not a euphemism!) or the pervy attorney whose advances Ginger puts up with in exchange for a lead. Some are somber, like the single mom Mekko\u2019s left in the lurch or a fellow journalist who prefers feel-good fluff pieces to muckraking. \u201cThe kind of truth you\u2019re interested in gets people hurt,\u201d he tells Lee. \u201cToday, my truth is a hog contest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe question of what happened to Mekko and why comes into focus at a slow and steady pace. But \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d isn\u2019t a whodunit that lives or dies by its final reveal. This is a show that luxuriates in its environment \u2014 though Hawke\u2019s frenetic, keyed-up performance ensures the audience never gets too comfortable. Like \u201cReservation Dogs\u201d before it, \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d has plenty of representational bona fides; I could argue that you should watch to support Native storytelling, or American film production as so much of the industry moves overseas. In truth, \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d is anything but a virtuous bit of cultural vegetables. It\u2019s a party that more people should join, and you\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first two episodes of \u201cThe Lowdown\u201d Season 2 will premiere on FX and Hulu on Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the one hand, it wouldn\u2019t be very apt for a show about a scrappy citizen journalist in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,28012,85,46,29165,411],"class_list":["post-646457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ethan-hawke","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-the-lowdown","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}