The Lowdown

The Lowdown isn’t just in conversation with those influences [Jim Thompson, Coen brothers, David Lynch and Raymond Chandler], but also, in compelling ways, Harjo’s Reservation Dogs.

FX’s “The Lowdown” proves that in addition to being a master storyteller, Harjo is just as skilled at assembling an equally dynamite cast and crew who, together, have delivered one of 2025’s best new series.

Fast, funny, clever, and imbued with an old-school paperback crime fiction spirit, it’s an exceptional work of pulp poetry, and the year’s best new show.

At its heart, The Lowdown is a story that wants the viewer to care about the truth as much as its main character does. It's fearless and gonzo, easily one of the best new shows of the year, and it's made even better for the time it arrives in, with trust in the media rapidly sinking and respect for writers at an all-time low. By putting a determined, if eccentric, journalist at its center, The Lowdown feels like an old-school story with a very modern spirit.

Though The Lowdown wears its influences on its sleeve—think Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, and pretty much any Coen brothers movie—it never comes off as derivative. That’s because it’s steeped in specificity, from the production design (you may want to pause scenes in the bookstore to read the spines of vintage paperbacks) to the world-building. Every character on the show feels realized, even if we only see them in glimpses.

A crackling genre story and a captivating saga unto itself. Brimming with daydreamy peculiarities yet grounded in the details of the daily grind, “The Lowdown” is a crowd-pleaser and weirdo’s delight all at once.

The Lowdown hits more highs in a moment of screen time than most series do in their comparatively feeble entire run times. Harjo pays homage but also builds on crime tomes from prior generations.

The Lowdown might not be as profound or deeply touching as Reservation Dogs — that show captured the full spectrum of the human condition by weaving fleeting moments of joy into the most horrible tragedies imaginable — but it’s not trying to be. .... As a subversive comedy noir, The Lowdown’s primary focus is going for dark, twisted, “Should I be laughing at this?” laughs, and it gets plenty of them.

Harjo and Hawke, also an executive producer, completely nail the vibe “The Lowdown” is going for. .... The destination of “The Lowdown” isn’t half as fun as the journey. .... Only five of the eventual eight episodes were screened for critics, so I can’t say where “The Lowdown” goes. I can state for a fact, however, that it’s a pleasure to watch it get there at its own leisurely pace.

Here’s the lowdown: Hawke’s a hoot, and The Lowdown is a must.

As in “Reservation Dogs,” plot is secondary to character, which in major and minor roles has been beautifully conceived and executed. (You can just sit back and enjoy the people without worrying too much where any of it leads.) .... The important thing is to watch.

Just as a viewer might suspect the plot will go one direction, Harjo gives the story an unexpected, shocking turn. It’s a potent mix that makes “The Lowdown” a welcome addition to a short list of TV’s best current series.

While Harjo has gone on record to say his influences for the show range from films like “The Long Goodbye” to shows like “Atlanta,” The Lowdown also exudes a particularly Lynchian vibe. Maybe it’s the presence of Kyle MacLachlan, or the number of coffees consumed at the diner, but this latest Harjo creation invokes “Twin Peaks” in the very best ways.

Ultimately, “The Lowdown” emerges as a witty, soulful noir that’s as much about family as it is about conspiracies.

The Lowdown, I should note, does threaten to disappear into its own quirk at times. It moseys along at a deliberate pace, and the meandering narrative tends to wander around like Lee after one too many hits of his vape pen. But that’s OK: This show dances to its own beat. It’s not trying too hard to impress us, and that’s endearing, in a way. It’s worth checking out just to bask in Hawke’s greatness.

It’s a familiar set-up but a brilliant ride.

Hawke doesn’t overload their delicate dances or any of his other scene partnerships with an insistence on pulling the spotlight, true to his character’s unspoken self-regard as a guide who happens to investigate his curiosities. It’s that balance of charisma and humility that makes me eager to see how “The Lowdown” resolves, and keep my fingers crossed that these eight episodes are merely the first of many cases for his public investigator to crack like the spine of a well-loved book.

With The Lowdown, Sterlin Harjo has created an interesting world around Hawke’s ethically-murky main character, and that will serve the show well as the season goes forward.

The Lowdown is also quite the showcase for Harjo’s creative vision. His world-building is lush enough to smooth over however you may feel about Lee’s rough edges, and his gift for seamlessly weaving together his expansive cultural appetites gives the show a kind of referential heft that feels inviting as opposed to alienating.

“The Lowdown” is a more conventional outing than “Reservation Dogs,” which was energized by its formal unpredictability. Lee’s adventures hew closer to a sun-drenched “Fargo,” adhering to the beats of a traditional crime drama—albeit a stylish one—with professional hit men and hard-won clues.

The Lowdown is the kind of show that lingers less for the clues than for the company. If you’re willing to lean into its hairier details and watch Hawke get roughed up a bit, you’ll find this mystery series worth following and a world you won’t want to leave.

A thoughtful, picaresque-pulp conspiracy story, abetted by an absolutely stacked cast.

While there are a lot of crime-thriller references in “The Lowdown,” the virtues of the eight-part season (only five of which were available to review) are more about plausibility and performances. Also, propulsion.

Sterlin Harjo’s follow-up is a quirky, scruffy mess, and I mean that as a high compliment. It is ridiculously entertaining.

The Lowdown very much feels like a good crime novel. The hardboiled works of Jim Thompson are a recurring plot point, but Harjo and company are operating more like they’re in Elmore Leonard or Donald E. Westlake country, mixing self-aware humor(*) with genuine intrigue and menace, along with a scuzzy atmosphere and a rich, detailed sense of place.

A shaggy dog mystery-comedy in the vein of Terriers and Lodge 49 — which is to say “very much my jam” and “very much destined for niche viewership” — Harjo’s follow-up to one of television’s great half-hours of the decade/century/ever is still finding its way, based on the five episodes sent to critics. And “its way” is an endearingly meandering way, one in which the murder mystery at its center is only meant to be loosely compelling.

Another fine Hawke performance — and entertaining series — but the character he's created never quite gets a backstory, at least over the first five episodes.