Sterlin Harjo on The Lowdown
Editor’s note: This piece contains spoilers for The Lowdown.
Since Bogie famously flipped the collar of his trench coat and prowled San Francisco's streets, America has been captivated by film noir's style, swagger, and dark mysteries. Over the last seven weeks, Sterlin Harjo's The Lowdown has delivered these elements alongside the catharsis of justice served, concluding its first season with a satisfying finale on November 4.
In this latest FX series from the Reservation Dogs co-creator, the protagonist is Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), an eccentric citizen journalist determined to expose Tulsa’s white-supremacist elite. Lee's investigations culminate in this week’s episode, "The Sensitive Kind," shedding light on femme fatale Betty Jo Washberg (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and more.
Lee also supports gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan) as he confronts uncomfortable truths. Enlightened by these revelations, Washberg breaks ties with his crypto-Nazi backers and returns his family’s land to the Osage Nation, from whom it was historically taken.
“It’s a visceral pleasure to see racists brought low and Indigenous Oklahomans get the restorative justice they’ve been denied for so long. But sadly, in our current reality, it can all feel like a beautiful dream.”
Harjo, a Tulsa resident himself, emphasizes that such justice doesn’t have to remain a dream.
Author’s Summary
Sterlin Harjo’s The Lowdown blends noir aesthetics with powerful themes of justice and restoration, challenging viewers to envision a reality where historical wrongs are corrected.
Would you like the tone to be more formal or conversational?