Last spring, a man dressed in distinctive cowboy attire—snug trousers, boots, and a hat adorned with a rattlesnake band—walked through a cluster of low-rise buildings just north of downtown Tulsa.
A bustling crew moved around him, while the city’s skyline glimmered faintly in the distance. The oppressive heat was almost tangible. One might have anticipated the mournful sound of a train whistle, but as it turns out, even in Tulsa, real life isn’t always a country ballad… though, oddly enough, a whistle did sound.
That train whistle, however, was a minor inconvenience for the production. This unassuming apartment complex had been converted into a set for ‘The Lowdown,’ an upcoming eight-episode crime drama. Premiering on FX on September 23rd and streaming on Hulu the following day, the series stars Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon, a ‘truthstorian’ journalist. Raybon’s relentless pursuit of facts in a mysterious death involving a prominent Tulsa family earns him no shortage of adversaries.
Hawke casually made his way across the green courtyard, his face adorned with realistic makeup depicting the wounds a ‘truthstorian’ might endure. He then entered a building for rehearsal with the esteemed character actor Graham Greene, in what would become one of Greene’s last roles. Meanwhile, crew members in headsets moved busily, stood patiently, or sought refuge from the sun in the video tent.
Sterlin Harjo, the series’ creator and showrunner, soon arrived, sporting his own flat-brimmed hat, tinted glasses, and prominent diamond-shaped earrings. He paused, taking in the scene.
“It’s a strange feeling, almost like I’m back on ‘Rez Dogs,’” he commented.
His sentiment referenced the familiar backdrop of modest brick homes under a vast Oklahoma sky, the presence of the respected Native actor Greene (who would tragically pass away months later), and the close-knit, dedicated crew. This same team had helped Harjo transform ‘Reservation Dogs’ (2021-2023) into a critically celebrated series of the last decade.
Co-created with Taika Waititi, ‘Reservation Dogs’ explored the lives of four friends and their community on an Oklahoma reservation. It offered a unique television portrayal of a world often overlooked, showcasing lives shaped by various constraints, yet defined by a spirit that rose above them. The series felt authentic, clearly born from someone deeply familiar with these places and their inhabitants—a narrative that was both deeply moving and wonderfully humorous.
Despite its critical acclaim—including Peabody Awards in 2021 and 2023, and a MacArthur Fellowship for Harjo in 2024—’Reservation Dogs’ never became a mainstream ratings hit or an Emmy frontrunner, receiving only five nominations and no wins across its three seasons. Nevertheless, it captivated audiences and critics alike, solidifying 45-year-old Harjo’s reputation as one of television’s most original and talented creators.
This success provided him the leverage to spearhead a new, ambitious series filmed extensively in his adopted city, Tulsa. ‘The Lowdown’ is a crime noir deeply influenced by Harjo’s affinity for such tales, blending the grit of authors like Jim Thompson with the meandering rhythm of films like Robert Altman’s ‘The Long Goodbye.’ Much like ‘Reservation Dogs,’ it’s imbued with Harjo’s profound love for its location. Although he hails from Holdenville, a small town 90 miles south, Harjo has resided in Tulsa for 18 years, declaring it ‘my favorite place in the world.’
“Every project I undertake holds a personal connection for me,” he stated. “If ‘Rez Dogs’ was about the rural experience, then this is about the city.”
Despite these connections, ‘The Lowdown’ is a distinct departure from ‘Reservation Dogs.’ Harjo is no longer an emerging creator working with an unknown cast and limited budget on a niche half-hour show that network executives might have overlooked. This time, he’s operating on a much larger stage.
“They couldn’t really give him notes on ‘Reservation Dogs’ because it was a Native show,” Hawke quipped during a filming break, a realistic gash visible on his nose. “But when you’re crafting a gumshoe detective story, everyone suddenly has an opinion on how it ‘should’ be done.”
The cast features celebrated Hollywood actors like Keith David and Kyle MacLachlan, alongside Oklahoma natives Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tim Blake Nelson, and Tracy Letts. FX has given ‘The Lowdown’ significant promotion, emphasizing its hour-long episodes and expanded scope, evident in its filming across over 30 locations in and around Tulsa.
Harjo, standing amidst his elaborate production, finds himself in a familiar yet precarious position: an acclaimed TV auteur embarking on an expensive follow-up to his breakout success. The entertainment industry is rife with examples of such sophomore slumps, from ‘John From Cincinnati’ after ‘Deadwood’ to ‘The Romanoffs’ after ‘Mad Men,’ or ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ after ‘The West Wing.’ The pressure is certainly on.
However, Harjo stands a strong chance of sidestepping this notorious curse (with early reviews of ‘The Lowdown’ being largely positive). He’s wisely leveraged his newfound influence to craft a more star-studded, ambitious narrative rooted firmly in his hometown. His depiction of Tulsa, much like the real city, is a complex tapestry of corruption and dark historical chapters—including the grim legacy of the Tulsa race massacre, which occurred just a mile from the production’s headquarters—intertwined with a unique blend of magic and mythology that has long attracted artists and eccentrics.
Ultimately, ‘The Lowdown’ is undeniably the creation of someone with a profound understanding of Tulsa and its inhabitants, delivering a narrative that is at once suspenseful, deeply moving, and remarkably funny.
“My goal is to bring my personal vision of home to the screen,” Harjo explained. “I find overly pleasant or idealized portrayals uninteresting. I want to show every facet, and noir provides the perfect framework to explore all sides of a story.”
“It’s about peeling back the layers and discovering what truly lies beneath the surface.”
The vibrant core of ‘The Lowdown,’ both physically and narratively, resides on a stretch of East Sixth Street. Here, set designers transformed a series of historic buildings into the primary setting for Hawke’s character, Lee, and, discreetly behind the scenes, the production’s own base of operations.
The series is rich with tributes to earlier works celebrating Tulsa. For instance, the impeccably designed late-night diner, Sweet Emily’s, draws its name from a song by Leon Russell, a key figure in the iconic ‘Tulsa Sound’—a blend of blues, rock, and country. Interestingly, the show’s initial title, ‘The Sensitive Kind,’ was inspired by a J.J. Cale song, another artist from that era, but FX deemed it too challenging for promotion.
Inside the diner, the wallpaper subtly features scenes from ‘Reservation Dogs’—look closely and you might spot Spirit on his horse. A prominent clock in the establishment is a nod to ‘Rumble Fish,’ Francis Ford Coppola’s second film adaptation of Tulsa novelist S.E. Hinton’s work. (Harjo, for his part, can passionately discuss Coppola’s first adaptation, ‘The Outsiders,’ at length.)
Adjacent to the diner, you’ll find a cleverly recreated record store, Lee’s lawyer’s office, and his charmingly chaotic bookstore. Behind the register in the latter, a poster for Larry Clark’s infamous photo collection ‘Tulsa’ is prominently displayed.
Jeanne Tripplehorn, who portrays a mysterious wealthy widow in the series, noted that while ‘The Lowdown’ can be enjoyed by anyone, ‘if you’re from Tulsa, it truly becomes something incredibly special.’ Tripplehorn herself grew up in the city, and her father, a musician, was a contemporary of artists like Leon Russell.
Years prior, Harjo envisioned ‘The Lowdown’ as a feature film. However, as ‘Reservation Dogs’ approached its conclusion, FX expressed keen interest in a new series from him. He shared his vision with Ethan Hawke during the actor’s guest appearance in a late episode of ‘Reservation Dogs” final season.
“Once filming wrapped, Sterlin and I took a long walk through Tulsa, and he shared his dream for the show,” Hawke recounted. “It immediately struck me as a brilliant concept.”
Coincidentally, ‘The Lowdown’ premieres in the same week as a new season of ‘Tulsa King,’ a Paramount+ drama featuring Sylvester Stallone as a crime boss. Unlike Harjo’s steadfast commitment to authenticity, ‘Tulsa King’ controversially relocated its production from Oklahoma after its inaugural season. This decision stands in stark contrast to Harjo’s deeply held conviction in the essential role of ‘place’ within storytelling.
“If you’re just shooting exteriors, you might as well be filming an episode of ‘Friends’ set in Tulsa,” he remarked, alluding to the sitcom’s ‘The One With Christmas in Tulsa.’ Sylvester Stallone famously once posted on Instagram that “Being in Oklahoma has prepared me for a lifetime in hell,” a comment about the intense heat. Harjo’s production company has since embraced this, selling a T-shirt featuring the memorable quote.
Harjo’s filmography includes five features—three narrative films and two documentaries—all rooted in Oklahoma. However, it was his work on video shorts during the 2010s for This Land Press, a brief but impactful Tulsa magazine, that most directly shaped ‘The Lowdown.’
The character of Lee Raybon is a homage to Lee Roy Chapman, a writer and activist Harjo collaborated with at This Land Press. Chapman was crucial in shedding light on some of Tulsa’s most troubling historical events, proudly identifying himself as a ‘history recovery specialist.’
Chapman’s efforts brought attention to horrific events such as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a brutal, coordinated assault by white citizens that devastated Greenwood, a thriving Black community, and claimed up to 300 lives. He also exposed that W. Tate Brady, a city founder, was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and participated in the massacre, leading to the renaming of various local landmarks previously bearing his name.
Michael Mason, the founder and editor of This Land Press, reflected, “Tulsa has a history of avoiding its past, and Lee Roy fearlessly confronted it when many preferred to simply move on.”
Chapman’s life tragically ended in 2015 by suicide, but his legacy endures through the Center for Public Secrets, a journalism education hub managed by his sister, Whitney Chapman. His extensive work is accessible on the center’s website. You can also witness Chapman in Harjo’s YouTube videos, a figure with a full beard and a flat-brimmed fedora, navigating Tulsa in a worn white van, strikingly similar to the one Hawke’s character drives in ‘The Lowdown.’ (In a neat touch, ‘The Heartland Press’ substitutes for This Land Press in the series, with Harjo even bringing back many original staff members for a scene filmed in the magazine’s former office.)
In an era of rampant social media misinformation, the quest for truth has grown increasingly intricate. This complexity, Harjo believes, makes it a potent theme for a series. “Witnessing someone relentlessly pursue the truth is something I feel we all need, offering inspiration during these uncertain times,” he remarked.
With the current political climate seeing directives from the Trump Administration to the Smithsonian and National Park Service to modify or remove content relating to slavery and Native Americans, the act of historical whitewashing is now being orchestrated from the highest echelons of power.
Keith David, who portrays a private investigator in the series and develops an admiration for Lee’s tenacious ideals, observed, “We are living in a remarkably interesting political period. The harder some try to conceal these matters, the more inevitably the truth will surface.”
“That’s precisely what I appreciate about ‘The Lowdown,’” he added. “It promises that more will always be revealed.”
Initially, ‘The Lowdown’ appears to be a deliberate departure from the Native American narratives that first brought Harjo widespread recognition.
While the ensemble cast is diverse, it primarily features prominent, non-Native actors. A significant subplot, focusing on Lee’s joint custody of his daughter (played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong), mirrors Harjo’s personal journey as a young father. (His eldest daughter now works at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, and he has two other school-aged children.)
Nonetheless, the presence of Graham Greene on set that day—an actor known for a memorable subplot in ‘Reservation Dogs” final season—sparked some intrigue.
When questioned about this, Hawke remarked, “Sterlin shouldn’t be confined to creating art solely about his heritage; it’s an unfair expectation. I believe part of him seeks to break free from that mold.”
“Yet, another part of him is so profoundly connected to and deeply cares for his community that, inevitably, it becomes a part of his storytelling anyway.”
Harjo revealed that, in true noir fashion, ‘The Lowdown’ begins with a single enigmatic death but evolves into ‘something far grander and more ancient,’ escalating with additional casualties and increasingly dangerous barriers separating Lee from the ultimate truth.
“Land deals, deaths… clichés,” a character wryly observes at one juncture, offering a meta-commentary on the show’s unashamed adoption of genre tropes. But predictably, Harjo infuses them with his distinctive touch.
“Much discussion surrounded ‘Rez Dogs’ regarding its blend of humor and drama,” he noted. “But honestly, I don’t know how to create any other way.”
“With ‘Rez Dogs,’ I felt immense cultural responsibility, as it was a pioneering show of its kind, requiring me to represent an entire people,” he concluded. “That was incredibly challenging, and it’s not what I’m doing here. This time, I’m simply telling a story through my unique lens, set in a city I hold dear.”