The Lowdown has almost everything you could possibly want in a television show. A charismatic star? The FX drama provides that in the form Ethan Hawke, who's having more fun than should be legal as irrepressible reporter Lee Raybon. A fantastic collection of supporting and guest actors who play perfectly off that star? It's got that, too, with the likes of Keith David, Kyle MacLachlan, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Michael Hitchcock, young Ryan Kiera Armstrong (soon to star in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series), and Peter Dinklage. Laughs? It has those aplenty. Drama and mystery? It's got those in spades. Local atmosphere? You will feel like you're walking on the sunny streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma right alongside Lee.
What it unfortunately doesn't have, so far, is many viewers. But there's plenty of time to remedy that. Not only is the delightful first season streaming in its entirety on Hulu, but I can exclusively report that FX has just ordered a second season, with Hawke returning. According to FX, production will resume in Tulsa this spring.
The Lowdown will be recognized at this week’s AFI Awards as one of the 10 most outstanding television programs of 2025, and made more than 30 critics' top 10 lists for 2025 (including mine). It's another case of FX, one of TV's most reliably excellent brands, placing a bet on quality, assuming that the audience will eventually find a great series and love it as much as those of us in the know already do.
The renewal simultaneously solves two problems. First, it puts more outstanding TV out into the world. Second, it removes one more barrier to entry for viewers who have been burned too many times by shows that got canceled after a single season. The eight episodes that already exist tell a complete story, and one that would be satisfying even without more to come. But far too often, people tell me that they won't watch a new show until it has a second season, because they don't want to be frustrated if it ends after the first — which creates a vicious cycle of brilliant-but-canceled television. To those people, I hear you. But your second season is coming, so get to watching, ASAP.
There's always a risk in talking about great TV that makes it sound like homework — something that's too important and/or odd for non-critics to fully enjoy. Reservation Dogs, the previous collaboration between FX and Lowdown creator Sterlin Harjo, is one of the very best shows of the last decade, but it's a more complicated sell. Simply saying, "It's a coming-of-age comedy about four Indigenous teens on a rural Oklahoma reservation" doesn't come close to conveying what it's actually like, since every episode feels different from every other episode, and it's often more of a vibe than a story. (That said, please go watch Reservation Dogs after you watch The Lowdown.)
But that is very much not the case with The Lowdown. It's a pure entertainment. There's a mystery introduced in the opening scene, as wealthy Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson) either commits suicide or is murdered after writing a letter in his private library. There are many suspects, including Dale's brother Donald (MacLachlan), a blowhard running for governor; Dale's bitter, sarcastic widow Betty Jo (Tripplehorn); a pair of former skinheads, who are upset that Lee called them Nazis in one of his articles; and Frank Martin (Tracy Letts), a shady real estate developer who's already on Lee's radar as part of an investigation into local corruption. There's a colorful cast of characters in Lee's orbit: silver-tongued private eye Marty (David), drunken antique dealer Ray (Hitchcock), Lee's precocious daughter Francis (Armstrong) and his relatively patient ex-wife Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn), local businessman and publisher Cyrus (Killer Mike), and a pair of knuckleheaded ex-cons who keep trying and failing to act as Lee's bodyguards as the case spirals out of control. (Dinklage pops up for a wonderful episode midway through the season as Wendell, who used to partner up with Lee on running a used bookstore, and has gone from best friend to exasperated frenemy.)
Mostly, though, there is Hawke. In a career in which he's played many, many, many rascals whom you can't help but love in spite of their abundant flaws, Lee Raybon is one of his most charmingly insufferable. He's an idealist who investigates these stories to better his community and provide voice to the powerless. But he's also a pretentious twit — he claims that his profession is "truthstorian" — with a gift for alienating even the people most inclined to like him. (He and voracious reader Marty should be kindred spirits, yet the detective spends much of the season rolling his eyes at Lee.) If not for his noble intentions, and/or the clear and unwavering love of Francis — and the palpable chemistry that real-life girldad Hawke has with Armstrong — you might wonder why anyone would want to be around him. Yet he's lovable even with all the things that drive people crazy. And Hawke plays him completely without vanity, never afraid to be the butt of the joke. The show is wickedly funny at times — Harjo has called The Big Lebowski a key influence — yet in the moments where Lee actually manages to be as cool as he thinks he is, he is incredibly cool. Hawke is getting a lot of deserved awards buzz for his turn in Blue Moon. But don't sleep on how gracefully he navigates every potential minefield with this role, and how well it combines his gifts as both a character actor and a leading man.
Alan Sepinwall
At the end of my review of that first season finale, I expressed my hopes for a renewal: "This is one where I will be impatiently banging my fist on the desk until the good news we all deserve comes. May this partnership between Harjo and FX continue for as long as we can possibly get it."
FX has taken care of the first part of the deal. The second part is up to you, viewers. Get to it. You'll want to thank me after.
