Reservation Dogs Seasons 1 & 2 Review

Reservation Dogs (2021-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2021)
Season 2 - 10 episodes (2022)

Watch Reservation Dogs on Hulu
Created by: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Starring: Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Elva Guerra
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma steal and save in order to get to the exotic, and faraway land of California.

Verdict
The first seasons wasn't bad, but it felt scattered. The first episode makes the group look tougher than they are as the season teases us about a friend that's no longer around. I would rate it an "It depends." The second season builds on the first, developing the characters as it deals with their grief over the loss of a friend. Throughout both seasons we see what life is like for Indigenous people, and this show does a great job of exploring how their traditions and faith affect their lives and thinking today. The second season is great, but you need the first season as  foundation. The core of the show are teens that don't always make great choices.
Watch It.

Review
One of the significant things about this series is that nearly everyone involved in the production is Indigenous, offering a realistic depiction of life on a reservation. This is a first. The prior depictions we've seen have all been created by people that don't know that reality.

Lane Factor, Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Paulina Alexis

The first episode of season one depicts Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), the "Reservation Dogs," stealing a truck. That's a big criminal offense and it doesn't capture what this show is about. Over the next two seasons, they don't steal anything as big, they just get into petty trouble. The show really is life on the reservation, and their hopes of leaving. We see their lives and what the future may hold through the other people on the reservation. We see how the reservation and the people on it fit into the world. With more episodes the second season always gets to explore the adults on the reservation.

The first seasons mentions Daniel often. He's gone, but the show delays telling us what happened. While season one establishes the characters and the show. it's scattered. Various characters have visions of warrior spirits and guides. I wasn't quite sure how to take that, but in season two it feels natural to the series.

Season two builds upon the first. There's fighting amongst the Rez Dogs as Elora befriends their enemy Jackie. The entire season explores the grief each of them feel over Daniel. Each of them confront how to handle that grief. The series does a great job of developing all of the characters, both main and side. Even minor characters, and many of them somewhat comedic, feel real. The show has been described as a comedy, I don't agree. It's a drama with comedic moments.

While this show gets to create the most realistic picture of what life on a reservation is like, this is a show about teens and the bad decisions they make despite themselves. They're impulsive and reckless, but at their cores they care. The Rez Dogs have the same dreams as most teens, they want to leave their hometown for a big city, in this case California. It's such a charming show because of the characters, the mistakes they frequently make, and their longing for something more than what they have.