Reservation Dogs Season 3 Review

Reservation Dogs (2021-2023)
Season 3 - 10 episodes (2023)

Watch Reservation Dogs on Hulu
Created by: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Starring: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Elva Guerra
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
Four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma steal and save in order to get to the exotic, and faraway land of California.

Verdict
I didn't enjoy the third season as much as the first two. This season bounced around between characters and timelines, and because of that it never had a focus or goal. A couple of episodes focus on side characters without a clear tie to the main plot or if there is a main plot. It wasn't until I started my review that I realized this season is looking at the past and how history repeats. The older characters have experienced a lot of similar feelings, and the aspirations of the Res Dogs were shared by their relatives.
It depends.

Review
At the end of season two the "Reservation Dogs," Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), ended up in LA. Most return to upset parents since the group didn't tell anyone where they were going.

Bear misses the bus and bonds with a strange guy that finds him in the desert. Bear makes it back but not before meeting Deer Lady.

This season makes comparisons between the Res Dogs and the generations before them. Their plights aren't all that different. I didn't pick up on what this season was doing until I started my review. While watching, it seemed like a distraction from the main characters. These episodes are certainly disconnected, but they are making a point.

It seems like all of the main characters get an episode. Bear takes a journey to get back home. Cheese manages to help his uncles get in touch with their feelings while Willie Jack learns medicine from Fixico. In episode nine Elora meets her estranged father. It's a solid episode with a great guest star. We see plenty of side characters as well. This show has always done a great job of developing characters, even if we only see them for an episode.

This season probably deserves a rewatch. It's a rumination on a possible future for the Res Dogs, and I missed that at first glance. The Res Dogs long to leave the reservation, but their relatives had the same ideas and didn't manage to leave. In this season, we see some of the characters are likely to stay.