Season 1 - 8 episodes (2025)
Rent The Lowdown on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Sterlin Harjo
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Keith David, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle MacLachlan, Tracy Letts, Tim Blake Nelson, Macon Blair, Paul Sparks
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer
Plot
A determined bookstore owner in Tulsa moonlights as an investigative journalist, digging into local corruption. When his reporting uncovers sinister connections, he must protect both his family and the truth.
Verdict
This gets better with each episode. While I hoped for more, it's always enjoyable and Ethan Hawke steals every scene. He plays Lee, a self destructive journalist that will burn any bridge for the truth. His only concern is local politics which means he goes to great lengths for comparatively low stakes.
Watch it.
Review
Sterlin Harjo's previous series was Reservation Dogs.
Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) calls himself a "truthstorian." He's a bit of a character, a blogger type bent on finding the truth others ignore. Lee doesn't mind if he stirs up controversy, and he also owns a bookstore. In any other series he'd be the crackpot, with this show he's the protagonist and his theories probably have some amount of truth.
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| E1: Ethan Hawke plays Lee Raybon |
While he just published a piece on the Washberg family, a powerful local family where Dale just killed himself and his brother Donald (Kyle MacLachlan) is running for governor, Lee realizes there may be more to this family and plans a follow up.
In the first episode he's kidnapped by two goons related to a real estate company in the area before the situation gets out of hand.
I couldn't figure out if Lee wants the truth or he just like poking around and being antagonistic. He goes undercover to figure out the identity of his kidnappers. In a later episode he's searching for Dale's books that were sold at an estate sale, convinced they contain clues about the family's misdeeds. He's kidnapped again, but he manages to talk his way out of it.
Lee brings his daughter into the investigation as he keeps accidentally revealing his exploits like getting beaten up, put in a trunk, and that a real estate employee killed the people that kidnapped him. He's in real danger which contradicts what he originally told his daughter.
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| E2: Keith David, Ethan Hawke plays Marty, Lee Raybon |
This show is interesting enough, but Hawke carries this show as a well meaning but troubled journalist that keeps getting into trouble. He's is the agitator in every situation. In episode five Lee's former bookstore partner Wendell (Peter Dinklage) comes into town. Both of these guys are broken yet ridiculous. Though Wendell does get a lead for Lee's case.
Donald sits down with Lee, his meddling having reached an inflection point. We've seen plenty of illegal activity but episode six reveals what the land deals are and the resulting implications. It's dark. The piece of land was stolen from Native Americans and ended up with the Washbergs. Donald planned to sell it at an inflated value to an unsavory group to help fund his campaign.
Lee misses a parent teacher meeting and tells his daughter he's not that type of dad. He wants to be somebody worthy of admiration, that exemplifies chasing your dream. It sounds like an excuse for being selfish. Does Lee believe that nonsense or is it just excuses for his absenteeism? He's the prototype of acting without thinking.
By the end of the season Lee manages to uncover everything and get justice. Initially this just seemed like a showcase for Hawke, but it improves with each episode though Hawke is certainly the draw.
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