The Lowdown Recap: History Lessons

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Second-to-last episodes of a series are often difficult to make compelling. They have the job of setting everything up for a big finale, and it needs to feel smooth and not rushed. A common challenge is pacing – viewers can tell when a show is slowing down, but these episodes often have to be slower, preventing characters from resolving major conflicts. Instead of big payoffs that would spoil the finale, the show usually wraps up minor plotlines, which can feel disappointing. However, some of these issues are simply unavoidable given the episode’s purpose.

The biggest issue with “Tulsa Turnaround” isn’t any single flaw, but that it doesn’t quite fit within the established story. Characters act in ways that are confusing and their interactions feel unnatural. It feels like the episode was built around a specific ending, rather than flowing naturally from previous events. For example, would Francis, a smart teenager, really seek advice from Ray, her dad’s casual and often-drunk associate? And would Cyrus give a loaded gun to someone who just admitted to misplacing another one?

The episode begins really interestingly. We’re introduced to two figures who seem to embody the core values of Oklahoma – faith and patriotism. Pastor Mark is giving a sermon, and it’s… a choice one. He’s essentially complaining about how difficult things are for white people, and even goes so far as to argue for segregation. His reasoning? That prisons are naturally segregated, and white inmates still hold power. Honestly, it’s a pretty wild speech, and you can tell his congregation isn’t exactly thrilled – they’re mostly just offering polite nods.

Donald Washberg is campaigning in a peculiar way, dressing up as Will Rogers while appearing at a small-town fair. The fair features a reenactment of the 19th-century land runs, where children participate in relay races dressed as settlers who took land from Native Americans, pulling wagons designed to look like covered wagons. This display is a thoughtless representation of a painful historical event, and the atmosphere seems lackluster. The only people who appear engaged are the Native American activists protesting the event. While the candidate looks embarrassed to be confronted by peaceful protesters with legitimate concerns, it doesn’t really matter – these children aren’t voters.

This episode really hits on Oklahoma’s difficult past with racism, but honestly, the main drama comes from Lee just running his mouth. After he spilled the beans, Betty Jo finally takes matters into her own hands and gets out of that isolated life. She meets Frank Martin, and he gives her a ton of money to reveal where Arthur Williams is hiding. It’s wild to me that Lee will later act shocked when Betty Jo betrays him – especially considering he publicly attacked her family and even showed up at her husband’s estate sale, all because she had a brief relationship with someone else!

Frank rushed to Whispering Pines, trying to buy Dale’s will from Arthur for a thousand dollars. He pointed out the will was likely fake and could cause Arthur legal problems. It seems odd he didn’t offer more, though. Betty Jo, who had just gotten some money, would have revealed information about Arthur for a reasonable amount, and Frank could have used the rest to convince Arthur to sell. Arthur might have agreed, because ignoring the will meant he’d be left with nothing.

I was on the edge of my seat watching Arthur. He immediately sensed something was terribly wrong with Frank, and brilliantly pretended to be losing his mind, just to buy time until Frank started tearing the house apart looking for Dale’s will. It broke my heart when Frank actually pushed Arthur, such a frail man, to the ground for trying to stop him. Arthur eventually said he’d find the will, but I knew he wasn’t telling the truth – he was going for his gun. It was a tense moment, and then came the flashback… Frank’s face suddenly replaced Arthur’s memory of his grandfather being murdered by Nate Washberg. For me, that flashback wasn’t a clear answer – maybe Arthur really was confused, or maybe this was finally his chance to get revenge for everything his family and his people have lost at the hands of people like Frank.

In the end, it’s irrelevant. Frank shoots Arthur, and Arthur dies in his messy apartment. Up until this point, only criminals had been killed near Indian Head Hills.

Throughout most of the episode, Lee is consumed by his own problems, driving around in his rundown van. Even though Arthur and Chutto repeatedly say they don’t want Dale’s second will revealed, Lee ignores them and takes it to the Heartland Press to be published as part of his ongoing vendetta against Washberg. Like many episodes before the finale, this one brings back characters we haven’t seen in a while. Later, Lee stops by to see Dan, the lawyer next door, simply to insult him by asking for a referral to a good lawyer. One scene felt unbelievable: Francis tries to get Ray to convince her father to help with the investigation, which doesn’t make much sense given Ray’s personality. Ray consistently represents the bleak, pessimistic tone of the show – he basically tells Francis that even good people can’t always win against evil.

I’ve been really struck by Cyrus’s storyline this week. He’s not shocked to hear Donald Washberg would order a hit on his own brother – he just figures people driven by greed will do anything. It’s a worldview he formed after learning about the Greenwood Massacre, the horrific destruction of Black Tulsa in 1921. He points out that the firebombing wasn’t just random violence; it took organized hate and power to pull something like that off. It’s fascinating knowing that the character of Lee is inspired by a real journalist, Lee Roy Chapman, who exposed the Klan connections of Tulsa’s founder and his involvement in the attacks. It really adds another layer to everything happening on screen, and shows how deeply the show is rooted in real history.

Cyrus is different from Lee; he prioritizes his own safety over honesty. He prefers to avoid conflict and mind his own business, much like Arthur and Chutto. However, Lee rarely takes advice from anyone. Despite being asked to keep it private, Lee asks Cyrus to take him to his cousin, a lawyer, who agrees to help Arthur and Chutto deal with a will they didn’t want to share.

As soon as the distrustful Cyrus leaves the car, Lee finds a more supportive companion. While Lee and Cyrus finish their newspaper deliveries, Marty has been investigating Pastor Mark – something Donald’s security chief should have done before bringing the candidate to One Well, but it’s better late than never. Marty listens to Mark’s hateful online sermons and then, recklessly, drives to the church alone. Driven by curiosity, he breaks into the skinhead headquarters and searches through documents, discovering the plans for Adonai City – a whites-only settlement intended as a haven for ex-convicts seeking to regain power. Marty is still wandering around the One Well grounds when Phil, apparently punished by his fellow white supremacists for talking to Lee earlier, runs to him, terrified.

I watched as Marty rushed Phil to the hospital and tried to reach Lee, but he still wasn’t ready to believe the Washbergs were the bad guys. He kept saying Donald couldn’t possibly know about the horrifying plans for his land – which, honestly, is Arthur’s land by rights. It turns out Frank was the one who originally made the deal. Lee explained it didn’t even matter who owned it, because Dale’s updated will changed everything. We saw Lee driving me to meet this older man who just wanted to be left alone, and those scenes kept cutting to Frank forcing his way into Arthur’s place and… ultimately, killing him. As Frank sped away, Lee and I finally arrived at Whispering Pines.

The chase after Frank quickly fizzles out when Lee’s van breaks down. This gives Lee the opportunity to call Betty Jo and accuse her of causing the whole problem. He then complains that Marty’s 911 call – specifically mentioning Frank’s name – is the reason police haven’t arrived yet. It’s remarkable that Lee can’t recognize his own mistakes are to blame for everything. Before Lee bothered Arthur and Chutto, they were both perfectly safe.

Following Trip’s suggestion, Frank goes into hiding at One Well, destroying Donald’s will along the way. Marty predicts where Frank will go, and he and Lee arrive shortly after. Just as Mark is giving a racist speech, Lee dramatically enters the building – a moment reminiscent of a Tarantino film. In a shocking move, instead of escaping, Lee confronts Frank, accusing him of murder and waving a gun in front of everyone, including women, children, and a group of violent Nazis. The episode concludes with the skinheads training their automatic weapons on Lee, while Mark orders them to shoot this disheveled would-be hero.

Okay, as far as suspense goes, this cliffhanger gets a perfect ten from me. But honestly, something feels off about Lee. I remember back in episode five, he was totally freaked out by the stuff he saw at that police cookout – the guy was terrified of violence! And in the very first episode, he bolted when someone just freed him from a car trunk! He’s a bit of a goofball, sure, but he’s always seemed genuinely afraid of getting hurt. He’s got that little hero thing going on, but definitely not the type to try and play cop and make an arrest with a weapon. For Lee, the police are actually scarier than the criminals!

Earlier in the show, Lee was late for Francis’s parent-teacher conference. When he got there, he saw Jimmy – who had somehow come back to life – sitting next to Sam in the spot Lee had reserved, just in case he decided to show up. Lee, upset by this, simply walked out. It’s arguably the worst thing he’s ever done. While his previous betrayal of Arthur was terrible, it happened somewhat by chance.

Outside the school, Francis tells her dad that she was the one who asked Jimmy to get involved. She explains that Jimmy, who will soon be her stepfather, cares about her a lot. It’s heartbreaking to see Francis having to reassure her dad that her love for him won’t change, even though their family is becoming different. However, I completely lost any sympathy I had for Lee when he told his daughter he should have stayed, but then refused to go back inside the school building.

His actions against Francis felt similar to what he did to Arthur – both stemmed from an inflated sense of self-importance. It’s one thing to think the world needs improvement, and another to believe you are the only one who can fix it. He tells Francis he’ll help him achieve his dreams, seemingly to justify his actions as a father figure. Perhaps we’re meant to believe this is why Lee confronts Frank at One Well, instead of simply escaping when any reasonable person would.

Francis doesn’t need a father who would sacrifice everything for a cause; she needs one who is present in her everyday life, like attending parent-teacher conferences. And honestly, the cause doesn’t need a hero who dies for it either. In a Tulsa filled with people who accept the city’s problems but feel helpless to change them, Lee’s most valuable contribution is simply staying alive and continuing to work towards improvement.

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2025-10-29 05:59