The Lowdown Series-Premiere Recap: Night Owls

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From the very beginning, *The Lowdown* grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. The first episode is packed with shocking events – a suicide note, a gunshot, a kidnapping, an affair, and even a double murder. While chaotic, Sterlin Harjo’s darkly comedic series feels grounded in Tulsa thanks to a fantastic performance by Ethan Hawke. The mysteries unfold naturally, mirroring the pace of the investigation, and Hawke’s energetic portrayal of Lee Raybon, a struggling writer always on the move, perfectly captures the show’s sense of urgency. It’s easily one of the best pilot episodes I’ve seen this year.

We’re introduced to Lee as he’s stealing a painting from a club filled with wealthy, conservative businessmen. It’s a scene that highlights how ordinary people can hold a lot of power. While there, he confronts Frank, a local developer known for buying up Black-owned businesses in Tulsa, likely with questionable intentions. By day, Lee owns a used bookstore, but he spends his nights as an investigative journalist, focusing on crime and corruption. He seems to gauge his success by how many ‘bad guys’ he manages to upset each day.

A journalist calling himself a “truthstorian” recently published an article revealing the racist history of the wealthy Washberg family, just as their father, Donald Washberg (played by Kyle MacLachlan), is campaigning to become governor. In the same episode, he investigates a sex-trafficking ring run by white supremacist skinheads in Tulsa, with a provocative headline. The journalist, Lee, drives a rundown white van and often eats at diners or food trucks. Despite being dishonest with his ex-wife about money owed for their child, viewers are led to believe he’ll somehow find a way to pay her back.

Despite being rough around the edges and not following all the rules, Lee is a genuinely kind person. When his daughter, Frances, suggests he move in with her mother to simplify things, he immediately dismisses the idea. He jokes that many daughters and fathers have this exact conversation, and that no daughter truly wants to hear her father agree so easily. Similarly, when Deidra, an employee Lee is struggling to pay, brings her newly released cousin Waylon to the bookstore, Lee impulsively offers him a job to help him get back on his feet, even though he knows it will create another financial strain.

One of the show’s biggest strengths is how vividly it portrays its setting. Tulsa feels like the center of everything, and the story rarely ventures beyond Oklahoma. The show establishes a realistic geography – a world that feels walkable and familiar. For example, the diner, Sweet Emily’s, and Lee’s bookstore, Hoot Owls Books, are located on the same street. Lee keeps a valuable item with Dan, a lawyer whose office is nearby, and lives in an apartment above the store. When we see inside his apartment – predictably covered in evidence related to past cases – two neo-Nazis Lee recently wrote about are waiting to attack him. Even during this tense and violent encounter involving Frances and her mother, the show maintains a surprising lightness. One skinhead threatens, “We will fuck you where it hurts,” while his accomplice responds with a confused, “Wait, what?”

Despite a recent injury, Lee Raybon is more determined than ever to uncover the truth. We find him arriving at the estate sale of Dale Washberg (played by Tim Blake Nelson), a man we briefly meet in a flashback. This scene shows Dale finishing a letter and hiding it in a book, then placing a gun on his desk. Thankfully, the show doesn’t depict his death directly, cutting away before anything happens. Later, Dale will reappear as a ghostly figure, reading his own letter to Lee.

I always knew Dale was different, a bit of a loner compared to his brother, Don, who eventually became governor of Oklahoma. It’s just so tragic, and I can’t shake the feeling that his death wasn’t a simple suicide. My friend Lee believes it’s connected to an exposé Dale wrote for *The Heartland Press* – maybe someone silenced him? There’s also this complicated family trust; apparently, Dale was the one thing standing in the way of some big business deal. Lee doesn’t have any proof of foul play, but standing there in Dale’s house, surrounded by his quirky collections, it just *felt* wrong. Actually, Lee was also there hoping to buy some of Dale’s books – he had a fantastic collection of first editions by Oklahoma author Jim Thompson.

After Dale’s death, his wife, Betty Jo (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn), asks Lee to leave while she handles the estate sale. Before leaving, Lee searches Dale’s office, photographing a bloodstain and a peculiar detail in Dale’s daily planner – doodles made by Betty Jo’s secretly gay husband. Lee also manages to grab a note Dale had hidden inside a book called *Texas by the Tail*. It’s unclear if the book’s title is a clue, but the show is so detailed that every element could be important. The note hints that more information about Dale’s death is hidden in other books on his shelves, fueling Lee’s dual interests in old books and uncovering the truth in Tulsa. Later, Ray (Michael Hitchcock), a gay antiques dealer, will purchase those first edition books for Lee in exchange for a painting Lee previously stole. The show demonstrates that everything, no matter how small, is connected and potentially significant.

The pursuit begins unexpectedly when Lee takes Frances to a cattle auction, all to get a closer look at Betty Jo. He discovers she’s having an affair with her brother-in-law, who also happens to be the next governor of Oklahoma. Lee has a knack for uncovering secrets, though his determination often puts him in danger. The film, *The Lowdown*, walks a strange line between intense violence and dark comedy – it doesn’t want you to feel worried for Lee’s safety. Even when attacked, the violence is played for laughs, like the skinheads exchanging quips during their assault. Later, Blackie and Berta kidnap Lee while Waylon is distracted by a video game, brutally beating him and throwing him in the trunk of a car. They drive him all night to someone they think will want to see him beaten and bloodied: Allen, a man briefly seen at a previous confrontation and an associate of the main villain, Frank. It turns out everything is connected in this story.

Allen was disturbed to find Blackie, a criminal, about to become a police suspect in a sex trafficking case due to Lee’s reporting, and Blackie was at Allen’s legitimate business. Allen told Blackie to follow him and sped off in his car. However, Blackie’s illegal shipment caused problems, and Allen ended up shooting and killing both Blackie and Berta, dumping their bodies in the Arkansas River. Unaware that someone had seen what happened, Allen drove away, leaving Lee trapped and suffering in the trunk of his car for an unknown amount of time.

The phrase “for who knows how long” actually refers to a surprisingly short period. Early in the first episode, there’s a strange encounter between Lee and a man with a smooth voice at Sweet Emily’s diner. The man quotes Shelley, saying, “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of the saddest thought.” Marty, who’s familiar with Lee’s work, points out that Lee is overlooking something important. The conversation starts seeming to be about the Washbergs, but quickly shifts to deeper, more philosophical questions. It makes you wonder what drives these isolated people to gather at a diner on a hot night-it seems we’re all searching for something we lack.

I’d nearly forgotten about Marty when he suddenly showed up in the middle of nowhere to rescue Lee from being kidnapped. Marty explained he’d been following Lee, but after everything Lee had just been through, he didn’t wait to hear more. He quickly jumped into the car and drove away. While driving, he found the money he owed his ex-wife hidden in the sun visor. He called her and arranged to meet at a nearby park in 40 minutes. Lee is driving a stolen car, covered in his own blood, and about to pay his child support with old, possibly illicit, currency. Despite being exhausted and hungry, I wasn’t worried about him – some people can get by on coffee and luck. But Lee is missing something crucial: the ability to recognize when to stop.

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2025-09-24 05:55