In the age of prestige television, several high-profile movie actors are signing up to star in shows that depict a flawed representative of the law or a freelance do-gooder trying to solve a case while also grappling with daunting personal matters. One of the latest names to enter the realm of the serialized detective drama is Ethan Hawke who delivers a complex, compelling, ingratiating turn as an idiosyncratic, self-proclaimed “truthstorian” dedicated to unraveling a labyrinthine criminal endeavor over the eight-episode length of The Lowdown on FX.
It’s fair to say that Hawke has been on a bit of a roll in the past month with two new movies and the aforementioned miniseries. He resuscitated his masked villain character The Grabber in Black Phone 2, the sequel to the 2021 horror film The Black Phone. In a radical turnabout, he gave one of his most impressive performances by disappearing into the role of the renowned but tormented Broadway songwriter Lorenz Hart in the docudrama Blue Moon, directed by Richard Linklater who previously tapped Hawke for wildly different big-screen projects including the quasi-cinéma verité decade-in-the-making Oscar-winner Boyhood and the Before … romantic trilogy. With such range, Hawke could easily take on the persona of Lee Raybon — the scruffy, self-destructive, but crusading Tulsa, Okla., investigative reporter and bookstore owner serving as the central figure in The Lowdown.
Raybon is a cavalier fellow with an estranged ex-wife whom he still covets and a precocious 13-year-old daughter who insists on helping her distracted yet loving father as he goes up against a crooked Tulsa cabal of well-to-do and offhandedly bigoted white folks. His first volley is a scathing piece on a powerful local family which is led by glad-handing, greedy, and manipulative gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan in sinister mode) whose closeted brother Dale (Tim Blake Nelson) — a husband, a parent, and a wannabe writer — is found dead, apparently a suicide. Raybon is more inclined to see the demise of Dale as the result of murder. In his attempt to figure out the facts of Dale’s death, Raybon takes on Donald, the kingmakers behind that bid for the governor’s office, and the hired thugs and dirty cops providing muscle for the bad guys.
Truth and consequences
There is, of course, a price to be paid for poking the hornet’s nest. Due to his heedless pursuit of the truth and doing the right thing, Raybon is frequently used as a punching bag by those who would stop him from getting to the sordid bottom of the situation. He’s a very visible target, tooling around Tulsa and the surrounding area in a beat-up white van. His endeavors also endanger his loved ones and friends, including his daughter Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and his former partner in the book store, a rambunctious troublemaker named Wendell (Peter Dinklage). Speaking of the store, it’s on shaky financial ground, as is the online magazine that publishes Raybon’s inflammatory articles, all due to his attempt to find Dale’s killer and his activities in opposition to Donald and his backers.
The Lowdown is the invention of Oklahoma-born filmmaker Sterlin Harjo who has directed a handful of movies and documentaries and created the FX dramedy series Reservation Dogs, which is also set in Oklahoma and focuses on the lives and struggles of Native Americans in the region. Although Lee Raybon is an original creation, he is supposedly based on an actual journalist and feels like the latest in a long line of rebellious, iconoclastic crime fighters of literary renown — damaged heroes and anti-heroes who make bad choices as they forage for answers and strive for justice. It’s no coincidence that the hardboiled crime novels of author Jim Thompson are referenced in The Lowdown, with first editions of his books even becoming a plot point. Furthermore, novelist Walter Mosely — whose most famous publications feature black private investigator Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins navigating racism and corruption in 1940s Los Angeles — is a series consultant.
The full package
In keeping with the noir-ish tradition, The Lowdown is populated by a colorful collection of Raybon’s allies and antagonists, with a few folks — like Donald’s fixer Marty (Keith David) and Dale’s widow Betty Jo (Jeanne Tripplehorn) — in a gray area, morally, professionally, or circumstantially. There’s a hot, ditzy realtor who has a history of intimacy with Raybon, and a gaggle of ex-cons who are either for or against him. Those in the unimpeachable supporting cast include Tracy Letts, John Doe, Tisha Campbell, and Graham Greene, adding their skills to the mix.
The Lowdown relies on familiar genre elements: political intrigue, a shady real estate deal, passionate boudoir encounters between unlikely lovers, and at least one question of parentage. But they’re used to great advantage, as are the brawls that Raybon attracts like a trouble magnet; the dark humor generated by his frequent side trips into boozing and smoking weed with and without company; the specter of Dale, whose occasional narration from beyond the grave serves as a guide and Greek chorus-style commentary on the proceedings; and a soundtrack adorned with choice selections from the rootsy, blues, country and folk-infused Americana genre and a little hard rock and speed-metal thrown in. If you seek action, mystery, intrigue, and a collection of lived-in characters that keep you coming back for more, The Lowdown is the full package.
New episodes of The Lowdown air Tuesday nights on FX and stream on Hulu the next day.