Critic Reviews

FX’s “The Lowdown” proves that in addition to being a master storyteller, Harjo is just as skilled at assembling an equally dynamite cast and crew who, together, have delivered one of 2025’s best new series.

The Lowdown isn’t just in conversation with those influences [Jim Thompson, Coen brothers, David Lynch and Raymond Chandler], but also, in compelling ways, Harjo’s Reservation Dogs.

The Lowdown is, by necessity, a more limited undertaking [than Reservation Dogs] that nonetheless succeeds on its own terms. Like Rez Dogs, it’s kinetic. Both shows mix humor, philosophy, and principled outrage, riding the roller coaster of daily life in a world of stunning beauty and glaring injustice instead of conforming to any prepackaged TV format.

At its heart, The Lowdown is a story that wants the viewer to care about the truth as much as its main character does. It's fearless and gonzo, easily one of the best new shows of the year, and it's made even better for the time it arrives in, with trust in the media rapidly sinking and respect for writers at an all-time low. By putting a determined, if eccentric, journalist at its center, The Lowdown feels like an old-school story with a very modern spirit.

Fast, funny, clever, and imbued with an old-school paperback crime fiction spirit, it’s an exceptional work of pulp poetry, and the year’s best new show.

A crackling genre story and a captivating saga unto itself. Brimming with daydreamy peculiarities yet grounded in the details of the daily grind, “The Lowdown” is a crowd-pleaser and weirdo’s delight all at once.

Though The Lowdown wears its influences on its sleeve—think Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, and pretty much any Coen brothers movie—it never comes off as derivative. That’s because it’s steeped in specificity, from the production design (you may want to pause scenes in the bookstore to read the spines of vintage paperbacks) to the world-building. Every character on the show feels realized, even if we only see them in glimpses.

While Harjo has gone on record to say his influences for the show range from films like “The Long Goodbye” to shows like “Atlanta,” The Lowdown also exudes a particularly Lynchian vibe. Maybe it’s the presence of Kyle MacLachlan, or the number of coffees consumed at the diner, but this latest Harjo creation invokes “Twin Peaks” in the very best ways.

Just as a viewer might suspect the plot will go one direction, Harjo gives the story an unexpected, shocking turn. It’s a potent mix that makes “The Lowdown” a welcome addition to a short list of TV’s best current series.

As in “Reservation Dogs,” plot is secondary to character, which in major and minor roles has been beautifully conceived and executed. (You can just sit back and enjoy the people without worrying too much where any of it leads.) .... The important thing is to watch.