Reservation Dogs

A review of season two of Reservation Dogs, which premieres August 3rd on FX on Hulu.

It’s a dramatic shift from the ensemble antics that made “Reservation Dogs” such a standout in its freshman year, and it's proof that the show, like its central characters, is still growing and changing. Most importantly, season one favorite William “Spirit” Knifeman (series writer Dallas Goldtooth), the spirit of one of Bear’s Lakota ancestors, is a more frequent presence this time around, ambushing Bear in Port-A-Potties and town streets to dispense half-baked Navajo wisdom amongst bites of snacks and the occasional recitation of Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son.” For all its downbeat notes, “Reservation Dogs” feels as committed as ever to demonstrating its characters’ resilience in the face of hardship. Bear’s last-ditch attempt to get a job has him spending the day with a pair of construction workers who team him the ropes of roofing and manhood. She and Jackie are accosted by shifty samaritans, MAGA hat-wearing good old boys who chase them down with shotguns in their pickup, and Megan Mullally as a well-meaning but deeply strange divorcee who serves them a tray of ‘spaghetti taco casserole’ (“You don’t wanna see what happens when I run out of ranch dressing,” she warns). By the time she returns to town, hat in hand, it feels like a defeat. Elora ( Devery Jacobs) decided to ditch the gang to travel west with Jackie (Elva Guerra), a sympathetic member of a rival crew.

Co-creator Sterlin Harjo is in an expansive mood. He directs the first two episodes, which arrive together Wednesday on FX on Hulu. (Or FX/Hulu. Or the Hulu ...

Halfway through season 2, characters keep talking about going to California, and the tragic death of Daniel (Dalton Cramer) seems to come up whenever an episode needs a slow-down dramatic moment. (Happy to rescind this statement when and if they both get showcase episodes.) Second, Dogs has a tendency to cycle back through the same couple of core pilot concepts. This is a rich, sweet, and sharp comedy, though, with a world-built visual texture that turns every room into a freeze-frame treasure. (Certainly, he must be the first spirit guide in Hollywood history to ever use the word "pedagogy," or to proudly claim that Crazy Horse menstruated.) There are characters striving to get off the literal reservation — and characters who worry that doing so would be an act of, like, cultural betrayal. Season 1 kept digging deeper into the characters and the setting, though, finding a well of emotional resonance matched by a wonderfully specific sense of place. If you think Studi talking string theory is fun, wait till you hear him and Farmer stumble through the lyrics to "Free Fallin'." But Reservation Dogs also lives up to its daunting status as, per the press notes, "a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television." Brownie seems to be cleansing his home of unclean white-man artifacts — and then he changes his mind, because he just can't send his VHS copy of Big Trouble in Little China to the trash can. Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer) believes himself to be a holy man, which leads him to rip his vintage pin-up posters off the wall: "Holy men can't be havin' colonizer boobs on their wall!" He directs the first two episodes, which arrive together Wednesday on FX on Hulu. (Or FX/Hulu. Or the Hulu formerly known as FX. Whatever. It's on Hulu.) The two-part premiere forms one hour-long tale, with a pair of missions that find tasks for the vast supporting cast and one shiny guest star. Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) called down a curse on nemesis Jackie (Elva Guerra). Now she wants to reverse the bad medicine, which she thinks has brought nasty side effects onto her disintegrating friend group. Those Tarantino-youth-group affectations disappeared quick, revealing a multi-generational tale of loss and a cultural mood of impoverished/good-humored striving. He's talking about a cosmic connection binding everyone together, a song that plays eternally even when the notes change.

The comedy, the drama, the crispy frybread — co-creator Sterlin Harjo and the "Reservation Dogs" cast break down what to expect in season 2 of the acclaimed ...

“He takes it in for someone who’s not used to our humor and really makes it sort of digestible and familiar.” The truth, as told in the story, has resonated with native and non-native audiences alike. “Apparently our music supervisor is friends with Tom Petty’s daughter and the Estate.” Harjo continued. And when I’m able to contribute my voice as a filmmaker, and writer (in this case), and use my name Kawennáhere, which is my first name, and the name that my family all calls me, that just meant that, for me, it is signifying that it’s leaving a piece of my my heart and who I am in in the work that I’m creating.” We were in the writers room, and I would be singing Free Fallin’ and it just became a joke, and I ended up just writing it into that, as the song of the day.” It all comes down to who you know, really. When Reservation Dogs was first greenlit by FX, the network gave Harjo eight episodes. But to be able to do so, while being credited with her native first name, adds a whole new layer of meaning for Jacobs. “Gearing up for the writers room of season 2, I was ready to assemble all my writing credits and get everything together,” she said. For Harjo, the biggest trap he did not want to fall into when mapping out the story for season 2, was repetition. And while Waititi’s name is attached to the program, this is Harjo’s project. The FX series from co-creators Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, which follows four Indigenous teenagers laser-focused on getting out of small town Oklahoma in order to pursue the California dream out west, premiered its first season in September 2021.

As the acclaimed FX comedy begins its second season, EP Sterlin Harjo and stars Devery Jacobs and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai reflect on a 'cathartic' journey.

Plus, you throw 10 Indigenous teens in a room together and we’re all going to tell jokes and talk s—.” I knew that if I had the support to really find the right way to present Native humor and a good Native story and fill it with drama and magic, I could create something that resonated.” The big reward for me is having this show and being able to tell this story. “We are walking on the same path you walked for us and carved out for us. Most of the actors had never met before the project began, but they still felt a connection with one another. Jacobs referenced Hollywood’s past treatment of Indigenous people last year when the show received the Independent Spirit Award for best new scripted series. She was concerned that “Reservation Dogs” might meet the same fate. “It was a love letter to the reservations we all grew up on. Devery Jacobs was thrilled as she filmed the pilot for FX’s “Reservation Dogs” two years ago. I knew it was good, one of a kind. We thought, ‘If we never get to tell this story again, we will have laid it all out on the table.’” “We didn’t know if FX was going to pick it up, and that this might be the one and only time we had to tell this story,” Jacobs recalled.

GQ Hype: It's the big story of right now. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai remembers exactly where he was when he found out he had been cast as Bear Smallhill on ...

Reservation Dogs went on to have a hugely acclaimed debut season for its irreverent and genuinely touching depiction of a slice of Native American life. Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the show is shot on location in the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma and chronicles the exploits of four mischievous teens who dream of ditching their rural reservation for sunny California. To save up the cash to get there, they cook up a series of absurd petty crimes. “My mom woke me up and was like, ‘You got the call!

'Reservation Dogs' recap: In the Season 2 premiere, Willie Jack hopes to kill the curse, while Elora and Jackie run from danger — grade it!

They go talk to the guys at the bar and go see Willie Jack’s aunt. Back at the reservation, Cheese, Willie Jack, Brownie and Bucky say a prayer by lake. So what’s up with Elora? She and Jackie cruise down the highway, but after picking up provisions (and a gnarly knife), their car breaks down. And so they go off on a quest to try and reverse the curse. In Episode 2, the girls aren’t shot dead, but rather are taken in by a woman named Anna (Megan Mullally). She kindly offers them food and shelter. The guy rambles on, until he takes a mysterious turn down a dirt road that makes the girls extremely uncomfortable. Brownie and Spirit are chillin’ out, as Spirit thanks the creator for the “sacred” Sonic tater tots he’s eating. Then the spirit guide admits to making up nonsense, quotes the band Kansas and moseys off after throwing a French fry in Bear’s face. Later, the kids find Brownie talking to himself and think the guy’s delusional. The gang learns that their hangout is being torn down by a construction crew. Bear tells him that Elora went to California and ditched him, and Spirit says that since he’s got, uhh, some hair down there, he shouldn’t be acting like such a kid anymore. Luckily for us, that means it’s William Knifeman to the rescue!

Interviews for FX/Hulu series "Reservation Dogs" to discuss its eclectic soundtrack and Native storytelling.

In the "Come and Get Your Love" episode, for example, a character wears a Tulsa Noise Fest T-shirt, which director Blackhorse Lowe describes as a kind of Easter egg, a nod to those in that community. "I wanted that moment to be a reclamation of that song. According to Harjo, music cues "help to tell the story and help the audience to know a character." "I was glad we were able to put in some Oklahoma noise and represent that scene a bit." "And with Season 1, I had nothing to lose. For a story centered on four teenagers, the portals for growth and revelation occur during imperfect generational transmissions, which brings us back to Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love." By the end of the episode, Big has resolved a case of mysterious copper figurines and Cheese has improbably fixed the cruiser's tape deck. "Early on, a music editor suggested to the composer, 'Do you want to add more drums and flutes here?'" Anders recalls. A surprising array of music is in the air, from the mainstream to the most experimental niches. Harjo hipped her to many indie Oklahoma artists who are featured in the show, including Broncho, Samantha Crain, and Jacob Tovar, who performs on screen in a honky-tonk scene. Harjo says he's sure all the kids are into Wu-Tang. As the music "budget babysitter," Anders says when she joined the project, she had to joke with Harjo, "We can't have Wu-Tang in every episode." Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai and Devery Jacobs in "Reservation Dogs" (Shane Brown/FX)One of the recipients of that playlist was Tiffany Anders, who Harjo recruited as music supervisor. "We use hip-hop and punk rock, which are connected," Harjo says.