---
title: "The Lowdown"
year: 2025
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-lowdown"
fi1m_id: "the-lowdown"
imdb_id: "tt31289994"
tmdb_id: 273247
wikidata_id: "Q130601776"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_score: 85
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-09-24T19:40:23.672684+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-24T19:40:24.480923+00:00"
region: "IN"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Lowdown (2025)

Created by Sterlin Harjo · Crime, Drama

## Identity

The Lowdown

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/the-lowdown
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** the-lowdown
- **IMDb ID:** tt31289994
- **TMDB ID:** 273247
- **Wikidata ID:** Q130601776
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31289994/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/273247, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130601776

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 85 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* A rare-book dealer solves a murder by being impossible to get rid of

> Sterlin Harjo’s Tulsa noir is funny, generous and easy to like, with Ethan Hawke in full flow as a man who cannot leave anything alone. The mystery is the least of it, and the middle episodes know that a little too well.

## Synopsis

Tulsa, Oklahoma, the present day. Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) sells rare books from a shop he can barely keep open and calls himself a truthstorian, which means he writes long, angry articles about the city’s powerful families for anyone who will print them. When Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson), the awkward brother in a family with oil money and a run for governor to protect, is found dead, Lee decides it was not what it looks like. Dale’s widow Betty Jo (Jeanne Tripplehorn) would rather he left it alone. His friend Marty (Keith David) tells him to be careful and comes along anyway. His ex, Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn), has heard all this before. With a notebook, a bad car and a box of Dale’s books, Lee starts asking questions in bars, back rooms and mansions, and someone starts asking about him.

## Review

Sterlin Harjo made [*Reservation Dogs*](https://film.one/tv/reservation-dogs), a comedy about teenagers in small-town Oklahoma that was better at grief than most dramas. *The Lowdown* is his crime series, set in Tulsa, and it is recognisably the same hand: a place he knows, people he is fond of, and a plot he treats as a way of getting them into rooms together. We liked it a good deal. It is warm, it is funny, and for eight episodes we were happy to be lost in it. We would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a detective story more for the detective than for the solution, with the warning that the solution is not what it is best at.

Ethan Hawke plays Lee Raybon as a man who has never once let a thought finish before saying it. He talks fast, he talks to people who have not asked, and he is right often enough to be a nuisance and wrong often enough to be a danger to himself. Hawke has always been good at earnest men, and here he adds a manic edge, all elbows and pointing, that makes Lee funny without making him a joke. We laughed out loud, more than once, at nothing more than the sight of him walking into a building he had plainly been asked to stay out of. The character believes in a free press and the public record in a way that ought to be corny and is not, because Hawke plays the belief as a compulsion rather than a virtue.

Around him Harjo has built a town. Keith David’s Marty is the steady one, a man who has learned to say no and be ignored, and David gives every line a weight that makes Lee’s chatter funnier by contrast. Jeanne Tripplehorn plays Betty Jo Washberg with a stillness that keeps us guessing about what she knows. Tim Blake Nelson’s Dale is gone before the story starts, but Nelson makes him a whole person in the fragments we are given. Scott Shepherd’s Allen Murphy is the series’ one properly frightening presence, a quiet man who does not need to raise his voice. Tracy Letts, Macon Blair, Michael Hitchcock and Cody Lightning fill the edges, and Kaniehtiio Horn gets more from Samantha’s exasperation than the part strictly contains.

What moved us, and we did not expect it in a show this jokey, are the scenes where Lee stops talking. They are few, and most of them happen at home rather than out in the city, with the people who have to live with him and have run out of patience. In one of them Samantha simply waits for him to finish, and he does, and we found our throat had tightened. That is where the series shows what it is really about: a man who has found a way to be useful to strangers because he does not know how to be useful at home.

The craft is confident. Harjo directs alongside Macon Blair and Danis Goulet, and the three of them agree on a look: daylight Tulsa, low brick buildings, wide streets with nobody on them, and interiors, the bookshop above all, crowded to the ceiling with the stuff of other people’s lives. Gina Sansom’s editing lets scenes run past the point where a network drama would cut, so that conversations have time to go wrong. The writers’ room includes Walter Mosley, and it shows in the dialogue, which is dense with the way people actually talk when they are being evasive.

The trouble is the middle. The mystery of who wanted Dale Washberg dead is thin, and the fourth, fifth and sixth episodes wander off after side characters and local colour in a way that is pleasant and not much more. Harjo likes an oddball, and by the halfway point there are more of them than the story can use; a few land, several are simply there. We were never bored, but we did notice the plot being put down and picked up again. The show’s certificate is 15, and it is honest: there is violence, and it hurts, but Harjo is more interested in the aftermath than the act.

The obvious comparison is [*The Long Goodbye*](https://film.one/film/the-long-goodbye), another film about a man out of step with his city who keeps asking after a dead friend nobody else misses. *The Lowdown* is not as sharp as that, and it does not want to be. It would rather sit with you on the porch. Watch it an episode or two at a time, in the evening, and let it take its own pace.

*Fi1m score 80, published 24 September 2026.*

## Straight answers

**Is The Lowdown worth watching?**

*The Lowdown* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys a detective story more for the detective than for the solution, and we scored it 80. Ethan Hawke's Lee Raybon, a Tulsa rare-book dealer who cannot leave anything alone, is funny and unexpectedly moving. The mystery itself is thin, and the middle episodes wander.

**Where can I watch The Lowdown in India?**

*The Lowdown* is not on any streaming or rental service in India at the moment. It is available in 45 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is The Lowdown, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Lowdown* carries a UK 15 certificate, and we think it is honest: there is violence, and it hurts, though Sterlin Harjo is more interested in the aftermath than the act. It is not a frightening series, but its adult tone and language make it unsuitable for children. Older teenagers used to crime drama should be fine.

**How does The Lowdown compare to The Long Goodbye?**

*The Lowdown* is warmer and looser than [*The Long Goodbye*](https://film.one/film/the-long-goodbye), and it does not try to match Altman's sharpness. Both follow a man out of step with his city who keeps asking after a dead friend nobody else misses, but the film is the tighter and more painful work. Choose the series if you want company on the porch, the film if you want the bite.

**What should I watch after The Lowdown?**

After *The Lowdown*, try [*The Long Goodbye*](https://film.one/film/the-long-goodbye) (1973, Fi1m 86): Altman’s rumpled Marlowe is the closest ancestor to Lee Raybon’s stubborn decency. Then [*Reservation Dogs*](https://film.one/tv/reservation-dogs) (2021, Fi1m 86): Harjo’s earlier Oklahoma series, funnier and sadder than its premise suggests; and [*Terriers*](https://film.one/tv/terriers) (2010, Fi1m 82): Two unlicensed investigators, one Californian beach town, and a plot that grows teeth late.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (A-): Travers calls the series a captivating, crowd-pleasing Southern noir, with Ethan Hawke anchoring its murder mystery. He especially praises Hawke’s performance and the vivid community of distinct Tulsa characters surrounding him. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-lowdown-review-ethan-hawke-series-1235148877/)
- **The AV Club**, Jenna Scherer (A-): The AV Club finds the series stylish, specific, and lovingly realized, praising Sterlin Harjo’s modern-noir world-building. It particularly singles out Ethan Hawke’s earnest, manic performance as Lee Raybon. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-lowdown-review-tv-fx)
- **Variety**, Alison Herman (90/100, inferred): Herman finds the series a joyful, leisurely pleasure and praises its offbeat crime-story journey. She singles out Harjo’s affectionate, humor-filled Tulsa ensemble and the show’s idealism about a free press. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/tv/reviews/the-lowdown-review-ethan-hawke-1236516445/)
- **The Guardian**, Phil Harrison (85/100, inferred): The critic finds the series hilarious and poignant, with a generous, surprisingly personal story beneath its comic wild-goose chase. The memorable supporting performances and Harjo’s affectionate portrayal of earnest, flawed characters stand out for praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/26/the-lowdown-review-ethan-hawke-disney-plus)
- **Vulture**, Nicholas Quah (80/100, inferred): Quah finds the series a fascinating, mischievous showcase for Sterlin Harjo’s creative vision, with its central mystery less important than its shaggy pleasures. He especially praises the vivid, lived-in Tulsa setting and the wit and specificity of its characters. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-lowdown-ethan-hawke-sterlin-harjo-series-review.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (78/100, inferred): Fienberg finds the series an endearing, promising Oklahoma-set charmer, though it takes time to find its way and could use more gravity. He especially praises Ethan Hawke’s messy, nuanced lead performance and the show’s richly detailed sense of place. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-lowdown-review-ethan-hawke-fx-sterlin-harjo-1236361426/)
- **Collider**, Tania Hussain (8/10): The critic finds the series a scrappy, funny, and deeply human neo-noir worth following, despite occasional pacing lags and crowded oddball characters. She praises Ethan Hawke’s magnetic lead performance and the lived-in Tulsa setting, while singling out Ryan Kiera Armstrong’s tender chemistry with him. [Read](https://collider.com/the-lowdown-review-fx-ethan-hawke/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Sterlin Harjo
- **Creator:** Sterlin Harjo
- **Director:** Sterlin Harjo, Macon Blair, Danis Goulet
- **Writer:** Sterlin Harjo, Sneha Koorse, Liz Blood, Duffy Boudreau, Walter Mosley, Olivia Purnell, Scott Teems
- **Editor:** Gina Sansom
- **Cast:** Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon; Keith David as Marty; Kaniehtiio Horn as Samantha; Jeanne Tripplehorn as Betty Jo Washberg; Macon Blair as Dan Kane; Scott Shepherd as Allen Murphy; Tim Blake Nelson as Dale Washberg; Tracy Letts as Frank Martin
- **Release (India):** 23 September 2025
- **Genres:** Crime, Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE9bq37W3Qo

## Where to watch in India

Not streaming, renting or buying in India at the last check.

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Long Goodbye* (1973), Fi1m 86: Altman’s rumpled Marlowe is the closest ancestor to Lee Raybon’s stubborn decency. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-long-goodbye.md)
- *Reservation Dogs* (2021), Fi1m 86: Harjo’s earlier Oklahoma series, funnier and sadder than its premise suggests. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/reservation-dogs.md)
- *Inherent Vice* (2014): Another shaggy detective who solves less than he stumbles across, gloriously so.
- *Terriers* (2010), Fi1m 82: Two unlicensed investigators, one Californian beach town, and a plot that grows teeth late. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/terriers.md)
- *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995): Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins on film, patient and specific about postwar Los Angeles.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-lowdown