Hulu Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

This latest FX sitcom, from Taika Waititi and Seminole filmmaker Sterlin Harjo, tells the story of four Native American teenagers on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma scheming and engaging in petty crimes to save up enough to flee to California. The show it mostly closely reminds me of is "Trailer Park Boys", with an economically depressed community full of eccentric characters, but with some of the youthful earnestness and pluck of The Goonies and a bit of the magical realism of "Better Things".

The first two episodes dropped on Hulu this morning. Internationally, the episodes will be available through the Star component of Disney+. I really enjoyed them. The standout character so far is Zahn McClarnon as the very odd and often distracted tribal police officer. The world these kids live in is pretty bleak, and there lives have had a lot of really dark shit happen. But the show itself isn't bleak, and the pilot had some real laugh out loud moments.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Gary Farmer killed it tonight.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Really loving this show.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

I feel like this show is flying under most people's radar. Heck, even this thread only has three posts (now four.)

I originally came across this show as an ad on Instagram, and for some reason I watched the ad and was intrigued. Pretty sure I didn't know when it premiered, so my wife and I watched the first episode right after the second one dropped. While I enjoyed it, I wasn't sure how she felt. I knew my answer when she asked "are there more? can we watch them?" We've been hooked ever since.

So much going on it seems - greasy fry bread, greasy greasy fry bread - energy drinks are made from energy - white man's bullets - Cheese's funnel.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode, centered around Willie Jack, really captured why she's less enthusiastic about the California plan than the others. She's got a life she enjoys with a wonderful dad.

Paulina Alexis is phenomenal as Willie Jack, but she's from the Nakota people in Alberta, and that strong Canadian accent really throws me at times.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

Hello white Jesus.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just when I thought this show couldn't get any better, Bill Barr turns up as Elora's driving test evaluator.

The episode filled in a lot of backstory: We know now that Elora's mom died in an accident where the driver of the car she was in was drunk. We also learn how Daniel died: suicide by hanging. And Elora was the one who'd found him. It's because of Daniel that Elora is the most focused on getting to California.

Despite derailing Elora's driving test to get into a shootout with a sketchy associate of his daughter's, Bill Barr's coach character was probably the most three-dimensional white character the show has given us to date. All of his exchanges with Elora, and all of their common shared personal history, spoke to the degree that people who live on and near reservations have a foot in two worlds.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

I'm not great with faces (my wife is, but she's HORRIBLE with names - so I get I questions like "isn't that the guy from the movie with the leg?" The movie would be A Christmas Story in this case.)

But I digress . . .

I'm not great with faces, and actually had to look it up to see if it was Bill Burr. Even one of my co-workers (who I got addicted to this show) told me he thought it was a second rate Bill Burr.

My wife loves the guy who runs the scrapyard. She says he seems so real - not someone who's playing a character, but just being themselves.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Loved tonight's finale, which brought all of the various supporting characters together for a climactic finish. Gary Farmer is the GOAT.

And it's astounding that this show is only Paulina Alexis's second screen credit. Her declaration in the church basement was so raw and heartfelt and powerful. Willie Jack sure is something special.

I liked where they left things, too. Willie Jack and Cheese have come to terms with the world and their place in it. Bear and Elora have not. And Elora maybe needs to go to California to understand what she's left behind. And Bear needs to stand on his own two feet without Elora taking care of him.

So glad this is coming back for a second season.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

That was the finale? I'm not ready!

 

[Chris Will]

Well, I came here to see why I wasn’t seeing the next episode in Hulu, had no idea episode 8 was the finale. Now the long wait for season 2. I wish streaming shows had longer seasons.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season 2 Trailer:


Devery Jacobs, who plays Elora Danan, joined the writers room for the second season.

 

[Chris Will]

I loved season one but, unfortunately, we canceled our Hulu subscription months ago. Probably will not re-sub until food and gas prices start going down.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Really glad to have this one back. The first two episodes of the new season addressed some of the dangling threads from the first season, while moving our main four forward.

Also glad that they realized how great Gary Farmer was last season, and gave him a bigger role this season. It's interesting that both his character and Bear can see the spirit guide on horseback.

Paulina Alexis remains the heart and soul of the show as Willie Jack.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Devery Jacobs co-wrote tonight's episode with Sterlin Harjo. It's about the death of Elora's grandmother, who has raised her since her mother died when she was a toddler. It's a heavy story, with some really emotional moments, but also lots of humor and warmth.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Hard to think of two more different characters than the fierce Comanche warrior Amber Midthunder played in Prey and the ultra-woke "city Native" grad student and influencer she played in this episode.

This week's episode was a good showcase for the complexities and contradictions that this show is so good at. The two influencers that were leading the seminar were completely full of shit, but that doesn't mean that the activities they led the kids through didn't have value.

The maturity gap between Elora and the rest of the rez dogs is an interesting point of friction. Elora's been off on an adventure with Jackie, and she's laid her grandmother to rest. And meanwhile, Bear, Willie Jack, and Cheese are exactly the same as they've always been. Bear and Willie Jack, in particular, have a lot of growing up to do. But Elora also has to stop looking down on her friends if she wants to feel like part of the group again.

Of the smaller recurring roles, White Steve -- who's mostly just happy to be included -- and Bev -- who's slept with most of the Muscogee Nation at this point -- are among my favorites. The show uses them just the right amount, too.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Renewed for Season 3:

FX's "Reservation Dogs" Renewed for Season 3 Exclusively on Hulu
AFI Award and Peabody Award-Winning Series to Return in 2023
Season Two Concludes Wednesday, September 28 Exclusively on Hulu
From Co-Creators and Executive Producers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, the Groundbreaking Series Featuring Unprecedented Indigenous Representation on Television, Both in Front of and Behind the Camera​

LOS ANGELES, September 22, 2022 - A'ho! More good medicine is on the way! FX's Reservation Dogs, the AFI Award and Peabody Award-winning series from co-creators and executive producers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, has been renewed for a third season, it was announced today by Nick Grad, President, Original Programming, FX. The series, available exclusively on Hulu, is currently presenting its acclaimed second season. The third season will be available in 2023 exclusively on Hulu.

"Reservation Dogs continues its remarkable run with critics, fans and awards all recognizing the singular brilliance of the series created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi," said Grad. "FX is proud to join with our partners at Hulu to order a third season featuring the amazing cast and all of the artists who deliver one of the most original, engaging and funny shows on television."

"I couldn't be more proud of this show that I created with my friend Taika Waititi," said Harjo. "It was born out of a conversation in Taika's kitchen and has now made its way into the lives of people across the world. The love for season 2 has been outstanding. Thank you to FX for ordering season 3, excited to bring you more laughter and love from the Rez. Ahoooo!"

Season two concludes Wednesday, September 28 on Hulu with episode 10, "I Still Believe." The Rez Dogs go on a journey for Daniel. Written by Tommy Pico; Directed by Sterlin Harjo.

Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Reservation Dogs is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television, both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences.

In its first season, Reservation Dogs landed on 80+ critics' year-end best lists, won The Gotham Award for "Breakthrough Series - Short Form," won two Independent Spirit Awards, was honored as one of AFI's Television Programs of the Year and won a Peabody Award. The show is also among seven programs recognized in 2022 by the Television Academy as part of its 15th Television Academy Honors, showcasing exceptional television programs and their producers who have leveraged the power of television to fuel social change.

Reservation Dogs is co-created by Sterlin Harjo (Love and Fury, Barking Water, Four Sheets to the Wind) and Academy Award(R)-winner Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder, Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows) and executive produced by Harjo, Waititi and Garrett Basch (What We Do in the Shadows, The Night Of). Reservation Dogs is produced by FX Productions.

The second season of Reservation Dogs continues with new episodes on Wednesdays, exclusively on Hulu. Season two, which concludes on September 28, has drawn rave reviews, including:

• "Sterlin Harjo's genre-mixing, cliché-exploding series captures coming of age as a Native kid like no TV show before it... .full of mischief and warmth... .powerful"
  David Treuer, The Atlantic (August 1, 2022)
• "Harjo and his writing staff mint delightful comedy and grab-a-tissue pathos... .a rich, sweet and smart comedy...with a world-built visual texture that turns every room into a freeze-frame treasure"
  Darren Franich, Entertainment Weekly (August 3, 2022)
• "currently in the middle of a flawless second season of episodes"
  Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter (September 14, 2022)
• "as brilliant as ever, with its cultural specificity, magic realism, sense of place, impeccable performances and strangely heartbreaking comedy writing all in place"
  Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times' Screen Gab Newsletter (August 5, 2022)
• "a sublime coming-of-age comedy"
  James Poniewozik, The New York Times (August 1, 2022)
• "one of the best and most original shows on TV... a warmth and wisdom rare on television"
  John Powers, NPR (August 8, 2022)
• "There's nothing on TV like Reservation Dogs....still extraordinary....richly deserves your attention"
  Tara Ariano, Vanity Fair (August 3, 2022)

FX's Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of "Elora Danan" (Devery Jacobs), "Bear Smallhill" (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), "Willie Jack" (Paulina Alexis) and "Cheese" (Lane Factor), four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. After the death of the fifth member of the Reservation Dogs, the crew took to stealing, scheming and saving in order to vicariously fulfill his dream of reaching the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California. But after a promising start to their criminal endeavors, including the legendary heist of a Flaming Flamers chips truck, swiping some old lady's weed edibles and some low-grade grand theft auto, the plan went bust. The gang disbanded, with everyone trying to forge their own paths.

Elora ghosted Bear and took off for California with the Rez Dogs' mortal enemy, "Jackie" (Elva Guerra), the leader of a rival gang. Abandoned by his closest friend, Bear seeks a male parental figure to teach him how to "be a man" - but his choice of uncles to emulate leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile, Willie Jack thinks everything in their town is falling apart because of the curse she cast on Jackie and she's determined to put that genie back in the bottle. Cheese who, like Willie Jack, decided that Cali wasn't for him, reunites with his grandmother who isn't his grandmother.

Lucky for the kids, they have the support of their loving and eccentric community of aunties and uncles to see them through, including Bear's mother "Rita" (Sarah Podemski), local law enforcement "Big" (Zahn McClarnon), Elora's "Uncle Brownie" (Gary Farmer), Willie Jack's parents "Dana" (Jennifer Podemski) and "Leon" (Jon Proudstar) and "Spirit" aka "William Knifeman" (Dallas Goldtooth).

Reservation Dogs has curses and catfish, dance numbers and trust falls, decent people, terrible people and a cavalcade of supporting characters who color and shade this already vibrant world.

Follow Reservation Dogs on social media: @RezDogsFX | @RezDogsFX | @RezDogsFX

About FX
FX, a division of Disney General Entertainment, is a global multiplatform brand that develops, produces, commissions and markets original programming for Hulu and the FX and FXX linear channels in the U.S., and Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other international territories. The FX brand mark appears above the title across its entire slate of originals. Over the past two decades, FX has been responsible for some the most-critically acclaimed and award-winning shows on television. Some of the brand's current and legacy titles include the dramas American Horror Story, American Crime Story, The Americans, The Bear, Damages, Fargo, Justified, Nip/Tuck, The Old Man, Pose, Rescue Me, The Shield and Sons of Anarchy; the comedies Archer, Atlanta, Better Things, DAVE, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Little Demon, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows; and a growing slate of docuseries and documentary films.

About Hulu
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Yesterday, this show delivered one of the most powerful episodes of television I've seen in quite some time.

 

[Walter Kittel]

One of those folks upon whose radar this has flown under for a very long time. I've seen a few ads and it has been lingering in the back of my mind that I need to give this a try. Given the surfeit of programming available these days there are programs that don't quite make it into the schedule and this has been one of them.

- Walter.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

For those who don't have Hulu but do have cable, this will be airing on the regular FX network starting June 26.

The first season will air two episodes a week on Mondays at 10 pm for four weeks, covering the entire first season.

I highly recommend this to anybody who hasn't checked it out. At its best, it's one of the best shows on television.

The third season will debut on Hulu on August 2.

 

[jayembee]

Catching an ad last night on FX for the re-runs of Season 1, I decided it was time to binge the first two seasons before S3 pops up. Man oh man, this show is priceless! Hysterically funny, but with more sobering moments when needed. I watched all of S1 last night, and I'll make my way through S2 ASAP.

The standout character so far is Zahn McClarnon as the very odd and often distracted tribal police officer.

He's terrific, and it's an interesting compliment to his role in AMC's Dark Winds as the very serious and competent Tribal Police officer Joe Leaphorn. I especially loved the episode where Cheese does a ride-along, and we get the backstory about the Deer Lady.

Speaking of which, I also love those moments of Magical Realism: the Deer Lady, the Spirit who tries to give Bear life advice, and so on.

There are so many wonderful characters in this show, it's hard to pick a favorite, but the always great Gary Farmer ended up being my favorite (he's definitely the GOAT!). Unmentioned by anyone else here would be Meeko & Mose, who work as something of a Greek Chorus.

Paulina Alexis is phenomenal as Willie Jack, but she's from the Nakota people in Alberta, and that strong Canadian accent really throws me at times.

She's become my favorite of the four central characters. The somewhat nasally accent was driving me nuts, as it was sounding familiar to me, and I knew I hadn't seen her before (except that I did, and didn't recognize her from Ghostbusters: Afterlife). I eventually realized that she sounded like Kat Dennings as Darcy in the MCU.

Hard to think of two more different characters than the fierce Comanche warrior Amber Midthunder played in Prey and the ultra-woke "city Native" grad student and influencer she played in this episode.

Haven't gotten to her appearance yet, though I knew that she was supposed to appear in S2. I did notice an "Angelique Midthunder" in the end titles as a casting director. I looked her up in the IMDb, and yup, Amber is her daughter.

And speaking of relations, I noticed that two of the Podemski sisters are in this: Sarah (Bear's mother) and Jennifer (Willie Jack's mother). And the third sister, Tamara, appears in S2, playing a character named Teenie. I've seen a few Canadian shows where two of the sisters appear together, but I think this will be the first series where all three are in it.

There have been some really good Canadian Indigenous TV shows that I've seen, though unfortunately only in low quality recordings. I need to check JustWatch to see if any of them are streaming anywhere.

On edit: Not surprisingly, I saw some overlap with a couple of the writers for both this show and Resident Alien.