Sterlin Harjo Returns The Lowdown to Tulsa for Season Two

Tulsa, Oklahoma, provides the setting for a new investigation into corruption and power when the second season of FX's The Lowdown premieres October 14 on FX and Hulu. Creator Sterlin Harjo returns with Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon, a citizen journalist whose pursuit of the truth exposes dangerous conflicts beneath the city's diverse social landscape.

The new season shifts its central investigation toward an apparently corrupt sheriff, following a first season that examined the theft of valuable land from its rightful Native owners. According to The New York Times, the series continues to use crime fiction conventions to explore broader tensions within American society.

The Boston Globe reported that the second season is scheduled to debut Wednesday at 9 p.m. on FX and Hulu. The series returns alongside other television productions exploring journalism beyond America's major coastal cities.

Harjo described how his working process changes once filming begins, despite the mental pressure he experiences before a production starts.

"It's something about my chemical makeup," said Harjo, the series creator and showrunner.

He explained that preparing a new project brings competing thoughts, but the start of production helps him establish a clear direction. During filming in downtown Tulsa, Harjo coordinated scenes and equipment moves across multiple locations during a demanding production day.

Hawke, who plays Lee Raybon, described the physical punishment his character repeatedly endures throughout the series.

"Sterlin can't stop assaulting me," Hawke said. "I'm like, 'Dude, can we maybe go just one episode with my face fully intact?'"

The scene being filmed involved Lee visiting a dentist to address a broken tooth after a fight. Betty Gilpin plays Ginger, an experienced public defender who accompanies Lee and may become a romantic interest.

Harjo responded to Hawke's complaint with a brief explanation of the production's approach to the character's injuries.

"Nope," Harjo said.

The show's recurring physical comedy operates alongside a traditional noir investigation, in which a protagonist pursuing a homicide uncovers a wider conspiracy at personal cost. In the first season, the investigation centered on Dale Washberg, a wealthy bibliophile, and the alleged dispossession of Native landowners.

Hawke said the series uses familiar crime-story conventions while reaching beyond the mechanics of a mystery.

"But any good piece of noir, of pulp, it bends the genre," Hawke said. "Something else is happening under the surface."

That wider perspective emerges through Harjo's portrayal of Tulsa as a meeting point for different communities and competing worldviews. The series features conservative oilmen, Christian nationalists, white hipsters and Native activists, giving characters from contrasting backgrounds room for complexity.

Actor Michael Hitchcock, who plays an antiques dealer, praised the specificity of Harjo's character writing.

"It sounds silly, but every time someone comes onscreen, you smell them," Hitchcock said. "You know, without being told, that Lee washes his pants once a month, just like you know my character wears fine cologne he bought at a cheap garage sale. That's Sterlin's genius.

He's writing real people. And real people can be brave, they can be pathetic. They can make you howl with laughter."

The Boston Globe previously highlighted the first season's depiction of a hard-pressed investigator who repeatedly makes enemies while pursuing stories. The series' Oklahoma setting distinguishes it from television dramas centered on major coastal cities, using local communities and their competing interests as essential parts of its crime narrative.