The Lowdown
What’s it rated? TV-MA
When? 2025
Where’s it showing? Hulu
Created by Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), this comedy crime drama set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, follows bookstore owner and investigative journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), who calls himself a “truthstorian” and works to root out local corruption. Raybon has a code of honor but operates at the edge of lawlessness. He’s more of a “beg for forgiveness” than “ask for permission” guy, and Hawke brings all his hangdog charm to the character.
Raybon’s current case involves the Washberg clan, about whom he’s published an exposé. The investigation deepens when the family’s black sheep, Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson), ends up dead from an apparent suicide, leaving behind a trail of clues in his collection of hardboiled crime fiction novels by Jim Thompson. The Washberg patriarch is the corrupt but connected Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan), married to Betty Jo (Jeanne Tripplehorn).
There’s a helluva cast that includes Keith David, Tracy Letts, Dale Dickey, Peter Dinklage, and Graham Greene in one of his final roles. The real star, of course, is Hawke, and watching his character afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted is a blast, even if he’s mostly black and blue from getting his ass kicked. (eight 40- to 59-min. episodes)
—Glen Starkey
This article appears in January 8 – January 15, 2026.