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

[jayembee]

I love how Cheese suddenly became the adult of the group. I wonder if Bucky ever found out why he and Maximus became estranged. It was interesting that Irene recognized that Cheese was following in Maximus's footsteps, and called the old crew to help.

The tag scene with the Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) was a nice chuckle. I saw from the end credits that Sterlin Harjo played the "father".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Aside from a few shorts, this week's episode was Devery Jacobs's directoral debut. It definitely felt less polished than many of the other episodes, but not in a bad way. And she got great performances out of Sarah Podemski as Bear's mom Rita and Janae Collins as Cookie's spirit.

Even though Elora was only in one scene, the whole episode kind of revolved around her. I thought Cookie was going to shed some light on Elora's father, but it looks like that will have to wait for the last few episodes of the series.

I liked how Rita's experience with Cookie gave her insight into her son, and she gets little glimpses of how he is seen by others in the community. He's had more experience with the spirit realm than most, and that's given him a strange sort of gravitas and wisdom.

And being able to relate to him in that way finally got her to ask him about Daniel.

 

[jayembee]

Even though Elora was only in one scene, the whole episode kind of revolved around her. I thought Cookie was going to shed some light on Elora's father, but it looks like that will have to wait for the last few episodes of the series.

The penultimate episode is titled "Elora's Dad".

I liked how Rita's experience with Cookie gave her insight into her son, and she gets little glimpses of how he is seen by others in the community. He's had more experience with the spirit realm than most, and that's given him a strange sort of gravitas and wisdom.

And being able to relate to him in that way finally got her to ask him about Daniel.

It was interesting to learn the limits of seeing spirits. I'm surprised that Cookie could not get Elora to see her, though. Elora obviously does have some ability in that area, given that she saw her grandmother's spirit, albeit briefly.

While I was also happy to see her ask him about Daniel, I was also rather disappointed that she didn't ask about William Knifeman. I've had the feeling that his seeing people who aren't there is not a very well-kept secret in the rez. In fact, when Cookie first appeared, and Rita went to Bear's room, I was thinking she was going to ask him about that.

I also liked the way Rita convinced Bev that Cookie was around. It was a nice callback to the Big/Bev gag reel in the end titles of a couple of episodes ago.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

While I was also happy to see her ask him about Daniel, I was also rather disappointed that she didn't ask about William Knifeman. I've had the feeling that his seeing people who aren't there is not a very well-kept secret in the rez.

I'm pretty sure we've also previously seen both Brownie and Fixico converse with spirits.

 

[jayembee]

Oh, sure. I was specifically referring to instances in which people have spotted Bear speaking to someone who wasn't there. I suspect that's something that's gotten around to others in the rez who might not be open to the idea of seeing spirits. Hell, I was surprised that Cookie didn't tell Rita that Bear had a spirit friend.

Willie Jack's auntie in prison also had regular visits from a spirit (who had ghostly assignations with William Knifeman ) and while Willie Jack didn't see her, she was certainly struck with the supernatural that her auntie conjured up.

 

[jayembee]

Another wonderful episode. Nice to see that

Spoiler

Maximus came to sit by Fixio's beside.

Kenny...excuse me..."Uncle" was a delight as always.

Good advice on listening to Elders. Back in my college years, I worked at a restaurant/ice cream shop, and we had a regular set of retired gentlemen who'd come in and visit with each other over a meal. When I had to study, I'd often go to the shop and sit with them and listen to their stories. Good times.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yeah, it was a fun take on a sort of Ocean's Eleven-style heist story, and it brought a lot of different threads together. It was interesting to see Maximus properly medicated.

Didn't expect the heist from the series premiere to come back up again like a bad penny in the mid-credits scene.

 

[jayembee]

Holy crap! They got Ethan Hawke to play Elora's father! I wasn't expecting that, but, yeah, it's just the kind of thing he'd want to do.

It's just amazing how this show can do right by so many different kinds of stories. I really had no idea how this was going to turn out, but I liked the way it did, and I suspect I would've liked how it did no matter where it went.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Holy crap! They got Ethan Hawke to play Elora's father! I wasn't expecting that, but, yeah, it's just the kind of thing he'd want to do.

Yeah, this show might not get the awards attention or buzz it deserves, but the fact that Ethan Hawke was willing to come in for an episode (acting in just about every scene) at whatever this show can afford to pay guest stars is its own sort of recognition.

It's just amazing how this show can do right by so many different kinds of stories. I really had no idea how this was going to turn out, but I liked the way it did, and I suspect I would've liked how it did no matter where it went.

Much like "Mabel" last season, this Elora-centric episode was written by Devery Jacobs. I was really blown away by the specificity of the dynamics in this episode. Much like Bill Burr's character in the first season, I believed that Elora's dad had spent much of his life rez-adjacent.

In some ways, it would have been easier if Rick had been a complete piece of shit. It's almost more painful to realize retroactively that the absent father you didn't think much about actually is somebody that you want in your life.

At the same time, even though Elora has the Rez Dogs and her community, Mabel was the last of her immediate family. Now she has a father and sisters and a brother, and in someway that's got to leave her feeling a little less disconnected and alone.

 

[jayembee]

In some ways, it would have been easier if Rick had been a complete piece of shit. It's almost more painful to realize retroactively that the absent father you didn't think much about actually is somebody that you want in your life.

That was why I didn't expect it to go the way it did. This kind of story, you figure that she's going to hold to not wanting him in her life, or he turns out to be so wonderful that she's completely taken with him and definitely wants him to be a part of her life.

But here he is, not being one or the other. He's a fuck-up who knows he's a fuck-up, and by the time he became not-a-fuck-up, he figures it's too late to mend fences. Especially after Mabel pushed him away. But Elora realizes that he's no better nor worse than every other fuck-up she's ever known. And she sees how he's not expecting anything from here, and she sees how he is with his kids, and thinks that maybe he's worth getting to know. Mending fences.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But Elora realizes that he's no better nor worse than every other fuck-up she's ever known. And she sees how he's not expecting anything from her

One of the things I really loved about the writing in this episode is the way that Rick would start to make excuses for himself and then pull back and take responsibility for his choices. You see who he was and who he is trying to be now at the same time.

And the way Ethan Hawke played him, it's clear that Rick desperately wanted to get to know Elora but knew he didn't have any right to expect anything from her.

 

[jayembee]

Outstanding finale. Elegiac, but never overpowering the humor. I liked that the funeral of Fixico was an allegory for the show itself: he (it) was here, and now (it) is gone. But we fondly remember them, and support further examples of this "community". And it's last scene, of the four surviving proto-RezDogs was perfect.

I was really happy to see William Knifeman again. I've missed him since Bear banished him in the desert. I have to admit, though, that I was hit hard with worry for Bear when WK told him that he came to "say goodbye".

Back in my first post in this thread:

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.

And I could be forgetting something, but I think this is the first time all three appear in the same episode (not to mention being in the same scene: Dana showing up to help the "matriarchs" in the kitchen).

Oh, one other thing, regarding Ethan Hawke playing Elora's dad in last week's episode. It turns out that Hawke and Sterlin Harjo are friends, and have been working on a proposed adaptation -- seems to be for TV, not a film -- of a(n excellent) graphic novel by Hawke and artist Greg Ruth, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. Which is interesting, in that the story originally started as a screenplay Hawke wanted to film, but it was at a time when Hollywood wasn't interested, so he took it in a different direction. According to an interview of Harjo I read, they are likely to get back working on it now that the WGA strike is over. Fingers crossed.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Outstanding finale. Elegiac, but never overpowering the humor.

It feels like this show is ending too soon, but that's always preferable to the shows that feel like they stuck around too long.

I liked that the funeral of Fixico was an allegory for the show itself: he (it) was here, and now (it) is gone.

It also brings the show full circle: It began with a death (Daniel) and ended with a death (Fixico).

But we fondly remember them, and support further examples of this "community".

I loved that the finale was a meditation on community, because that brought the show full circle, too: The original premise was them committing petty crimes to get the hell off of the reservation and to California. And the show ends with them grateful for the reservation and, in the case of Elora, wistful about leaving.

I loved the speech that Willie Jack's incarcerated aunt gave her about how Fixico lives on through the community. It's a spiritual answer, but it's equal factual for atheists: People change people, and we live on through the ripples we leave behind in others, for good or for ill.

And it's last scene, of the four surviving proto-RezDogs was perfect.

The show gave our Rez Dogs a complete coming of age story arc, and I love that the final challenge along that arc was healing their elder equivalents. It was too late to save Daniel, but it wasn't too late to save Maximus. And even Brownie, compared to the first season, has come a long way.

I was really happy to see William Knifeman again. I've missed him since Bear banished him in the desert. I have to admit, though, that I was hit hard with worry for Bear when WK told him that he came to "say goodbye".

I knew we would see him again, because Bear's journey wouldn't have been complete otherwise. The show couldn't end without addressing the fact that Bear had forsaken the ancestors in the spirit realm at the beginning of the season.

Maybe I misread it, but I'm pretty sure William Knifeman encountered one of the Bigfoots when he ventured into the woods after saying goodbye to Bear.

And I could be forgetting something, but I think this is the first time all three appear in the same episode (not to mention being in the same scene: Dana showing up to help the "matriarchs" in the kitchen).

I think you're right. AFAIK, Willie Jack's mom hadn't appeared since the first season, and Teenie wasn't introduced until Mabel died in Season 2.

Oh, one other thing, regarding Ethan Hawke playing Elora's dad in last week's episode. It turns out that Hawke and Sterlin Harjo are friends, and have been working on a proposed adaptation -- seems to be for TV, not a film -- of a(n excellent) graphic novel by Hawke and artist Greg Ruth, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars. Which is interesting, in that the story originally started as a screenplay Hawke wanted to film, but it was at a time when Hollywood wasn't interested, so he took it in a different direction. According to an interview of Harjo I read, they are likely to get back working on it now that the WGA strike is over. Fingers crossed.

Interesting!

I also wouldn't mind a spinoff built around Elora's college experience, with Hawke reprising the role on a recurring basis as Elora gets to know her father and half-siblings.

 

[jayembee]

Maybe I misread it, but I'm pretty sure William Knifeman encountered one of the Bigfoots when he ventured into the woods after saying goodbye to Bear.

Yeah, I was wondering about that, and it wasn't until I was soaking in the episode after it finished that I realized that must've been what he ran into.

I also meant to say in my previous post that it wasn't until virtually the end of the episode that I noticed that Jackie wasn't bleaching her hair anymore. I wonder if it was a sign that she was no longer rebelling against the "norms" any longer. These last few episodes, she's been bonded more strongly with the Rez Dogs.

But the reason why I was so surprised by her going back to black hair is that in the last couple of months, I was watching Elva Guerra on both Reservation Dogs, with bleached hair, and Dark Winds with black hair, and the difference was striking.

I also wouldn't mind a spinoff built around Elora's college experience, with Hawke reprising the role on a recurring basis as Elora gets to know her father and half-siblings.

I'm not so sure. Part of me thinks that they told the story they wanted to tell, and it's time to move on. Another part of me thinks I'm going to miss these shitasses something fierce, and want to see more of them. Maybe doing a film a few years down the road, and seeing the Dogs as grown-ups.

But in the end, I feel like I did when The Wire (my choice for Best TV Show Ever) was coming to a close, and I realized that David Simon and his writers and directors, and the wonderful cast he assembled for that show were just moving on to other stories that would wow me like The Wire did. And I would love those shows and movies , too (and I did).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm not so sure. Part of me thinks that they told the story they wanted to tell, and it's time to move on. Another part of me thinks I'm going to miss these shitasses something fierce, and want to see more of them. Maybe doing a film a few years down the road, and seeing the Dogs as grown-ups.

They announced more stories would be coming in this universe when they announced the show was ending. In an interview with Variety, creator/showrunner Sterlin Harjo put it this way:

"As soon as we announced the ending, I was like, ‘I think I know of a great feature film that I could do, a Rez Dogs return.’ So, I’m already plotting. It’s just that this story needed to end. This story was about loss and grief and coming of age. And this was the arc that we wanted to tell. It doesn’t mean we can’t pick it back up. But there is not a continuation right now. It could easily come back, but it’ll be something else. And it will be later."​

It sounds like the leading contender at this point is a spinoff centered around the Deer Lady, which I would watch the hell out of. The nature of her mystical calling would make for a far more episodic storytelling model, more akin to "Supernatural" where she's in a new place with an innocent to help or a bad guy to kill.