The Lowdown returns with two episodes that blend offbeat comedy, suspense, and emotional drama. Ethan Hawke remains terrific as the chaotic Lee Raybon, while Tommy Lee Jones makes a memorable entrance as his estranged father. Betty Gilpin also stands out as Ginger Lafferty, a sharp public defender whose complicated circumstances add greater weight to the investigation.
Episode 1: “Rupidoop”
Season 2 opens with Lee facing an unexpected problem: success. After solving the Washberg mystery, Tulsa’s self-proclaimed “truthstorian” and bookstore owner is named Citizen Journalist of the Year. Instead of enjoying the recognition, he gets high on mushrooms, takes the stage with his incompetent security guards, breaks his trophy in half, and delivers a chaotic speech accusing himself and everyone around him of being sellouts.
The scene perfectly captures Lee’s self-destructive nature. He wants to uncover the truth, but his inability to accept success repeatedly undoes him.
At a bar, Lee meets Ginger Lafferty, who two intimidating men are following. She reveals that her client, Mekko Dean, has disappeared from prison. Her feelings for Mekko complicate the case further and could jeopardize her career.
Gilpin gives Ginger intelligence, confidence, and vulnerability, while her chemistry with Hawke suggests that their partnership will become increasingly engaging as the investigation unfolds.
Lee’s next complication arrives when police bring in a dazed elderly man found wandering along the highway: his estranged father, Lee Raybon Sr., better known as Frog. After nearly 17 years away, Frog claims he's back to settle some scores. Their reunion feels less like a reconciliation and more like the start of another crisis.
Episode 2: “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound”
Lee quickly sees through Frog’s apparent memory problems and refuses to become his caretaker, even threatening to put him in a home. Frog, however, refuses to leave and introduces himself to Lee’s daughter, Francis, who has grown up believing that her grandfather was dead.
The tension between Hawke and Jones gives their scenes real force. Their exchanges reveal years of resentment and unresolved history, while Frog’s presence threatens to expose parts of Lee’s past that he would rather keep buried.
Meanwhile, Ginger investigates Mekko’s disappearance with help from Pookie, a career criminal with an unusual foot fetish. Lee pursues another lead, using a bizarre gas station calendar featuring prison guards to identify McMann, a brutal, high-ranking officer.
Lee tracks down Chili, a fired guard who claims he just wants a beer, but instead drives him to McMann’s house to regain his former boss’s favor. McMann pulls a gun and chases Lee through the woods, where motion-activated floodlights repeatedly expose his hiding places. The sequence is funny, but it also reveals how badly Lee has misjudged the danger.
As Lee dodges gunfire, McMann demands to know where Mekko is, suggesting that even the corrupt guards may not know what happened to the missing prisoner. McMann then executes Chili, confirming the deadly threat surrounding the investigation and leaving Lee with a darker understanding of his opponents.
By the episode’s end, Lee is caught between dangerous prison guards, a missing inmate, and a father whose return has destabilized his already chaotic life.
Final Thoughts
These episodes make for a strong return. The Mekko Dean investigation provides an engaging mystery, but the show’s greatest strength remains its characters and their damaged relationships. Lee’s self-destructive streak, Ginger’s personal connection to the case, and Frog’s arrival give the season several compelling directions to explore.
Hawke keeps Lee frustrating, funny, and hard to root for. Gilpin brings intelligence and bite to Ginger, while Jones is perfectly cast as a father whose presence reopens old wounds. Lee and Frog’s troubled history gives the story emotional depth without slowing its momentum.
After two episodes, The Lowdown remains funny, unpredictable, and driven by fascinatingly flawed characters. Its absorbing mystery, strong performances, and darkly comic storytelling make it easy to recommend, while Tommy Lee Jones’s arrival adds an especially promising new source of conflict. Overall, I give the first two episodes a 9/10.
What did you think of the first two episodes of The Lowdown? Leave a comment.
Catch The Lowdown Wednesdays at 9/8c on FX, and stream it on Hulu.
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