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6th January 2026
06:10pm GMT

Disney+ has added The Lowdown, the new crime comedy thriller series starring Oscar-nominee Ethan Hawke (The Black Phone, Training Day).
Created by Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), the show follows Lee Raybon (Hawke), a charming and eccentric bookstore owner and citizen journalist in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Referring to himself as a "truthstorian", Lee's goal with his writing is to expose the corrupt and right historical wrongs within his city.
His devotion to the work, however, has left him semi-estranged from his daughter (Ryan Keira Armstrong, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew) and low on cash.
When the publication of his latest exposé, a deep dive into the powerful Washberg family, is immediately followed by the suspicious death of the black sheep of the clan, Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson, Nightmare Alley), Lee knows he has stumbled into something big.
Following a trail of breadcrumbs left behind by Dale, he continues his investigation into the Washbergs, turning his attention to Dale's brother Donald (recent JOE interviewee Kyle MacLachlan, Fallout), who is running for governor.
As he does so, the truthstorian discovers that other powerful forces are dead set on preventing him from learning any more.
The Lowdown has a large ensemble cast. This also includes Dale Dickey (Horizon), Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Firm), Johnny Pemberton (Fallout), Keith David (They Live), Michael 'Killer Mike' Render (Trigger Warning), Macon Blair (Blue Ruin), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Tracy Letts (A House of Dynamite).
JOE has seen three episodes of the series, and we'd heartily recommend the show.
Hawke is hilarious as Lee, making him a flawed character that the audience can root for.
While his journalistic mission is highly noble, his methods of carrying it out aren't always the cleverest, and his self-righteousness can often border on narcissism.
Harjo, meanwhile, is an Oklahoma native, which viewers could probably already detect through The Lowdown's beautifully lived-in vibe.
The use of real locations within the State, as well as the show's diverse and vast array of characters and the authentic way they interact, does a lot to make the series always feel believable.
This is as it often ambitiously switches scene-by-scene from a broad comedy to a dark pulpy thriller to an emotional drama, while even including touches of David Lynch-esque surreality.
Holding a very high 98% Rotten Tomatoes score, you can read a sample of some other reviews for The Lowdown below:
The Daily Beast: "Fast, funny, clever, and imbued with an old-school paperback crime fiction spirit, it’s an exceptional work of pulp poetry, and the year’s best new show."
The Guardian: "The Lowdown is frequently very funny; working as both a genre piece and as a character study. And yet, as with Harjo’s previous show Reservation Dogs, there’s something profoundly serious going on here too."
IndieWire: "Brimming with daydreamy peculiarities yet grounded in the details of the daily grind, The Lowdown is a crowd-pleaser and weirdo’s delight all at once."
Rolling Stone: "It’s an enormously appealing show, full of big humour, vivid characters, and an engaging mystery, and it has a complete command of its voice from minute one."
The Times (UK): "This is a scrappy detective drama, a local-corruption neo-noir, a slice of Oklahoma life, a shaggy dog story, the kind of TV show that can feel almost like mood music."
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All eight episodes of The Lowdown are streaming now on Disney+.
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