Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Reservation Dogs’ Season 2 On FX On Hulu, Where Relationships Change But Life On The Rez Continues

During the first season of Reservation Dogs, creators Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo managed to set up a world that was authentic to the experience of Indigenous people in the U.S. It helped that many of the people in front of and behind the cameras were of Indigenous descent. But more than that, they started to build a sense of community that has characterized some of the best shows of the last 20 or so years. Season 2 continues that, picking right up where Season 1 left off.

RESERVATION DOGS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “What’s up, shitass?” Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) talks to a photo of her late brother Danny about all the messed up stuff going on in town.

The Gist: Since the tornado came through the reservation in Oklahoma — which was mostly stopped by the spiritual gyrations of Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer) — the Reservation Dogs have had their issues. Instead of all going to California together like they had planned to do after Danny died, Elora (Devery Jacobs) drove off with rival gang leader Jackie (Elva Guerra), leaving Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) behind.

Bear is still talking to his spirit, William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth), but the spirit doesn’t have as much time for Bear since he picked up Brownie as a new client. Willie Jack is trying to get the curse she put on Jackie — via a white dude who claimed he was a wizard — ended, because it’s come back to bite her and the town in the ass. And Cheese (Lane Factor) is content rearranging Brownie’s VHS collection in return for some Sonic and the opportunity to watch the director’s cut of Big Trouble In Little China. They have nowhere to hang out, anyway, since the abandoned building that they used as their hideout is being torn down.

Elora and Jackie don’t get particularly far before the car Elora stole from her grandmother breaks down. They hitch a ride with a weird man, who talks about various nonsensical things as he drives them on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The girls attack him and get out of the car, but they realize all of their stuff — including their money — is in that car.

With Brownie otherwise occupied, Willie Jack and Bear turn to another elder named Bucky (Wes Studi) to help them break the curse when he volunteers. He claims they don’t need Jackie’s hair, just something personal. At a certain point, Bear leaves Willie Jack to try to figure this out on her own, calling the curse “kid shit.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Going into its second season, Reservation Dogs is starting to feel like a show that builds a small town world with quirky characters. Oddly, it reminds us a lot of shows that are less related to EP Taika Waititi’s other shows but ones that are more in the Paul Feig/Michael Schur family: Welcome to Flatch, Parks and Rec, and, of course, Rutherford Falls.

Our Take: While it seems that the move by Waititi and showrunner Sterlin Harjo to break up the Dogs at the end of Season 1 might be a mistake, it actually was a wise move. Why? Because it sets up a season where the community on the reservation comes to the fore, while still showing us how the group is still reeling from Danny’s death.

Yes, the first season started digging into the various quirky aspects of the community, especially with tribal cop Big (Zahn McClarnon) and his interest in conspiracy theories. But it just feels like this season, without a central point for Bear, Cheese and Willie Jack to gather and without that driving motivation to leave the rez and go to California, it opens up the storytelling possibilities.

We’d imagine that Jackie and Elora are going to return to the rez at some point, but we’re also enjoying their adventurous road trip, which pretty much goes sideways immediately. It feels like along the way, the two of them are going to encounter some interesting characters, played by guest stars like Megan Mullally, who shows up in the second episode as a freshly-divorced woman who takes in the wandering teens for a night.

There are pretty funny moments, of course, like when Brownie and Bucky try to break the Jackie curse together, fumbling along because they really don’t know what they’re doing. They both try to find an “old song” to sing in order to complete their “ceremony”, and the song they picked made us laugh out loud. But there’s just as many moments that are poignant and dramatic, and we’re on board for all of it.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After Jackie and Elora try to steal a car, a group of rednecks start chasing them in a pickup truck, shooting off a shotgun in the sky to scare them.

Sleeper Star: We get that McClarnon was likely busy with Dark Winds, but we definitely hope to see more of him as the not-so-dedicated tribal cop Big. We are also always on board to see Mose and Mekko (brothers Lil’ Mike and Funny Bone) are up to.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I used to think about him in diapers, but now he’s in roller skates and jean shorts,” says the strange man who picked up Elora and Jackie, not even coming close to how teenagers dress in this century.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Reservation Dogs improves on its excellent first season by deepening the community on the rez, making it less about the Dogs and more about traditions, people who think they know the traditions but don’t, and just how funny and rich life there can be, even if people have to be creative to get by.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.