Suburban Dad Pop

Damn, I’m gonna miss this show.

In the last few years, American television viewers have been spoiled – and spoiled rotten at that. We have been gifted with a third wave of prestige television and it has become challenging to consume or even keep track of the great streaming content out there. Succession reminded viewers that America has different standards for it ruling class. The Bear gave viewers a first-row seat to how generational trauma can affect families. Better Call Saul offered viewers a glimpse into a world they had no idea existed. Barry showed the viewer what a television network can do when they give creators and showrunners carte blanche.

And now there’s Reservation Dogs that has treated audiences to a combination of these themes in a manner that leaves viewers belly laughing one moment and sobbing the next.

The show focuses on a community of (mostly) indigenous citizens living on a reservation in rural Oklahoma. Over the course of its three-season run, it transformed from a show about four teenagers (the self-proclaimed Reservation Dogs) processing shared grief after the loss of friend and fellow Dog Daniel, into a show focusing on how members of a multi-generational community love, protect and care for each other.

The surviving, and grieving, Dogs are:

Elora (Devory Jacobs) – The Dog with the toughest childhood. Elora’s mother, Cookie, passed away when Elora was a toddler and her death has a long-term effect on the entire community. This passing, along with being abandoned by her father, makes Elora emotionally unavailable and tougher and worldlier than her fellow Dogs.

Bear (D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai) – The most immature member of the Dogs. Bear struggles with his place in the community and is mostly shielded from the consequences of his actions by his mother.

Cheese (Lane Factor) – The youngest Dog who is fond of using pronouns and has an affinity for pop culture. Cheese lives with his uncle until the uncle is arrested. In one of the show’s more poignant episodes, Cheese has to temporarily live in a foster care home.

Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) – An apprentice to a medicine man, Willie Jack is more intuitive than her peers, and takes the death of her cousin Daniel the hardest. Willie Jack seems to have a knack for taking grief and turning it into help for others, such as when she visits her aunt Hokti (Daniel’s mother) in prison, after Daniel’s death, to help ease her pain and grief.

And pain and grief seem to be emotions this community is well versed in. With the death of loved ones, the lack of opportunity to achieve upward mobility and revisiting generational trauma caused by Indigenous Boarding Schools, pain and grief are around every corner of the village. Which is not to say Reservation Dogs is a show focused on grief. Because it’s so much more profound than that.

The creators and showrunners Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, What We Do In The Shadows) highlight the strength, compassion, intelligence and resilience of the community, a modern day indigenous Mayberry.

Damn, I’m gonna miss this show.

As a middle aged, white suburban Midwesterner, I can’t judge whether this was the right decision, but I can say that doing so surely seemed to fit in with the narrative that was being told. It was refreshing to see antiquated Hollywood stereotypes have no place in this show. There are no drunks, no war paint (except for the white members of the village), and no outdated major league sports mascots.

From internet research, Harjo and Waititi do their best to honor indigenous lore, traditions and supernatural inclinations with accuracy and respect. Perhaps this is best executed in the Reservation Dogs universe when spirits are given screen time to bond with younger members of the community to help them find their way.

Ayo, young warrior! (If you know, you know).

Damn, I’m gonna miss this show.

If it seems like I am being purposefully vague, maybe I am, which is somewhat my intent. I respect Reservation Dogs so much that I don’t want to give away any spoilers because the show is just that good, and the viewer must experience it personally to appreciate its greatness. As I often discuss with my with my podcast partner Brian (Midnight Film Review) the hallmark of a good television show is that you feel like you are watching a stand-alone movie in each episode, and Reservation Dogs has this hallmark more than the Hallmark Channel has Christmas movies.

Some of the more memorable episodes this season dealt with a child and parent reuniting, a Dazed and Confused inspired flashback to the 1970s, and an origin story revolving around a supernatural indigenous vigilante legend. Each episode, when broken down, is touching in its own unique way while remaining integral to character growth and the overall story arc.

This success must be attributed to Harjo and Waititi’s willingness to take chances and find the beauty, humor, and pain in every experience. It is completely possible that I am a prisoner of the moment, but I cannot remember a show that has made me feel like a member of a community I have never been to, while creating nostalgia for my teenage years, and furthered the appreciation for my own family.

Damn, I’m gonna miss this show.

                                                      

FISH HEADS AND BIGFOOTS

• Such sweet irony that the Dogs actually pulled off a semi-competent heist when they rescued Maximus. Made all the more entertaining when they find out he could have signed himself out all along.
• I LOVE THE BIGFOOT FAMILY!
• Although Willie Jack only went to the women’s prison twice, her scenes with Aunt Hokti were epic. Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) is getting ready to take Hollywood by storm.
• If you watch just one episode of this series make it Offerings (S2E9) as it is truly one of the most powerful 30 minutes of television you will ever see.
• Dallas Goldtooth’s turn as William Knifeman, guiding spirit, was a true highlight of the series and I hope he gets more work moving forward. AYO!
• Speaking of getting more work, Zahn McClarnon (Fargo, Westworld) absolutely killed it as health conscious and eccentric police officer Big and is having a moment with his success in Dark Winds. Additionally, his ‘Lady and the Tramp’ outtake with Jana Schmieding at the end of S3E4 is one of the funniest outtakes I have ever seen.
• Devory Jacobs is credited as one of the writers for Elora’s Dad (S3E9), the penultimate episode of the series. Actually, maybe start with this episode if you don’t mind spoilers.
• Cameos, cameos, cameos! Bill Burr, Ethan Hawke, Megan Mullally, Lily Gladstone, Marc Maron. ALL of their appearances seem natural and Bill Burr, who is terrifically underrated, put in the best performance of his career.

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