The FX comedy returns in an expansive mood.
My happy place, it turns out, isWes Studiexplaining string theory.
Season 2 of the FX sitcom has a lot of notes, and a lot of everyone.
Lane Factor, D’Pharaoh Woo-A-Tai, and Paulina Alexis on ‘Reservation Dogs’.Shane Brown/FX
Those Tarantino-youth-group affectations disappeared quick, revealing a multi-generational tale of loss and a cultural mood of impoverished/good-humored striving.
Co-creator Sterlin Harjo is in an expansive mood.
He directs the first two episodes, which arrive together Wednesday on FX on Hulu.
Or the Hulu formerly known as FX.
It’s on Hulu.)
Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) called down a curse on nemesis Jackie (Elva Guerra).
Elora (Devery Jacobs) is gone, on the road with Jackie to California.
Antics ensue, not all hysterical.
A hitchhiking attempt turns bloody.
Bear (D’Pharoah Woon-a-Tai) feels abandoned by Elora, and unsure of what to do now.
Reservation Dogswas co-created byTaika Waititi, beloved for oneThormovie until people saw his nextThormovie.
Low-key humanity dominates season 2.
There’s a whole extraordinary episode about Bear’s first day on a roofing gig.
He learns the ropes and gets hazed by the older guys.
He also has to face some lingering daddy issues.
(Doesn’t everybody?)
Individual scenes feel loose, even improvised.
The anxiety of first-ing can weigh heavily on a creative mind.
No surprise, maybe, that the teen leads struggle with their own anxieties around their ancestors' legacy.
Here, in short, is a show everyone should see and most will love.
I do have two minor concerns.
First, the ensemble actually might betoobig for a half-hour show with a 10-episode season.
(Happy to rescind this statement when and if they both get showcase episodes.)
Second,Dogshas a tendency to cycle back through the same couple of core pilot concepts.
(Mourning Daniel often seems to be Elora’s sole character trait).
Obviously, ambition and sorrow don’t fade away.
But both of those story strands lose power with repetition.
It never stops being funny that every single person knows Elora’s name come fromWillow.
It never stops being oddly touching how vigilant Cheese is about pronouns.
“Build things, boy,” someone advises Bear.
“Don’t tear them down.
“Reservation Dogsis building something big.Grade: A-
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