‘The Lowdown’ season 2 trailer reveals a shocking Tulsa plot
FX has released “The Lowdown” season 2 trailer, and it shows Ethan Hawke‘s Lee Raybon drawn into a dangerous case that reaches the highest levels of power in Tulsa, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The series returns Oct. 14 on FX and Hulu.
The conspiracy at the heart of “The Lowdown” season 2
Lee finds himself caught between two confirmed murders and a corrupt sheriff’s department in a new investigation that, as he tells longtime ally Marty (Keith David), “goes all the way to the top.”
He’s pulled into the case by Ginger (Betty Gilpin), a public defender navigating a mystery tied to one of her clients. Complicating Lee’s situation further is the unexpected return of his estranged father, Lee Sr. (Tommy Lee Jones), who arrives wearing a red baseball cap that references Psalm 107:29: “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still.”
Closer to home, Rafael Casal plays Johnny, a jujitsu-trained dentist who is the new husband of Lee’s ex, Samantha, and stepfather to Lee’s teenage daughter, Francis, according to TheWrap. He gets folded into the investigation, too.
Where “The Lowdown” season 2 picks up
Season 2 opens with Lee enjoying a rare win: He has received a local citizen journalism award for his reporting on Dale Washberg’s death, according to TheWrap. Ginger’s case brings him back to work. She wants his amateur help tracking down a client who has gone missing from the state penitentiary.
TheWrap describes Lee Sr. as a grifter, which helps explain why his reappearance rattles his son. Keith David’s Marty, the managing editor of The Heartland Press, is back as Lee’s sounding board.
The real Tulsa story behind the show
Harjo loosely modeled Lee Raybon, a self-described “truthstorian,” on his late friend Lee Roy Chapman, a Tulsa citizen journalist who died in 2015 at age 46, TV Insider reported. The two worked together at This Land Press and made a documentary series about the city’s hidden history.
“He was a really big inspiration on my work and who I am and how to think of where you live,” Harjo told TV Insider. After Chapman died, Harjo said, “I just always had this idea of taking that spirit and having that be the seed of the noir in Tulsa.”
Season 1 premiered Sept. 23, 2025, with two episodes and ran eight episodes in all through Nov. 4. The American Film Institute named it one of the top 10 TV programs of 2025, and FX renewed the series in January 2026.
Critics embraced the first season. It holds a 98 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and Hawke earned a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for best lead performance in a new scripted series for playing Lee. That track record raises expectations for “The Lowdown” season 2, which has a bigger-name cast with Jones and Gilpin joining Hawke.
“The Lowdown” season 2 cast and premiere details
The eight-episode season premieres Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. EDT on FX and streams on Hulu, with new episodes each Wednesday after that.
Jones, who won an Oscar for “The Fugitive,” and Gilpin, an Emmy nominee for Netflix’s “GLOW,” are the season’s biggest additions.
Returning cast members include Kaniehtiio Horn, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Killer Mike, Michael Hitchcock, Macon Blair, Siena East, Cody Lightning and Jude Barnett. Martha Plimpton guest stars, and Kyle MacLachlan makes a brief appearance.
Creator Sterlin Harjo (“Reservation Dogs”) continues as showrunner, with executive producers including Garrett Basch, Ethan Hawke, Ryan Hawke, Duffy Boudreau and Scott Teems.
Harjo’s “Reservation Dogs” connections
FX advises viewers to keep an eye out for “a number of familiar faces” from the “Reservation Dogs” universe. Paulina Alexis (Willie Jack) made a brief appearance in the first season of “The Lowdown.”
Reporting from The Hollywood Reporter contributed to this story.