Ethan Hawke returned to television in 2025 with a crime series that quietly became one of the year’s best-reviewed shows. The Lowdown Season 1 ran for eight episodes on FX, from September 23 to November 4, 2025, and followed a stubborn bookstore owner in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who could not let a suspicious death go unanswered. The show earned a 98% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a spot on the AFI Awards’ list of the 10 best series of 2025. FX renewed it for a second season in January 2026, and Season 2 is set to premiere on October 14, 2026.
This recap covers every major turn of Season 1 without leaving out the details that matter.
Who Is Lee Raybon?
Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) runs a rare bookstore in Tulsa and calls himself a “truthstorian.” He is not a trained reporter, but he is obsessed with exposing corruption in his city. His ex-wife, Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn), has grown tired of his endless digging. His 14-year-old daughter, Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), has inherited his curiosity and often wants to join his investigations. Lee’s bookstore is more than a business. It works as an unofficial community hub, and it is where much of his research happens.
Hawke’s performance carried the show. Rolling Stone wrote that “there is no television character this year that seems like a better hang than Ethan Hawke’s Lee Raybon”.
The Death That Starts Everything
The season opens with the publication of Lee’s exposé on the Washberg family, one of Tulsa’s most powerful and old-money clans. One of its members, Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan), is running for governor. Shortly after Lee’s article goes public, Donald’s brother Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson) is found dead in his library. Authorities rule it a suicide.
Lee does not buy it. Dale was the black sheep of the family and was only briefly mentioned in Lee’s article. His death clears the path for the rest of the Washbergs to conduct business without interference. While browsing books at Dale’s estate sale, Lee finds a trail of clues that Dale left behind. The breadcrumbs convince him that Dale was m*rdered and that the Tulsa Bootboys, a skinhead group, are connected to the Washbergs’ corrupt dealings.
The Clues Hidden in Jim Thompson Novels
The investigation leads Lee to a collection of Jim Thompson paperback novels that belonged to Dale. Inside the books, Dale left handwritten notes meant for someone to find. Lee and Francis try to decipher them, but the notes are not easy to read.
Dale had also left a quote that becomes the key to the whole case. In a flashback, Dale tells Lee: “There is only one plot — things are not as they seem”. That line pushes Lee to question everything he has been told about Dale’s death.
The books end up in the hands of a rival collector named Catalina Estragon, and Lee, Francis, and a friend named Ray have to split up to get them back.
Betty Jo and the Real Story Behind Dales Death
Betty Jo Washberg (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is Dale’s widow. Early in the season, Lee notices that she seems more interested in her brother-in-law Donald than in her late husband.
The finale, titled “The Sensitive Kind,” reveals the truth. Betty Jo was not an innocent victim. She had learned from Dale that he planned to give half of the Washberg Indian Head Hill lands back to the Osage family they were stolen from. That plan threatened Donald’s land deal. Betty Jo teamed up with a man named Frank to scare Dale. She unlocked the door to let two men into the house. They were only supposed to frighten him, but they accidentally killed him. Betty Jo then staged the scene to look like a suicide. She said she did everything to keep herself and her daughter Pearl safe.
Martys Real Identity
Marty (Keith David) appears throughout the season as a refined stranger who shares Lee’s love of literature. He seems unusually interested in the Washberg investigation. In the finale, Marty reveals that he is an undercover federal agent. He steps in when Lee bursts into the One Well church with a gun, and the two barely escape. Marty gets shot in the leg during the escape.
The Finale and Donalds Choice
Marty brings Donald to meet Lee. Donald had no idea his brother was m*rdered. He believed the suicide ruling. Lee shows Donald the truth about Dale’s will and the land deal.
Donald makes a choice that changes everything. He cuts ties with his campaign’s extremist backers and returns the Washberg family’s stolen land to the Osage people.
Frank Walks Free and the Cost of the Truth
Not every ending is a clean win. Frank walks into the police station with a lawyer who claims he killed a man named Arthur in self-defense. The district attorney declines to charge him, and Frank is released.
Arthur was an Osage man whose family land had been taken. His grandson, an artist named Chutto, confronts Lee about the death. Chutto breaks the bookstore window and refuses Lee’s help in getting the land back. The scene shows that even when Lee solves the mystery, the damage done to innocent families cannot be undone.
Lees Final Article and His Family
Lee does not publish a scathing exposé about the Washbergs. Instead, he writes a tribute to Dale Washberg.
The season ends with Lee attending Samantha’s wedding to Johnny (Rafael Casal). He wishes them well and then sets a boundary with Francis. He tells her the hard truth that his work puts her in danger. The father and daughter end the season at odds, a painful moment after everything they went through together.
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The Cast of Season 1
The main cast of The Lowdown Season 1 included:
- Ethan Hawke as Lee Raybon
- Keith David as Marty
- Kaniehtiio Horn as Samantha
- Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Francis
- Jeanne Tripplehorn as Betty Jo Washberg
- Kyle MacLachlan as Donald Washberg
- Tim Blake Nelson as Dale Washberg
Guest stars included Peter Dinklage, Tracy Letts, Michael “Killer Mike” Render, and Graham Greene, who appeared in a guest role before his death in September 2025.
Where to Watch The Lowdown Season 1
All eight episodes of The Lowdown Season 1 are available to stream. In the United States, the show streams on Hulu and is available through FX on demand. For viewers in the UK, Canada, Australia, India, and other international markets, the series is available on Disney+.
Season 2 will premiere with a two-episode launch on October 14, 2026, on FX and Hulu. New episodes will follow weekly on Wednesdays through November 25. Tommy Lee Jones and Betty Gilpin are joining the cast for the new season.
Also Read: Tommy Lee Jones Joins ‘The Lowdown’ Season 2 in His First Scripted TV Role in Decades
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