Forget Tulsa King, Ethan Hawke’s Crime Drama Is Back & Better Than Ever

Published Oct 29, 2026, 1:03 AM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

Although Taylor Sheridan’s crime comedy Tulsa King will return to the screen soon, fans of thriller shows set in the city now have another, even better option. While Marshals is busy protecting the reputation of Yellowstone’s John Dutton from criticism years after his death, the original show’s other sequel Dutton Ranch is busy proving that Beth is a lot more like Kevin Costner’s Neo-Western antihero than viewers might have assumed.

Writer/director Taylor Sheridan’s sprawling Yellowstone franchise shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon, with Marshals renewed for a third season at CBS, Dutton Ranch renewed for a sophomore outing, and even the long-delayed prequel 1944 apparently back in development. However, the many Yellowstone shows have never been the extent of Sheridan’s entire TV empire. Debuting back in 2022, the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Tulsa King was instrumental in expanding the writer/director’s brand on streaming.

Tulsa King follows Stallone’s New York gangster Dwight "The General" Manfredi, a mob veteran who is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma. While the mafia’s plan was to send Manfredi out to retire under the auspices of setting up a criminal empire in Tulsa, Stallone’s unstoppable antihero managed to do just this and soon turns Tulsa into a criminal force to be reckoned with across Tulsa King’s four seasons. However, thanks to Ethan Hawke’s The Lowdown, Sheridan’s show isn’t the only Tulsa-based crime drama that is returning to screens.

The Lowdown Is One Of The Best Crime Dramas On TV

A comedic Neo-noir, The Lowdown comes from Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo. Set in Tulsa, the show focuses on Hawke’s self-proclaimed “truthstorian” Lee Raybon, a conspiracy therapist who stumbles into some real conspiracies involving some very powerful local criminals. With an astounding cast including Betty Gilpin, Keith David, Tommy Lee Jones, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Macon Blair, Tim Blake Nelson, and Peter Dinklage, The Lowdown is a sharp, cynical noir thriller with enough gleeful dark humor and unpredictable twists to make the FX show a major critical hit.

With an astounding Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of 99%, The Lowdown is one of the best crime thrillers on TV and streaming right now. While Tulsa King has fared better with critics than Sheridan’s other crime drama Mayor of Kingstown, the show’s critical performance still can’t measure up to the success of The Lowdown. Meanwhile, The Lowdown's story of Raybon’s increasingly dangerous investigation of some suspicious local deaths is only getting better as the show continues.

Without spoiling anything major, suffice to say that The Lowdown season 2 takes the show’s story in some surprising new directions, and its story is even better than the first season thanks to some choice cast additions. Fear the Walking Dead’s Austin Amelio, Parks and Recreation’s Paul Schneider, Dead Man’s Gary Farmer, and Superbad’s iconic Christopher Mintz-Plasse all join the cast of The Lowdown for season 2, making the immersive crime mystery even more star-studded than before.

The Lowdown Season 2 Is Shaping Up To Be Better Than Its Debut Season

Gilpin’s role as a public defender gives her plenty of opportunity to play off Hawke’s The Lowdown antihero, while many critics singled out Jones as a scene stealer in his role as Lee’s estranged father. With a messy, sprawling story, season 2 could feel like a letdown after season 1 managed the tricky task of blending taut mystery with playful comedy.

Luckily, like the Thomas Pynchon adaptation Inherent Vice or the ‘70s noir comedies that inspired it, such as Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye, The Lowdown season 2 pulls off a blend of elegiac atmosphere, offbeat comedy, and high-stakes thrills that coheres despite its potential messiness. The plot isn’t as urgent as it was before, but this just gives The Lowdown more screen time with its characters, who have always been more believable and human than the cartoonier cast of Tulsa King.