If you’re not getting life advice from a dead spirit warrior in assless chaps, are you really living? That’s not a weird sentence if you’ve watched the previous two seasons of Reservation Dogs, which is proudly earthy, heartfelt, and weird. For their third (and final) season, series creator Sterlin Harjo and the writing staff get even more experimental while continuing to build up the depth of a quirky and extremely talented ensemble of characters. Aside from a season premiere that’s a little too scattered in the wake of such a successful second season finale, season 3 of Reservation Dogs remains the rare comedy that captures the mundanity of life yet is revelatory with how it portrays the day-to-day in Indigenous communities.
The second season finale episode, “I Still Believe,” was the culmination of a two season arc regarding the suicide of Rez Dog member Daniel (Dalton Cramer). After discovering his written intention to see the ocean in California with his friends, Elora (Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) finally honor that unfulfilled dream. The third-season premiere, “BUSSIN,” opens with the delightfully daft William “Spirit” Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth) enthusiastically narrating what happened next for the knuckleheads who were carjacked and left penniless in LA. It’s a scattered episode that spins its creative wheels a bit, repeating jokes and beats from “I Still Believe” instead of forging forward to get the kids back on the road to Oklahoma.
The one thing it does well is set up Bear for an independent adventure that will give him the metaphorical kick in the pants his other friends have already experienced in prior seasons. As the Rez Dog most unsettled about his path forward in life, and increasingly annoyed by the lack of guidance from the frequent visits of his cryptic “Spirit,” Bear gets the opportunity to explore his independence with fellow Indigenous outcasts who will open up his worldview.
In “Maximus,” he connects with a paranoid Indigenous man (Graham Greene) living off the grid in a moving, one-off, pit stop that is both chaotic and moving. Then in “Deer Lady,” written by Sterlin Harjo and directed by Danis Goule, the series achieves a new creative high as Bear gets his own encounter with the hoofed entity (Kaniehtiio Horn) that has protected Officer Big (Zahn McClarnon) on multiple occasions. It expands the lore of the Deer Lady by providing her with a haunting origin story that’s rooted in the disgraceful chapter of U.S. history where religious institutions were tasked with assimilating Indigenous children into white culture at government subsidized boarding schools. Harrowing yet empowering, the episode is the best example of what comes from Indigenous people getting to tell their own stories in their own way.
In season 3, Harjo and the writers get to reap the rewards of all the work they did to make the fictional, rural town of Okern, Oklahoma — and all of the people who live there — feel real and vital. Now every visit to the Indian Health Service clinic, encounter with rappers Mose and Mekko, or time spent with Officer Big feels like it might as well be a visit to Cheers for all the warm feelings of familiarity it inspires. Observing how their stories evolve, in their world with their culture front and center, continues to be one of television’s truly special, low-key treats.
Reservation Dogs, from EP Taika Waititi, is an engaging and entertaining hang that’s both lazy and busy, casual and rich, providing a winking look at mirthful misconduct on a Reservation. The leads, the “Dogs,” are a solid foursome who feel natural and are capable conduits for whimsey and glee, and can also carry around a shared darkness of spirit due to their desire to change just about everything in their lives. It’s a very understated show at times, which might cause some to tune out, as it relies on small laid-back situations to provide the comedy, but those looking for something different and more distinctive will be rewarded.
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