IR TV Review: THE LOWDOWN - EPISODE 3 (“Dinosaur Memories”) [FX]
The progression of "The Lowdown" is about how much of a mess Lee (Ethan Hawke) can get into while still telling a good story. As the first two episodes have shown, Hawke plays Lee as a guy pushing the boundaries by the seat of his pants and barely clearing the net. Here he is getting in a little bit more underneath his water line literally. The show, unlike "Tulsa King" which operates in a different sector, finds some interesting locations of its own. This episode takes place mostly near a lake for a specific reason. Lee wants to be a good dad but he wants to instill to his daughter Francis that he enjoys what he is doing which tends to get him into trouble most of the time. This episode also gives focal point on two of the actors that really sustain the show outside Hawke but both do so in different ways. The first is Ryan Kiera Armstrong who plays Francis, Lee's daughter. Armstrong was in "Anne With An E" and is really coming into her own with this role. She is not precocious but she plays her scenes with Hawke with a sense of knowing, fun but also empathy.
On the other side is Ray played by Michael Hitchcock. He plays an antique foil to Hawke's Lee with a gay twist and gets some of the best lines in the series. The key is that is one blinks and you could miss a good zinger. The key MacGuffin in this episode is about a certain book element. The fourth wall is broken once as it has been done in other eps. The funny aspect is where Lee ends up (and also a nice ode to Twin Peaks). That sidebar of course is done for comedic effect but also shows the underbelly which Lee is dealing with even if he isn't trying to find it. The main bad guy does find his way to the arena at the water but he still is playing on the periphery despite his actions sort of fueling the dread of the series. The key is that Francis outdoes her old man and Hawke is a good enough actor to know how to play that to give Armstrong her kudos while also still pushing Lee's beatnik vibes. "The Lowdown" shows a man who will eventually get his story, some by bumbling, some by luck but also by people who still care for him while others want to punch his ticket. B
By Tim Wassberg
