Sterlin Harjo, Creator of 'The Lowdown,' on Films That Inspired Season 2 and What Convinced Tommy Lee Jones to Join the Series

As Season 2 of 'The Lowdown' begins, citizen journalist (or 'truth seeker') Lee Ribbon (Ethan Hawke) finds himself in an uncomfortable position: success. He is set to receive a local media award for a piece he wrote about the death of Dale Washberg (as explained in the series' first season), but he is not happy about it. Instead of accepting […]

As the second season of "The Lowdown" begins, citizen journalist (or "truther") Lee Ribbon (Ethan Hawke) finds himself in a very uncomfortable situation: success. He's up for a local media award for a piece he wrote about Dale Washberg's death (as detailed in the show's first season), but he's not happy about it.

Instead of accepting his praise, a cranky Lee takes the stage and immediately breaks down in tears in the crowd because of the sellout. It's Not Going Well Series creator Sterling Harjo admits to Variety that Lee's inability to deal with a bit of acclaim stems directly from his own experience after launching his previous FX series, Reserved Dogs. Related stories ABC alleges FCC efforts to curb free speech are designed to escape judicial review.

"I was living in a studio in downtown Tulsa and all of a sudden I had a TV show," he says. "I was kind of a quiet indie filmmaker who was hoping to get the attention of anyone in the industry with my films. But then Season 1 of Reserved Dogs really changed my whole life. And I didn't handle it very well at first. You don't know what to do. All of a sudden, there are articles, and all this stuff, because you already think how much fun it is. With the little recognition he's gotten, I bet he's really It's wrong, and I bet there is? A knee-jerk reaction to dismiss it." Popular in Variety

Chapter 2 is about figuring out how to love yourself—and how to extend that love to everyone else in your life, says Harjo. After the initial shock of the success of "Reservation Dogs", Harjo arrives. It helps that he has another acclaimed series under his belt.

Given that there's no shortage of extravagance in the world, The Lowdown could probably go on forever. After the first season, he says, "I wasn't done telling the story." "There was more corruption than I could tell."

As Season 2 premieres Oct. 14 on FX, Lee is soon hired by public defender Ginger (Betty Gilpin) to investigate a new mystery: the disappearance of her client in the Oklahoma prison system.

This time, Harjo says he drew inspiration from the 1972 Lee Marvin/Gene Hackman film "Prime Cut," 1981's "Cutter's Way" and the 1949 noir "The Third Man" to come up with the basic concept.

"This idea of a missing man, I was like, how do we strengthen that a little bit?" he says “Well, it's really hard to get lost in prison. There is a login page. How do you get out of jail? This was a very interesting question."

Harjo says that he, co-executive producer Duffy Boudreau, and Hawk began brainstorming the idea while on a press tour for Season 1, "The Lowdown."

"That's when we kind of found the bones of the plot," he says. "Through a lot of influences, and also just Oklahoma."

Harjo says they also met Hawke's cousin, a public defender at Ft. Worth, who shared stories about his experiences. "And I grew up in a city with a prison, and I saw how it affects a city," he adds. You really saw this change in the city, and not a positive one. "Because you have drugs, you have smuggling, you have the smuggling of guards and prisoners."

For inspiration, Harjo also recalls visiting his uncle as a child in prison in McAlester, Oklahoma, where he was serving time for repeated alcohol offenses. "The Lowdown" wrapped filming at the same facility this season.

But that's only half of season 2. The show's other bombshell comes at the end of the opening episode: Tommy Lee Jones appears as Lee's estranged father.

"We talked a lot about fatherhood in Season 1. What's it like to be a son? And how do you forgive your father or your parents?" Harju says. But just as Lee Sr. ignored his son growing up, Lee Jr. continues to stir up trouble with his own daughter, Frances (Ryan Kiera Armstrong).

"He tries not to make bad decisions [like his father]," Harrow says. And at the same time, he neglects his daughter, that this is a bad decision, and then his father, who was a bad father, his relationship with his grandson.

"The more complicated you can make all those things, the better, because you have to break your way as a writer," Harjo says. “It was a very painful writing experience, more painful than anything because I had written myself into so many corners. There were things that I wrote, there were parts that were written during the production stage. I hope I don't have to do this again!"

After writing the first episode of Season 2, Harjo immediately thought of Jones for the role of Lee's father. Both he and Jones are repped by CAA — and when Jones read it, the actor was hounded. Jones had already watched Season 1 — and told Harjo he particularly loved bookstore custodians Waylon (Cody Lightning) and Cousin Henry (Jude Barnett), who provided some comic relief.

"He wanted to be with them, which told me everything I needed to know," Harrow says. “If you love Guardians, you'll love me and the show and the vibe. Because those characters are not necessarily in many shows. You cut it off. [Jones] said after the show the other day, “Thank you for paying attention to Waylon's character, because most people don't. I think these characters and storylines are what make the show what it is."

Harjo also excitedly notes that Jones started watching Reserve Dogs while filming The Lowdown.

"Every day I'd come to work and Tommy Lee Jones would describe an episode of a show I'd made, it was amazing," he says. He would talk to Ethan or me about it, and it was great that he appreciated it so much. "Reserved Dogs" is the kind of show you'd think someone like Tommy Lee Jones could miss and not get, but he's a sophisticated, really smart artist and he loved it. "Every day was amazing."

As for Ginger's character, she clearly has a crush on Lee - a tough character who can stand toe-to-toe with her, but also has a sense of humor for her. Once Gilpin came on board, Harjo says she helped redefine who Ginger could be.

"Lee can be a little wild, and I needed someone to match that energy," Harrow says. "Betty can do anything, and I already knew she was great. And then she came along, and it was like another level. All of a sudden she does things in the first scene I shoot with her, and things happen that I didn't write. From that day on, I try to write about her voice and what she brings to that character."

Harjo says his goal was to make Season 2 "go harder and faster with everything we've created. It's like 'Reserve Dog' Season 2. I've established the world. I feel like people who love the show will come with me. I have a gauge of what's real and what's not real, so I'm always kind of sticking to it. Let's make Empire Strikes Back, where it's awesome and It remains lonely, but in the end you want more. By the will of the TV gods, we will make a season 3 of this series."