Kyle MacLachlan’s ‘The Lowdown’: A Neo-Noir Love Letter to Tulsa That Echo Twin Peaks
When a veteran performer is working on a project that mirrors the creative environment that influenced their career, something magical occurs. When Kyle MacLachlan arrived at the set of FX’s new neo-noir series, “The Lowdown,” it was like coming back to the creative sensibilities he had been exposed to with legendary director David Lynch years ago. MacLachlan recognized the connections between Sterlin Harjo’s new creation and the cult classic Twin Peaks immediately, and I urge anyone who loves complex world-building and edge-of-your-seat storytelling to check them out.
How Twin Peaks and The Lowdown Connect
MacLachlan was refreshingly candid about the parallels between the two shows when Collider caught up with him to discuss his turn as Donald Washberg in The Lowdown. He commented on the intentional shaping of unique separate worlds by their creators, that exists beyond surface level similarities. MacLachlan says that David Lynch and Sterlin Harjo have a unique ability to craft worlds where mystery and eccentricity are not plot devices, but are fundamental elements of character existence and narrative development.
The similarities were not lost on me, MacLachlan said, Everyone is attempting to find out more about a character in both shows who is dead from the beginning. The town is populated by odd and inscrutable figures, not least a diner. Laura Palmer was the dead girl in Twin Peaks; in The Lowdown it’s Dale Washberg, whose death in suspicious circumstances is the centre of the whole story. While the template is strikingly similar, the visions of each creator and the particular geographic and cultural aspects of their locations inform how it plays out.
The Magic Behind the Camera
MacLachlan drew explicit comparisons between working with Lynch and this young director, saying in part that actors simply don’t get to say this enough anymore: a joyful set and one where they have real autonomy.
For MacLachlan to be the recipient of this creative freedom once again was a deeply moving experience. He said, To go onto Sterlin’s set and think to myself, Wow, I sort of feel like I’m back in the Lynch land a little bit here, it was just something that made me happy. Harjo, who was himself a fan of Lynch’s work, clearly appreciated the comparison, saying he “can retire now” after hearing such accolades from such a veteran collaborator.
Harjo’s Love Letter to Oklahoma
Where The Lowdown is from (both place-wise and culturally) is where it strays the most from the Twin Peaks template. This series, from Sterlin Harjo, the acclaimed co-creator of Reservation Dogs, is meant to be a “love letter to Tulsa.”
The narrative follows Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), a bookstore proprietor and self-appointed “truthstorian” who also works as a citizen journalist for The Heartland Press and who runs his used bookshop, Hoot Owl Books.
The real-life historian Lee Roy Chapman, who unearthed the secret past of Tulsa’s founding figures and their connection to a brutal 1921 race massacre as a citizen journalist, loosely inspires the lead’s investigation.
The Neo-Noir Aesthetic with a Coen Brothers Sensibility
The Lowdown has been consistently applauded for its Coen Brothers-inspired neo-noir style, which distinguishes it from standard crime drama fare. The visual approach is ragged, stylish and intentionally non-traditional—just about everything you’d expect from Harjo’s point of view. Ethan Hawke, especially, gives what some say is one of his best performances, as a tired, eccentric lead who occasionally displays delicate vulnerability.
The series is unpretentious, which enables it to have genuine suspense and peril along with dark humor and jokes at the most absurd extremes. When Lee discovers a stash of $100 bills in a skinhead’s car, he treats it like a winning lottery ticket instead of turning it in or investigating it in a manner. It’s the kind of character behavior that goes against accepted narrative conventions while simultaneously making perfect sense in the morally problematic world that Harjo has crafted.
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Why The Lowdown Matters Right Now
A story of how corruption spreads in communities, how facts (and false facts) create reality, and even people with power are often motivated by pain and fear rather than well-articulated reasons, The Lowdown is giddily refreshing in an era when television often elevates simple narratives and easily definable good guys and bad guys.
Conclusion
The Lowdown premiered on FX on September 23, 2025, and is available to stream on Hulu, and Disney+ internationally. If you liked the vibe and characters of Reservation Dogs or Twin Peaks, this neo-noir drama is definitely running worth your time. It’s a chance to see a promising filmmaker carve out their own distinctive space, shaped by the greats who preceded them.
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