Review of “Behind the Curtain” series (The Lowdown); The best series of 2025?

Online streaming platforms have become the bane of cinema. The empty box office these days cannot be attributed to them alone; But their bold role cannot be denied. Years ago, streaming promised something brilliant; The promise of new opportunities for young artists to show the world their pure but not very Hollywood-like ideas. Even though the peak days of that period are over, there are still special projects that Naftlix, Amazon, and HBO have their hands in their pockets for; Projects that two decades ago never saw the color of construction. In 2021, FX gave the green light to one of these projects and gave a young man named Sterling Harjo the opportunity to tell his story from a completely different point of view, based on his Indian identity. Harjo’s “Reservation Dogs” was the first rung of Harjo’s and FX’s successful collaboration, which this year is one step closer to the top with “The Lowdown”. In the review of the series “Behind the scenes” (or “the truth of the story”), I discuss the importance of telling the story of marginalized people and its brilliant cast, of which Ethan Hawke is the star.

Warning! There is a risk of exposing the story in the review of “Behind the scenes” series

Review of “Behind the Curtain” series; The Tulsa case opens

Sterling Harjo considers his mission to tell the story of marginalized people; In the story of his own people. A descendant of the younger generation of Oklahoma Indians himself, he weaves his own personal history into the work and tells the story against a backdrop that he completely dominates. Just as Harjo’s “Barn Dogs” followed the story of a younger generation of Oklahoma Indians, the director returns to Oklahoma in “Behind the Scenes.”

In this neon noir, which takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ethan Hawke plays the role of Lee Ribban; A journalist or “Truthstorian” as he calls himself, who always wanders in what he shouldn’t and often eats his stick. In “Behind the Scenes”, the suicide of Dale Washberg (Tim Nelson Black), from the family known as the Washbergs, draws Lee into a labyrinth of Tulsa’s top-notch mysteries and secrets. Lee can’t believe that Dale committed suicide and goes on his own to solve the mystery of Dale’s death and deals with neo-Nazis, assassins, politicians and artists of Tulsa.

But since nothing is as it seems at first glance, Dale gradually realizes how wrong he was in his judgments. By the end of the series, criminals and criminals give way to heroes and victims, and new pieces emerge in Tulsa’s power game. At the same time, Lee is involved with his ex-wife, and in an effort to get closer to his daughter Frances (Ryan Armstrong), he takes the girl with him to his detective games. With the help of Frances, Lee finds the late Dale’s secret notes that support the hypothesis of Dale’s murder.

Lee’s hypothesis is that Donald (Kyle McLachlan), Dale’s brother and candidate for governor of Tulsa, had an affair with Dale’s wife, Betty Jo (Jane Tripplehorn) and plotted to kill Dale and take his place. Lee also labels Donald as a racist and firmly believes that everything is under his head. By approaching Betty Jo, Lee pulls out information from under her tongue; Like Dale’s daughter is actually Donald’s daughter. Lee thinks that Donald’s hand is in the same bowl with racist groups and their heavy bribe for Dale’s land is proof. But Lee learns that Dale’s land is a usurped land that the whites took from the Indians in the 19th century. Just before his death, Dale returned the land to the Indians in his handwriting.

Lee finally gets to the heart of the story by putting together the evidence and having a frank conversation with Dale and Betty Jo. Dale did not commit suicide, but his brother, Donald, did not arrange his murder either. The main culprit is Betty Jo, who arranged for them to come and frighten Dale so that the Indians won’t get the land. But in the meantime, two people make a mistake and kill Dale by mistake. Betty Jo also manipulates the death scene to make it look like a suicide and she doesn’t mind that the blame falls on someone else like Donald.

Donald’s only fault (like Lee at the beginning of his research) is that he closed his eyes to information that made it difficult to achieve his goal. To show his good faith and that he did not know that the buyer of the land was actually bribing him, Donald in turn transferred ownership of the land to the Osage Indians and swore to respect tribal sovereignty in the area. After all, with the support of all, whites, blacks and Indians, he wins the election.

Sterling Harjo, the narrator of a marginalized nation

Harjo brings to his story a deep understanding of the history and social and cultural relations of a small community in the United States, such as Oklahoma, which you will not easily find in movies and series. Especially the history and culture of American Indians, which have long remained unknown, or worse, distorted due to the way they are portrayed in Hollywood. The concern of land and its ownership is tied to the identity of Indians and local people whose ancestors were oppressed by whites.

These stories and sufferings have been passed down from generation to generation; But less non-native media reflects them. In the meantime, people like Harjo are needed to be able to penetrate the heart of this history and culture and portray it in a way that is not superficial, ridiculous or stereotyped. Harjo’s strength is that he was able to link this history, this special and personal story, with universal values; Like the father-daughter relationship that is going on in the center of “behind the curtain”.

Ethan Hawke, who has found his place in the world of filmmaking between Hollywood stars and independent projects, brings a sweetness and humanity to Lee’s character that only he can handle. You can see this humanity most in Lee’s relationship with his daughter, Frances. The girl understands her father’s external and internal shortcomings and wounds, but she does not take any of them to heart; Rather, he accepts them, and as his father gives him love, Francis also loves Lee.

Championship for the Oklahoma Shadows

In “Behind the Curtain”, in addition to Harju’s deep knowledge of the region, his love for noir waves; Obviously, the Harjo series draws inspiration from classic noir films such as “The Long Goodbye” and “Chinatown”. The hero of the series has tasted the hot and cold times and faces problems that he wants to overcome alone. But Tulsa “behind the curtain” is Tulsa brought to life with colorful characters. So Lee turns to his friends and the people of his neighborhood to solve problems; But under the pressure of these cold and hot people, he discovers his true self.

We, the viewer, also understand Lee; We understand his thirst to discover the truth. In “Behind the curtain”, the protagonist must be our representative, must be our substitute and show that even someone like Lee is ready to step into the fire with his head.

Ethan Hawke also plays Lee on our behalf; in the style of familiar heroes of noir films. He unearths buried stories and his passion for justice is noble and self-destructive; At the same time, “Behind the Scenes” gives Lee’s character a dark comedy that is tied to tragedy and trauma. This black comedy in Harjo’s script originates from the history of Indians trying to survive in a white world, but it is not unique to it.

With the right actors, the “behind the scenes” characters all look like real characters; Even people like Wendell (Peter Dinklage) and Arthur (Graham Greene) who, although their roles are not found in the series, leave a strong impression on your mind; It’s as if you ate their bread and salt during the series and got along with them. Next to them, you have actors like Kyle McLachlan, Keith David, Jane Tripplehorn and Tim Blake Nelson, all of whom with a bag of experience have become a support for the realization of the less experienced Henry Harjoy’s vision.

Relying on them and relying on the potential of Tulsa itself, Harjo has placed at the center of his story a city that is as real as its characters. Even the original set, Lee’s bookstore, law office, and bookstore, were based on actual locations in Tulsa. Of course, not that “Behind the Curtain” is a biographical series; But by filming in Tulsa itself and using the natural landscape and architecture of the city, the lived history of the people of Oklahoma has a distinct appearance in it. Even Lee Ribban’s character was inspired by the journalist from Tulsa, Lee Roy Chapman, who is very important in reviewing the history of this area, especially in exposing the racial massacre in Tulsa; But more importantly, Chapman has been Harjo’s friend and colleague.

Harjo has combined his love for music and literature with “Behind the scenes”, whose references can be seen in many places in the series; From Jim Thompson’s novels, to Walter Twis’ The Man Who Fell to Earth – which Lee is reading in a flashback to his encounter with Dale, and in which the main female character happens to be Betty Jo! – to the songs of Bob Wills and local Indian musicians and artists, and even the logo of the series, which is inspired by the credits of the seventies.

Harjo brought three seasons of one of the best American series of the last decade to the world of streaming with “Barn Dogs”. This year, in “Behind the Curtain”, relying on the more experience of himself and his colleagues, he has elevated the spirit of rebelliousness and rebellion that we saw in “Barn Dogs”.

Away from the eyes of mainstream Hollywood, Harjo has once again portrayed his strong motivation to create a work that is both unique and original, and whose roots should be sought in people and in their lived history. If not the best, “Behind the Curtain” is definitely “one” of the best series of 2025, whose essence is tied to geography and history that may be unfamiliar to most of us, but until the last episode, it accepts us as a new member of the family.

serial birth certificate “Behind the scenes” (The Lowdown)

Manufacturer: Sterling Harjo
Author: Sterling Harjo
Actors: Ethan Hawke, Keith David, Kyle McLachlan, Jane Tripplehorn, Tim Blake Nelson
Product: 2025, United States
Site score IMDb To the series: 7.1 out of 10
Rating of the series on Rotten Tomatoes website: 98%
Summary of the story: Lee Ribban owns a bookstore in Tulsa, but calls himself a “truth historian” and writes articles for local newspapers. The subject of Lee’s latest essay, the powerful Washberg family is thrown into chaos by Dale’s unexpected suicide. Lee, who does not accept the suicide story, puts forward the hypothesis of Dale’s murder and arbitrarily seeks to discover the truth; A path that involves Dale with politicians, assassins and neo-Nazis…

Criticism of “Behind the scenes” series is the author’s personal point of view and is not necessarily the position of Digikala Mag.

Source: Digikala Mag