The Pickup is an independent media company doing culture journalism for curious Oklahomans. We write stories for real people, not AI scrapers or search engines. Become a paying subscriber today to read all of our articles, get bonus newsletters and more.
Look, you don’t need me to introduce Sterlin Harjo to you. He’s certainly the most famous person you could plausibly bump into shopping for cereal at the Reasor’s at 15th & Lewis.
Originally from Holdenville, the creator of Reservation Dogs has called Tulsa home for 18 years now—he’s on the record in The New York Times saying it’s his “favorite place in the world”—and that warmth of feeling colors every frame of The Lowdown, his latest series for FX that drops its season finale this week.
Now that we’ve all seen the show—with its efflorescence of Tulsa textures, characters and cultural touchstones—I wanted to ask Sterlin about some of the big-picture themes that run through The Lowdown, as well as his burgeoning Oklahoma mythology. Sterlin and I spoke on a video call Monday morning before the season finale aired on Tuesday.
Matt Carney: First question. How does it feel knowing that the season finale is about to air?
Sterlin Harjo: I mean, it's really exciting. I'm really proud of the finale.
I'm actually excited to not be in the place of waiting for each episode to come out. That anticipation for me, like, I'm ready to be beyond that and let people binge it. I think that that's where I'd rather be with the show.
Matt Carney: To just have it all out there.