In the crowded landscape of prestige dramas and streaming thrillers, “The Lowdown” may be the series you’re not watching yet that most deserves your attention. Created by Sterlin Harjo, the writer-director behind “Reservation Dogs,” this Oklahoma-set noir unfolds with a rare combination of twisty intrigue, humor, and authentic world-building detail. Anchored by Ethan Hawke as Lee Goode, an old-school journalist turned reluctant investigator, the series surrounds him with an ensemble of sharp, soulful performances that bring Harjo’s distinct tone to life.
Set in Tulsa, “The Lowdown” follows Lee as he navigates overlapping layers of mystery, memory, and modern identity. It’s part detective story, part cultural portrait, and part love letter to a city often misrepresented on screen. Supporting turns from Keith David, Kyle MacLachlan, Tracy Letts, Tim Blake-Nelson, Peter Dinklage, Jeanne Tripplehorn and a strong ensemble of Oklahoma talent expand Harjo’s interconnected storytelling universe while allowing the series to stand firmly on its own as a character-driven, atmospheric noir.
One of the key voices behind that authenticity is production designer Brandon Tonner-Connolly, whose work grounds the show’s offbeat humor and dreamlike pacing in a world that feels tactile and lived in. Tonner-Connolly describes the series’ aesthetic as “Dust Bowl noir,” marked by sun-baked tones of brown, green, and maroon that reflect both the heat and history of Oklahoma. “We wanted the show to have a geography; to feel like a world you could actually walk through and stay curious about what’s around the next corner,” he tells Awards Focus.
That immersive sense of place runs through every corner of “The Lowdown.” Tonner-Connolly hand-selected more than 5,000 books for the set of Hoot Owl Books, Lee’s personal refuge and “mad scientist’s laboratory”, sourcing them from Tulsa’s local vendors rather than studio warehouses. “We wanted Ethan to be able to walk around and feel excited about his world,” he explains. “You could pull a book from any shelf and say, this is something Lee would have.” That level of detail exemplifies how the series blurs fiction and reality to reveal the beating heart of its community.
Even as many shows chase tax incentives abroad, “The Lowdown” insists on filming in Oklahoma, a decision Tonner-Connolly calls “a win for authenticity.” By building sets directly in Tulsa rather than on soundstages, Harjo and his team turned real streets into cinematic backdrops. Locals lent everything from Leroy Chapman’s personal items: a dead plant, a t-shirt turned pillowcase, to background performances inside Sweet Emily’s diner. “Anytime you’re shooting in the U.S. and employing people in the community, it’s a win,” Tonner-Connolly says. “With that intentional filmmaking comes a really specific sense of place.”
With its blend of investigative storytelling, regional authenticity, and playful design, “The Lowdown” and Tonner-Connolly’s work is a true example of what most designers aspire to, that the production design is a character itself in the story. Tonner-Connolly spoke to Awards Focus about crafting Tulsa’s cinematic geography, collaborating with Ethan Hawke, and why authenticity always begins with community.
Awards Focus: Thanks for joining, Brandon. “The Lowdown” is an absolute blast. How did you first get involved with the show?
Tonner-Connolly: It was toward the end of “Reservation Dogs,” the third season. Sterlin wanted to move on from the project, and he started talking about movies like “The Long Goodbye” and “Night Moves,” New Hollywood era noirs, shaggy dog mysteries where a detective wanders through a vivid world and part of the fun is hanging out with them. He talked about what it would mean if that world was not Los Angeles or New York, but Tulsa, and how the next project would examine the complex history and landscape there by following one person through dreamy worlds and vivid landscapes.
Right toward the end of season three he screened “The Long Goodbye” for everyone at the Circle Cinema, the independent theater in Tulsa. We kept talking and it became clear this was the direction. A year later we were in Tulsa to do the pilot, and a year later we were back to do the series.
AF: Many detective shows default to dark and gritty. Beyond setting and era, what visual identity were you chasing?
Tonner-Connolly: A big part of it is the color palette. I read the term “Dust Bowl noir,” which for me solidified browns, darker maroons, darker greens, and yellowish tones where you feel the place in the colors. Tulsa sits at the intersection of the South and the Midwest. In summer it is hot and very sunny. In winter it is very cold and windy. Things crack. There is texture. Everything feels broken in and lived in.
At the same time I wanted to allude back to New Hollywood with the palette, thinking about “Chinatown” and “The Long Goodbye,” which helps collapse the past and the present. Timeless is a buzzword, but we did want people to be uncertain at times about the period.
We also wanted the show to have a geography. We did not want to be cloistered on a stage. We wanted to build the sets out in the world of Tulsa, so we could amble with Lee and the other characters, move freely in and out of spaces, and actually see the Tulsa skyline in the background. After a lot of scouting we found a main block of buildings that were hollowed out, without power or water, that we could turn into what we wanted. Right down the block you had a beautiful view of downtown. We were in the world.
AF: Why was physical geography so important for the audience experience?
Tonner-Connolly: We wanted viewers to feel like they could walk the world and stay curious about what is around the next corner. The geography lets you do that.
AF: Let’s talk sets. For Hoot Owl Books, is it true you hand-selected all 5,000 books?
Tonner-Connolly: It might have been more than 5,000, but it is around that. I love bookstores. Between jobs I take road trips and stop in small towns to see how shops are laid out. Owners invent their own worlds and organizational principles. Hoot Owl is Lee’s kingdom, his laboratory, so every small detail matters.
We sourced locally to get a specific sense of place and put resources back into the community. We collaborated with Gardners Books in Tulsa. Some people there knew Leroy Chapman, the inspiration for Ethan Hawke’s character, Lee. They helped us hand-select books so you could pull any book from any shelf and feel that Lee would have it. We wanted Ethan to walk around and feel excited about his world.
AF: There is a lot of conversation about filming in Los Angeles versus elsewhere. How did you balance authenticity to Tulsa with supporting the broader ecosystem?
Tonner-Connolly: There is a tension. We all wish there was more production in Los Angeles and in the United States in general. There is energy behind sourcing productions to places outside the country or places with lower labor and without certain unions.
My view is that any time you shoot in the United States and employ crew and people in the community, it is a win. With “The Lowdown” and “Reservation Dogs,” many would have faked Oklahoma in New Mexico. I love New Mexico and have shot many things there, but it is a testament to Sterlin that he said this is the community he is from, and it is the community he wants to give back to with jobs and resources.
That intentional filmmaking builds authenticity. You are not hiding a Southwestern street sign outside the frame. You can show everything and move through the world. You can show the unique beauty of the place because you are really there.
AF: How did local Tulsa communities respond to the production?
Tonner-Connolly: They were generous and excited. People asked how they could help. Lee is loosely inspired by Leroy Chapman, a Tulsa journalist and friend of Sterlin’s known for hard-hitting truth telling. He wrote about the Tulsa Race Massacre and pushed the city to reevaluate Tate Brady’s legacy. He also reported on Elohim City.
Because of Leroy, many people wanted to help. His sister gave us a dead plant he owned, which we put in Lee’s apartment. In Sweet Emily’s, most of the background in the pilot are people who are friends of Sterlin’s, who knew Leroy, or who were part of Sterlin’s journey through the Tulsa media landscape. It felt like the community coming together.
AF: Viewers love Easter eggs. What are we seeing in Sweet Emily’s wallpaper?
Tonner-Connolly: I don’t want to tell him the term Harjo-verse because he’s got enough to go to his head now. I don’t think he needs that also.
We wanted wood paneling with a patterned wallpaper that could fade into the background, but if you are there alone at 2 a.m. it could amuse you for a minute. We created our own pattern.
Talking with Sterlin, we asked what if it referenced “Reservation Dogs,” and then what if it included multiple moments. Our graphic artist Mary Hayes hand-illustrated four scenes, we patterned it, and printed with a local vendor, Bluestem.
We did not tell the crew. When they walked in, there were real emotions. I worried it might be too explicit, but on camera it works.
AF: Beyond wallpaper, how else did you embed callbacks or personal artifacts?
Tonner-Connolly: We think about who will be in the room when we shoot. We build spaces people can get lost in, with drawers and closets full of character detail even if the camera never sees it.
In Lee’s apartment we hung a classic red and white Christmas stocking inspired by something Leroy’s son made. We used one of Leroy’s T-shirts as a pillowcase, something our decorator remembered her father did. You may not catch the specifics at home, but Ethan can stand there and feel the reality, which creates intimacy and helps people do their best work.
AF: What was it like collaborating with Ethan Hawke, and did he shape any design elements?
Tonner-Connolly: He is incredible, creative, funny, and a positive presence. I open sets and then stick around for rehearsals because watching the actors interact is a masterclass.
In Hoot Owl he loved the world. Behind the register became a wall of fame for Tulsa artists and local work. We recreated some of Leroy’s screen printing. We had family photos from the community and the graphics you see in a used bookstore. Ethan asked to add two playbills from productions he directed, which fit the character’s world. He worried about continuity. Total professional. He also got enamored with some of the books and could not put them down. If a few went missing, that is a small price to pay.
AF: In the Tulsa Beat newsroom you directly honor the Black community with a mural and a reparations message. How did that come together?
Tonner-Connolly: Tulsa Beat is inspired by a real person who started a one-sheet publication to hold officials accountable after a childhood friend was killed. Sterlin wanted the set to feel like North Tulsa, a predominantly Black neighborhood.
We brought in local muralist Alexander Thomson, who had done Greenwood and Black Wall Street referencing work. We designed a mural with important community figures, the Tulsa skyline, references to the Tulsa Race Massacre, and a contemporary call for reparations that fits the character’s voice. The style is bold, like the publication, so the mural is contemporary and a little bombastic while still respectful. The goal was a specific sense of place and authenticity, which means letting the community help tell its own story.
AF: Which set surprised you most on camera?
Tonner-Connolly: Hoot Owl and Sweet Emily’s are favorites, and I love Tulsa Beat. The sleeper is Heartland Press. It nods to “This Land,” which Sterlin and Leroy wrote for. We recreated overlapping newspaper spreads as wall art, designing 20 to 25 Heartland Press covers based on originals. A local paper, the Sapulpa Herald, ran newsprint for us. Our art director said it felt like you could run in and shout, stop the presses.
In the editor’s office we used a large graphic mural based on Tulsa artists. It feels ambitious, like they are bursting out of the office to tell the truth of this place.
AF: You mentioned sourcing and printing locally. Why was that principle so important across departments?
Tonner-Connolly: Sourcing locally gives you unique results and a specific sense of place, and it puts resources back into the community. It is part of the overall reason we are there.
AF: You built sets in real locations with heavy detail. Are the spaces preserved?
Tonner-Connolly: Yes. The Heartland Press space is the original “This Land” building. In the pilot there is an editorial meeting where 12 to 15 people applaud Lee. Those are people who worked at the original publication and were part of Sterlin’s journalist past.
Our Sixth Street sets are preserved and leased for the foreseeable future. People thought they were real businesses while we dressed them, asking when the bookstore or diner would open. We boarded the windows for safety, but they are turnkey and waiting.
AF: What are you working on next while you wait for renewal news?
Tonner-Connolly: A couple things are coming together for the beginning of next year. Some inside Sterlin’s world, and some with other directors I have worked with who are starting larger projects. I am also writing. Working on this show and being around so much journalism inspired me to finally make time for a few writing projects before things get busy again.
AF: Great talking with you, Brandon. Congratulations on “The Lowdown.”
Tonner-Connolly: Thanks so much. I appreciate it.