Review: The Lowdown, “Raw Milk” | Season 2, Episode 4

When it comes to genre-bending shows like The Lowdown, it can be hard for the creative team to strike a balance between drama, comedy, suspense, mystery, chill-out vibes, what-have-you. My sense with The Lowdown in particular is that while there is a master-plan for where the plot’s going and when it needs to get there, Sterlin Harjo and his cast are very open to rolling with whatever energy feels right when they’re all on the set together, working things out. That may explain how we end up with an episode like this week’s “Raw Milk,” which starts out by hitting notes of propulsive comic mayhem and then mostly stays in that register—perhaps for a scene or two too many.

Comedy is very much a matter of taste, and I did laugh a lot at “Raw Milk,” especially in the early going. Another fundamental part of the Lowdown creative process is to pit Ethan Hawke against one or two other accomplished actors and then just let them all cook. In several scenes this week, Hawke and his cohorts are clearly having a great time—and, for the most part, so was I.

First up (and second up, and third up) is Rafael Casal, whose Johnny has a normie anxiousness that plays well against Lee’s frazzled cool. It’s a funny dynamic, with Lee, a hyper hipster, trying to calm down Johnny, a dithering, dorky dentist. Johnny's way of panicking is to repeatedly rehash everything that went wrong and to imagine the worst-case scenario that could ensue—like him spending he rest of his life doing taxes in prison, like Andy Dufrense in Shawshank. (Lee: “Why wouldn’t you do dentistry?”) Johnny flusters Lee as they race through the streets to meet with Cyrus and his QR-code-reliant attorney Daymond. (“Support Black business!”) He embarrasses Lee in front of Cyrus and Daymond too by pointing out that after Johnny choked out a cop, Lee pulled the man’s pants down. (“It’s an intimidation tactic!”)