Ethan Hawke’s 98%-Rated Mystery Thriller Is Officially Back — and Season 2 Adds Tommy Lee Jones to a Darker New Case

Ethan Hawke’s acclaimed crime thriller is heading back into Tulsa’s underworld — and the first Season 2 trailer suggests Lee Raybon is about to get dragged into an even bigger mess.

The Lowdown made a striking debut with its unusual combination of neo-noir mystery, dark comedy and the leisurely atmosphere of classic 1970s crime television.

At the center of it all was Hawke as Lee Raybon, a bookstore owner and self-proclaimed “truthstorian” journalist whose obsession with exposing secrets repeatedly placed him in dangerous situations.

Season 1 earned an impressive 98% critics’ score and 77% audience score, according to the supplied report.

Now Lee is back, bruised, bloodied and chasing another story he believes reaches “all the way to the top.”

Season 2 Opens the Door to Two New Murder Mysteries

The first season followed Lee as he became entangled with sinister local supremacist groups and questionable land schemes.

Its eight-episode story reached a relatively complete conclusion, and the new trailer indicates Season 2 won’t simply reopen those old cases.

Instead, Lee appears to be investigating two entirely new murder scenes.

The footage makes clear that the investigation won’t be gentle with him.

At one point, Lee emerges from what appears to be a nightmare before jumping into view visibly battered and bloodied.

For most people, that might be enough reason to stop digging.

Lee Raybon isn’t most people.

His relentless pursuit of the truth remains intact, even when following it appears capable of putting him directly in harm’s way.

Tommy Lee Jones Joins Ethan Hawke as Lee’s Estranged Father

The biggest new addition arrives in the form of Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Lee’s estranged father.

And his introduction is hardly conventional.

The trailer shows him passed out in the back of a police car wearing a red hat referencing Psalm 107:29, a verse about stilling a storm and quieting the waves.

Whatever problems exist between father and son, the footage suggests they could find themselves reluctantly working together as Lee tries to unravel the latest mystery.

That family connection also gives Season 2 another layer beyond its central crime.

Lee’s personal life was already complicated, and the new episodes are expected to continue exploring those tensions, including his troubled relationship with his daughter Francis, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

Betty Gilpin Is Another Major Addition

Betty Gilpin also joins the story as Ginger, a public defender connected to the new case.

The trailer positions her as a very different personality from Lee, creating an entertaining contrast with his chaotic investigative instincts.

Together, the newcomers expand a world that already earned strong critical praise during its debut season.

The Lowdown was created by Sterlin Harjo, one of the co-creators behind the Emmy-nominated Reservation Dogs.

Rather than presenting Hawke as a polished detective, the series built its appeal around a stubborn bookstore owner who can’t resist pulling at loose threads, regardless of how much trouble waits on the other end.

Season 2 appears ready to push that instinct even further.

Lee Raybon Is Heading Back Into Trouble

With the previous mystery largely resolved, the new season has an opportunity to send Lee somewhere different without abandoning the scrappy neo-noir identity that defined the series.

This time, there are fresh murders, another potentially powerful conspiracy and an estranged father suddenly caught in Lee’s orbit.

Season 2 is scheduled to premiere October 14 on FX and Hulu.

Lee Raybon barely needs an excuse to chase a dangerous story. Give him two murders, a mystery reaching toward the top and Tommy Lee Jones riding alongside him, and Season 2 already looks considerably more complicated than the first.