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The Lowdown season 2 reviews split: Collider praises it, Screen Rant finds it thin

Reviews of FX's The Lowdown season 2, based on the first six of eight episodes, disagree. Collider calls it sharper and funnier than season 1. Screen Rant says it loses focus.

2 outlets · 0L · 2C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Collider
Image: Screen Rant

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Centre · 2Collider and Screen Rant both reviewed the second season of FX's The Lowdown, using the first six of its eight episodes, and reached opposite verdicts. Centre · 1The first two episodes premiere on October 14, 2026, with weekly episodes following until November 25. Centre · 2Both reviews describe the same set-up. Ethan Hawke's reporter Lee Raybon, who calls himself a "truthstorian", is named Citizen Journalist of the Year for his season 1 story on Dale Washberg. He then takes on a new case involving Ginger (Betty Gilpin), while his estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, turns up in Tulsa.

Centre · 1Collider's Tania Hussain calls the season "sharper, funnier, and more purposeful", with a mystery that tightens each episode. Hussain praises Hawke's performance and his scenes with Gilpin and Jones, and says creator Sterlin Harjo and the writers have settled into what makes the show work. Centre · 1Collider also says the pacing has improved, with the series now seeming to know where it is going. It adds that the season asks tougher questions about journalism and the pursuit of truth without lecturing. Centre · 1Screen Rant's Greg MacArthur says the season falls short of its breakout debut. He argues the core mystery is less tightly woven, scenes run long, and style is put ahead of content.

Centre · 1Screen Rant also says Lee "becomes a bit of a headache", that the expanded cast stretches the series thin, and that heavy use of music feels like a patch for weak plotting. It compares the season's trajectory to The Bear between seasons 2 and 3. Centre · 2Screen Rant still calls the show watchable and "an enjoyable crime-comedy series with tempered expectations", and says the cast is strong. Both reviews credit its noir and Coen Brothers-style influences, and they differ on whether it executes them well.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre2 outlets

Framing
Two entertainment-press reviews with opposite verdicts on the same six episodes. Collider's is enthusiastic and Screen Rant's is disappointed.
Emphasis
Collider stresses performances, humour, pacing and tightening mystery. Screen Rant stresses diluted plot, overlong scenes, an overstretched cast and overused music.
Leaves out or plays down
Collider gives no real criticism and does not mention the premiere dates in the text read. Screen Rant says little about performances beyond Hawke and the cast being strong.
Charged language
“positively spectacular”“damn good episodes”“becomes a bit of a headache”“thin and shallow”“beating its greatest strengths to a pulp”
For example
“The Lowdown Season 2 is positively spectacular.” — Collider
“The Lowdown season 2 becomes thin and shallow, beating its greatest strengths to a pulp.” — Screen Rant

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.