'The Lowdown' season 2 review: One of my favorite TV detectives returns with another funny, freewheeling mystery

At the end of the first season of FX's “The Lowdown,” I didn’t have any lingering questions or unresolved concerns, and if the delightful comedic mystery series starring Ethan Hawke had ended there, it would have been a satisfying outcome. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t eager to check out the new second season of “The Lowdown,” even if I was a bit skeptical of whether creator Sterlin Harjo could come up with another storyline as compelling as the investigation into the death of Dale Washberg (Tim Blake Nelson).

There was no need for me to worry, because “The Lowdown” returns this week on FX and Hulu with an outstanding second season, at least in the six episodes available for review (out of eight total). Harjo places Tulsa, Oklahoma, bookstore owner and self-described “truthstorian” Lee Raybon (Hawke) on the trail of another elaborate conspiracy, filled with the kind of colorful supporting characters that made the first season so entertaining.

There may not quite be the larger sociopolitical resonance in this season’s story that there was in the first season, but “The Lowdown” still offers plenty of pointed social commentary amid its offbeat criminal antics.

‘The Lowdown’ delivers another quirky, twisty mystery

After winning a local journalism award for the article he wrote about Dale Washberg, Lee is feeling pretty good about himself, which of course means that it’s time for him to get in trouble again. It doesn’t take long before he entangles himself in another dangerous situation after meeting public defender Ginger Lafferty (Betty Gilpin) at the awards ceremony, where he gives a drunken, rambling acceptance speech. Ginger asks Lee to act as a buffer against a pair of guys who are following her, and he takes that as an invitation to become her protector, which she eventually begrudgingly accepts.

Of course, Lee is such a screw-up that he’s not great at being anyone’s protector — including his own — but he’s nothing if not persistent, and soon he’s deeply involved in Ginger’s life, as she’s being pursued by nefarious figures who are seeking one of her former clients, Mekko Dean. Ginger doesn’t know where Mekko is, either, since he’s gone missing from the state prison where he’s supposed to be incarcerated. That doesn’t matter to the people who are after her, and she and Lee try to figure out what happened to Mekko while also growing closer together on a personal level.

Meanwhile, Lee’s deadbeat father, Lee “Frog” Raybon Sr. (Tommy Lee Jones), has returned to town, 17 years after the last time Lee saw him. After being found wandering in a daze on the highway, Frog is picked up by the police and deposited at Lee’s store, and Lee has to figure out what to do with the father he’s tried hard to forget about.

Although Lee has nothing but negative feelings about his dad, Frog charms other people in Lee’s life, including his teenage daughter Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and his occasional associates Marty Brunner (Keith David) and Ray Moseley (Michael Hitchcock).

The oddball characters keep ‘The Lowdown’ interesting

One of the few disappointments of the new season is Harjo’s apparent difficulty at finding something worthwhile for Marty to do, after his crucial role in the first season’s storyline. At that time, he was a private investigator working for wealthy gubernatorial candidate Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan), serving as a sometime ally and sometime adversary for Lee as Lee pursued the truth about Donald’s brother’s death.

It’s understandable that Harjo would want to keep the charismatic David around, but installing Marty as the new managing editor of the publication Lee writes for doesn’t make much sense, and Marty is stuck in his own isolated subplot about black-market dealings in ancient artifacts, bringing Frog and antique store owner Ray along. Frog, too, is a bit isolated, and Jones’ casting promises a more impactful presence for the character than what unfolds. Maybe the final two episodes will connect Marty’s efforts with Lee’s, but for now it’s almost like they’re on two separate shows.

The characters are still always amusing to watch, and Gilpin picks up much of the slack as this season’s essential co-lead, giving a fantastic performance as the alternately fierce and insecure Ginger. Like Lee, she’s a bit of a mess, but she has a strong sense of justice, and the two characters have excellent chemistry as they recklessly risk their own safety to discover the truth, while also possibly falling in love.

Martha Plimpton and John Hawkes also make strong new additions as a pair of small-town despots (a sheriff and a judge, respectively) who stand in the way of Lee and Ginger’s investigation. As always, Harjo and his fellow writers are adept at creating unique characters who embody the contradictions of the American heartland, in its mix of diversity and intolerance.

Verdict: ‘The Lowdown’ remains distinctive and engaging in its second season

Hawke makes Lee into one of the great dirtbag detectives, in the tradition of characters like Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski from “The Big Lebowski” and Charlie Cale from “Poker Face.” He’s likable no matter how badly he bungles his investigations, because his heart is always in the right place. The same goes for the show, which exudes love for Harjo’s home state even while shining a light on its many shortcomings.

While the first season of “The Lowdown” was complete on its own, the second season proves to be a worthy successor, despite being slightly disjointed. “It’s what I do — I figure stuff out,” Lee tells Ginger, and “The Lowdown” offers him plenty of chances to figure stuff out while occasionally making that stuff much worse. That’s what made him so enjoyable to watch in the first season, and I’m happy to keep watching him figure stuff out for many seasons to come.

The second season of “The Lowdown” premieres Oct. 14 on Hulu and FX