Ethan Hawke’s new TV show, The Lowdown, is officially continuing an impressive five-year streak. Hawke initially rose to fame in the film industry, with earlier projects like Explorers (1985) and Dead Poets Society (1989) throwing Hawke right into the limelight. Ever since, he has enjoyed a hugely successful career, culminating in his most recent TV role in The Lowdown.

FX’s The Lowdown is a neo-noir, comedy crime drama created by Sterlin Harjo (Reseveration Dogs). Hawke takes up the lead, a Tulsa journalist who “knows too much” by the name of Lee Raybon. The Lowdown premiered on FX on September 23, 2025, with new episodes released weekly. Only two episodes in, and Hawke’s project is off to a great start.

The Lowdown Continues Ethan Hawke’s Acclaimed TV Streak

The Lowdown is already being heavily praised by critics. Rotten Tomatoes has reported a score of 97%, which is pretty great considering FX has only put out a couple of episodes. Such a clear success for The Lowdown is especially impressive since any show that Hawke has also done remarkably well.

Prior to The Lowdown, Hawke played Arthur Harrow in 2022’s Moon Knight, which holds an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes. A couple of years before that was The Good Lord Bird, in which Hawke played John Brown (in addition to executive producing). This 2020 series holds an even more impressive 98% critic score. We can even count The Last Movie Stars in with this trend—a docuseries directed by Hawke with a 100% score.

Why The Lowdown’s Reviews Are So Great

It’s pretty clear that Hawke is good at picking TV projects that are bound to be winners—or else he just brings these projects a particular sort of sparkle that critics love. In the case of The Lowdown, it’s certainly a combination. Critics have praised Hawke for his on-screen charisma and comedic timing, as well as his chemistry with costars such as Keith David, Kaniehtiio Horn, and Peter Dinklage, among others.

Critics seem to agree that The Lowdown is about as weird as it gets, which means this series could have easily gone wrong. However, Harjo expertly balances out the strangeness. It’s too much and just enough, all at once. Many seem to agree that Hawke is a key part of this balance. Even critics who didn’t give The Lowdown a favorable review couldn’t help but praise Hawke’s performance.

Ethan Hawke Disappointingly Doesn’t Have Another Series Lined Up After The Lowdown

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Hawke is on a roll with TV, and there’s no doubt that he could keep this going. Unfortunately, the actor doesn’t currently have any new small-screen projects lined up after The Lowdown. Though this is disappointing, we have to trust that this actor is very carefully selecting TV shows to take part in. It may take some patience on the viewers’ end, but whatever Hawke does next is, at this rate, a shoo-in.

Release Date

September 23, 2025

Directors

Sterlin Harjo