Reservation Dogs: Offerings

September 22, 2022 9:31 PM - Season 2, Episode 9

With a letter from Daniel, Willie Jack seeks guidance from the past.
posted by porpoise (11 comments total)

IMDB classifies this, from day 1, as [Comedy] [Crime] - the pilot ended up being very different than the body of this. Unintentional? Or was the story arc mapped out from the beginning? Especially the montage between (menial) jobs and the common end result of crime.

Old hippy dude's ok.

Another heavy episode.
posted by porpoise at 10:05 PM on September 22, 2022

Goddamn that episode was fucking beautiful. This show has already been a great portrait of people that we don't often see in mass entertainment (both native people, as well as people living in poverty) but this episode was over-the-top good.
posted by nushustu at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2022 [6 favorites]

It really was a beautiful episode. The Vulture reviewer mentioned how important it was to set the scene between Willie Jack and Hokti in a prison:

There’s a lot to unpack in this sequence, but the one big point I can’t emphasize enough is what a radical intervention is happening in the choice to set this act of sacred intergenerational connection in the space of a prison. Not only does the scene offer important insight into the experiences of Native women who are incarcerated, but it also shows that people who falter, people like Hotki, are still sacred and important to our communities, even when they make mistakes.

Hokti's prayer with Willie Jack was so moving and the effort that must have gone into that scene, with so many costumed extras present, goodness, what craft this show has. And it can still make me laugh just a minute before with, "Do you need me to use it in a sentence? Your mother is a slore."

Also, I love Willie Jack, but that hippie from the waiting room was leading her astray. Slides are not good shoes to run away from the devil.

Do we know why Cheese's nickname is "Cheese"? Because his giant cheesy grin to his grandma was enough for me to think it's a perfect nickname for him.
posted by gladly at 2:24 PM on September 23, 2022 [10 favorites]

Cheese’s given name is Chester, so I think it’s a play on the first syllable.
posted by migurski at 2:48 PM on September 23, 2022 [3 favorites]

I think this episode is the one where I stop misremembering her name as whiskey jack.
Wilhelmina is a cool name!
I'm loving these episodes focusing on one character at a time. I don't think I ever noticed before how completely earnest Willie Jack is. If she's doing something, she's doing it. Skoden.
posted by Acari at 6:42 AM on September 24, 2022 [7 favorites]

Out-freaking-standing.


This one's important. Oklahoma has the second highest incarceration rate for women (topped only by Idaho) and the highest for native people. Outside of predominantly tribal areas, hostility toward natives is pretty high. Especially after the McGirt decision. It's also safe to say Oklahoma just straight up hates women.

Seeing two native women, one being treated the way the state treats them and the other possibly on her way joined by generations of their similarly wronged ancestors to conduct a healing ritual . . . damn that's powerful.

Standout line of the whole season so far:

"I walked the Trail of Tears and I smile more than you!"
posted by kaiseki at 1:29 PM on September 24, 2022 [10 favorites]

This show is wonderful, but ALWAYS makes me cry. I have to prepare myself for every episode.
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 3:55 PM on September 25, 2022 [2 favorites]

Previous use of "slore".

I knew I'd heard it before...
posted by fiercekitten at 3:27 PM on September 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think this episode is the one where I stop misremembering her name as whiskey jack.

I always figured her name was a play on Billy Jack, like she deliberately decided to take up that name.
posted by nushustu at 8:46 PM on September 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

Wow. This series. I really appreciated this season taking turns with each of the characters, witnessing their grief. These kids! They are all breaking my heart. I really felt their love as they encircled each other in the Pacific with Daniel. Powerful and poignant.
posted by amusebuche at 8:59 PM on September 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Cheese’s given name is Chester, so I think it’s a play on the first syllable.

Also, Chester Cheetah is the mascot for Cheetos and these kids love snacks.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:30 AM on October 8, 2022 [3 favorites]