Ethan Hawke plays a know-it-all gadfly in Tulsa, a world filled with folksy cartoons.

I tried to stick with it but the parade of noble victims and evil whities wore me down, I made it through about 2/3 of E1, S1. Blacks, Indians, Jews, gays, women... why there was even a passing reference to Nazis (spoiler alert -- the bad guys are white Oklahoma politicians). With hints here and there, it looks like "The Lowdown" will dig back to the Tulsa race riots/massacre about a century ago.

There was some cold comfort watching the Hawke character get his face rearranged so there was that. But our hero is intrepid, epically smart, persistent and wears the shield of self-righteousness so the show didn't end.

As it started, I had hope. I mentioned to the wife that Ethan Hawke probably hasn't had the career he would have hoped for. He's surely far, far left but has the smarts to let others be conspicuous and take the heat, he's got more to lose having so little. I don't see "The Lowdown" as his road to anything beyond the rock he's living under.