‘Reservation Dogs’ Says Goodbye with Beautifully Absurd Final Season

“Reservation Dogs” started with a farewell.

The revelatory FX comedy from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi picked up in Season 1 with Elora Danan (Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) and Cheese (Lane Factor) mourning their friend Daniel (Dalton Cramer), processing his suicide with petty theft and rebellion and a plan to run away from home. The show’s third and final season, premiering today, finds the res dogs cautiously forging their own paths — no longer afraid of losing each other and Daniel’s memory the way they were before visiting California. The four episodes screened for critics honor the show’s off-kilter humor and striking poignance, setting up a final farewell that will be equally bittersweet and triumphant.

The friends did make it to California in Season 2, wading into the ocean to say goodbye to Daniel after losing their car and communing with “White Jesus” (Brandon Boyd). They quickly head home to Oklahoma, to the promise of family and community and normalcy, but life moves inexorably forward. Bear goes on a life-changing solo adventure. Elora starts to think about her future while reframing her past. Willie Jack considers a job. Cheese finally gets his glasses. The dogs are growing up, and the young actors behind them have never looked more comfortable as they portray the countless internal battles of adolescence. Woon-A-Tai and Jacobs do the dramatic lifting in Episodes 1-4 (the full season will consist of 10), but the show never strays far from Alexis and Factor’s enchanting dynamic and comedic timing. An early conversation between Willie Jack and Cheese establishes that they’ll be left alone when the other two move on, and even if they aren’t scared, they want to be ready.

Early episodes mark the expected and welcome return of Dallas Goldtooth’s wayward spirit, as well as Kaniehtiio Horn as Deer Lady in a captivating and contained episode (is it too early to submit a guest actor contender for the next Emmys season?). Harjo and his directors continue to embrace the abstract through these characters, but never weigh “Reservation Dogs” down with explanations and flights of fancy; The spirit and Deer Lady are as real to the audience as to Bear, while unbelievable to those around him — and both things are true. FX’s press materials also promise to delve further into remaining characters, particularly the adults, but simply reuniting with the likes of Big (Zahn McClarnon), Bev (Jana Schmieding), Mose (Lil Mike), Mekko (FunnyBone), and the rest is a joy. Mark Schwartzbard’s cinematography enthralls as usual, portraying everything from Los Angeles to Okern to an unidentified desert with lush color.

“I think we’re meant to live how [Daniel] would’ve wanted to live,” Elora tells Bear in the premiere episode. That’s not a revolutionary idea for the dogs or anyone else grappling with sudden loss, but the sentiment has matured palpably since where these characters began. Living — and loving, as they learn — doesn’t look the same for everyone, and neither does honoring Daniel’s memory (and Elora’s mother’s, and her grandmother’s, and Bear’s estranged father, and more).

During Season 2, Jacobs told IndieWire that “Reservation Dogs” was part of “a moment”; the first show with an entirely Native cast, writers, and directors and no longer the only one. The series debuted with a clear and confident voice, unexpected humor, and the kind of authenticity Hollywood can’t manufacture without betting big and trusting creatives (FX used the words “difficult” and “sad” in a press release confirming the ending). It’s a show that the audience would stick with for 10 seasons, but can also send off with dignity and respect after a truly magnificent three. Walk in beauty, my friends.

Grade: A–

The first two episodes of “Reservation Dogs” Season 3 are now streaming on FX via Hulu, with new episodes weekly.