Every generation has their own Reservation Dogs. In “House Made of Bongs,” we take a trip back in time to a day in the young lives of our favorite elders. A couple episodes ago, Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) got lost and met a man named Maximus (Graham Greene). Maximus is from Okern and had a video of his friends, including Mabel (Geraldine Kearns), Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek), Bucky (Wes Studi) and Brownie (Gary Farmer). Ever wonder what they were like when they were young? Not much different than they are now. In fact, they remind me of a group of young warriors that we know now. Directed by Blackhorse Lowe
Just in case you forgot … Mabel is Elora Danan’s (Devery Jacobs) grandmother. Irene is Cheese’s (Lane Factor) adopted grandma. Elora also calls Brownie Uncle. Bucky and Brownie are also a couple of elders that are trying to teach Bear and his friends some life lessons. The story also involves another elder, Fixico (Richard Ray Whitman) who just agreed to teach Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) about medicine.
1976
Brownie (Nathan Alexis) drives Mabel (Shelby Factor) and Irene (Quannah Chasinghorse) to school. It’s the last day of school and Coach (Thosh Collins) reminds everyone to behave. Young Maximus (Isaac Arellanes), who prefers to be called Chebon, makes a video of the last day of his junior year. He meets up with Mabel and Irene who ask if he got the stuff. What stuff? Drugs. They mean drugs, and Chebon forgot.Chebon finds a trio of smokers outside and asks where he can get acid. They tell him to ask his cousin Fixico (Josiah Wesley Jones). There’s just one problem. Chebon isn’t talking to Fixico right now. The rumor is that they are fighting over Mabel.
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Chebon lives in the dorms at the school and plans to stay there over the summer. He really doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Bucky (Mato Wayuhi) invites him to come home with him, but Chebon says he doesn’t want to be a burden. He has tons of movies to watch and books to read. Bucky suggests he makes up with Fixico. They are family and shouldn’t stay mad at each other. Chebon snaps at Bucky, saying he’s good. That’s Bucky’s cue to go. First he gives Chebon a book to add to his stack.
Coach chats with Brownie while he waits for Irene and Mabel. Brownie quit school because there were too many rules. Coach says the rules only apply when you’re grown up. He starts preaching about how Brownie will end up in jail. Bucky joins them and Coach smells something funny. He asks if they are smoking marijuana and Brownie says he was burning cedar. He lets them leave and it’s time to party. First stop … SONICS! They picked up Chebon before getting food. Everyone makes fun of Chebon for not getting the drugs. Luckily, Fixico drives up. Chebon doesn’t want to talk to him, so Brownie goes. Fixico says he’s getting what they need and to meet him later. Brownie asks Chebon for money, but he doesn’t want to give the money to Fixico. He gives in though … for Mabel.
DOWN BY THE RIVER
Someone bought a keg and shared it with everyone at the river. Mabel talks to Chebon about Fixico. The real tea is that Mabel and Fixico dated for about a week, a month before she started dating Chebon. But that’s not why Chebon is mad at Fixico. The two cousins had some words and Fixico said something that Chebon really didn’t like. Chebon feels like Fixico looks down on him. Chebon says Fixico always had things that he didn’t have, like parents. And Fixico doesn’t acknowledge that Chebon doesn’t have those things. And now his cousin is being trained to be a medicine man and people practically worship him. So they had a fight and Chebon let some things out that he bottled up. Mabel gets it. She says it’s not right, but she gets it.
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Chebon gets quiet and zones out for a bit. When he comes to, Brownie is talking about how good life is now that he’s not in school. They all talk about what they want to do with their lives. Brownie wants to open a dojo. Irene wants to join AIM. Mabel wants to raise NDN babies. Bucky is going to be a scientist. And Chebon wants to make movies. Everyone laughs at him, saying his dream is ridiculous. Chebon doesn’t find it funny. He says anytime someone has a bigger dream than the rest of them, they drag them down. Like crabs in a bucket … even if they are just joking.
PARTY ON THE MOON
The party goes on. Bucky tries to talk to Fixico about quantum physics. He seems to understand it well. Or he’s really high. Brownie gets his drugs and passes them around to the group. Chebon hesitates, but eventually joins the group. The drugs kick in. Bucky finds Chebon near the river, zoned out. This is the first time Chebon has done acid. He pretends that he’s not affected, but Bucky knows better. Bucky says he will realize he’s feeling it after he feels it for a while. Then he won’t be able to recall feeling any other way. Chebon stumbles through the party with Bucky, falling on the ground laughing.
Later that night, after the drugs wear off a little, everyone decides it’s time to leave. Brownie is sick and asks Chebon to drive. Just before they get in the car, Fixico approaches Chebon. Fixico has the best intentions and wants to move past the argument he had with his cousin. But Chebon isn’t ready. Doesn’t matter how polite and loving Fixico is, Chebon gets angry just looking at him. Fixico tries to express his love for Chebon, only setting him off. Chebon speeds off with his friends to end the conversation.
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DISTANT RELATIVES
Chebon is still angry as he drives and starts crying. Irene is talking about how anti-Indian the boarding school system is and she has a lot to say. She says their societies are stronger when there are elders and children. Mabel tells her to stop talking because she has a headache. Bucky chimes in saying boarding schools disrupt the link. Brownie passes out while Bucky talks. Bucky keeps talking as Mabel and Irene fall asleep. Chebon can feel himself falling asleep too. He realizes that Bucky stopped talking and tries to wake up Bucky to keep himself awake. Everyone is asleep and they don’t see the giant spaceship hovering over them.
Chebon stops the car and gets out. An alien (Dalton Cramer) appears and tries to communicate with the boy. Chebon doesn’t understand him and asks who he is. The Alien says he’s Chebon’s relative and he came to look at him. The alien and the ship disappear. Chebon is standing in the middle of the road when everyone wakes up and gets out of the car. He tries to tell them what he saw, but they don’t believe him. They think the drugs made Chebon hallucinate. Chebon is adamant that he saw the ship and the alien. He says it was his relatives but they all look at him like he’s crazy. Brownie says he made it to the moon and asks for his keys. They get back into the car and leave
RELATED: Catch up on all of the Reservation Dogs recaps here!
Watch the Reservation Dogs on FX on Hulu.
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
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