Despite their ruggedness, the Reservation Dogs are actually decent humans. In “Send It,” Big (Zahn McClarnon) interrogates the gang. Why? Well … they may do some bad things, but it’s always with good intentions. Right? This episode is directed by Erica Trembley
One by one, the Rez Dogs and the NDN Mafia sit in Big’s Interrogation room. They’re reactions are very different. Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) sit and eats her Flaming Flamers. Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) is nervous, to say the least. In fact, all he can say is “I mean.” Cheese (Lane Factor) is nervous too. Big sarcastically offers him milk and cookies to which Cheese delightfully accepts. Bone Thug Dog (Jude Barnett) knows his rights. This is Indian Land. He asks for a lawyer and his Grandma! Everyone knows you don’t mess with a Mvskoke Grandma. White Steve (Jack Maricle) is ready to turn on his friends. He even offers to wear a wire and says none of it was his idea. Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs) isn’t talking, but Willie Jack is.
INTERROGATION
It all started at Elder breakfast. Willie Jack joined Old Man Fixico (Richard Ray Whitman), Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek), and Wotko (Wotko Long) even though she’s not an elder. Something Auntie Bea (Kimberly Guerrero) reminded her of. It’s all part of Willie Jack’s apprenticeship, even though all they do is sit around. Irene talks about the old days when Fixico used to drive keen cars. Fixico says they all went to boarding school together. Irene, Bucky (Wes Studi), Brownie (Gary Farmer), Mabel (Geraldine Kearns) and him. And they can’t forget Chebon, aka Maximus (Graham Greene).
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Willie Jack never heard the name Chebon and asks who that is. Fixico says it’s his brother-cousin and we know they haven’t spoken in a long time. Irene says Chebon is still alive. Fixico thought they’d make up before one of them died. Willie Jack suggests he invite his brother-cousin home, but Fixico says Chebon is too mean. Irene says it’s because they are both just Indian men, aka stubborn. Willie Jack goes to help Auntie Bea clean up. Fixico gets up and starts to walk out of the room, holding on to the tables as he goes. We hear him cough and a crash. Back in the interrogation room, Big says Fixico had a heart attack. But he doesn’t know what this has to do with the bus. Willie Jack says they needed wheels.
STAND BY ME
The Rez Dogs and the NDN Mafia team up to ask Kenny Boy (Kirk Fox) for wheels. They want to kidnap a distant uncle-cousin who’s in a mental hospital in Tulsa. Kenny Boy thinks it’s a bad idea, but he says ok. BUT! There are stipulations. First, they need more than a car, they need a bus. Second, he is now “Uncle.” Ansel (Matty Cardarople) goes with them too, counting heads to make sure they are all there. Kenny Boy puts greasy lines on his face…yep…like war paint. And they’re off!
Along the way, Cheese and White Steve geek out over Godzilla. Jackie (Elva Guerra) and Bear sit next to each other, with Weeze (Xavier Bigpond) behind them. No one is talking so Weeze messes with them. Elora tells Willie Jack that she is proud of her for looking out for Fixico. Usually, they are stealing something, but this is meaningful. They talk about the elders and how important they are. You are always learning something from your elders, even if you’re just sitting with them. Willie Jack promises Elora that if she goes first, she’ll be by Elora’s side. Eloria promises the same.
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THE PLAN
RESERVATION DOGS – “Send It” – Season 3, Episode 8 (Airs Wednesday, September 13th) – Pictured: (l-r) Jude Barnett as Bone Thug Dog, Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan, Jack Maricle as White Steve, Elva Guerra as Jackie, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear, Lane Factor as Cheese, Xavier Bigpond as Weeze, Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack, Kirk Fox as Kenny Boy. CR: Shane Brown/FX. Copyright 2023, FX Networks. All rights reserved.
Cheese drew a layout for the hospital because he didn’t have a printer. But! It’s not the same hospital. The layout isn’t important. Here’s the plan.White Steve and Bone Thug Dog will go in and create a diversion. Elora Danan and Jackie will cut the phone lines. They don’t know what phone lines look like, so Kenny Boy offers to go. Bear decides to send Cheese with the girls instead. Cheese is a gamer after all. He knows what wires look like.
Weeze is the lookout. They tell him to scream as loud as he can and he gets confused. They decide it would be better if he texts them if a problem arises. And he will use exclamation marks. And Wilie Jack and Bear will go inside, find Chebon and break him out. There’s one problem. They don’t know what Chebon looks like. And what if he doesn’t want to go. Bear is confident Chebon will want to leave the hospital.
Bear gets excited and says they can do this because they are the Rez Dogs! Bone Thug Dog points out that they are not Rez Dogs. Not him, Weeze, White Steve and Jackie … They’re the bad guy gang … the NDN Mafia. Bear asks if they want to be Rez Dogs and they say ok! Oh and what about Kenny Boy and Ansel? They have the best job. They are the getaway drivers. Why? Well, the kids don’t have a license to drive the bus. And Kenny Boy looks crazy, they might try to keep him.
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SEND IT
Mr. White and Mr. Dog approach the front desk. They tell the receptionist (Anne Funke) that they scheduled a tour with management for an article. Weeze is in place as the lookout and Willie Jack and Bear sneak in. The receptionist knows nothing about the tour. She asks for a card and White Steve is ecstatic that she asked. He hands her a hand written card, saying he ran out of the printed one.
Bear and Willie Jack check all of the charts for someone with an NDN name. It’s at this time that Cheese, Elora Danan and Jackie find the phone wires, but Elora Danan is afraid she might get electrocuted. The front desk nurse decides to call management since Mr. White and Mr. Dog are not on the schedule. Jackie tells Elora to “send it,” so Elora cuts the only wire on the box. With the phone lines down, the receptionist decides to give the tour herself.
CHEBON
Willie Jack finds a chart for Maximus Fixico, but says it’s not who they are looking for. Luckily Bear recognizes the name Maximus and instantly knows that Maximus is Chebon. Maximus is a little out of it when they enter his room, but he remembers Bear. They tell him about Old Man Fixico’s condition and they are there to break him out. Maximus laughs because they don’t have to break him out. He can come and go whenever he wants. Bear asks why the police took him away. Maximus explains it’s a cycle. He will check out, stop taking his medications, start writing letters to random people and the police come to get him. They take him back to the hospital and when he feels stabilized, he leaves again.
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Maximus says he hasn’t talked to his cousin in a long time. Willie Jack tells him to put all the bad stuff behind him. Fixico won’t be around much longer. Maximus doesn’t seem to care and Bear is shocked. Willie Jack gets frustrated saying she understands the elders went through some stuff at boarding school. And she’s sorry for what happened. She starts to cry saying she’d give anything to see her cousin Daniel again. Fixico wants to see Chebon again, but he’s acting stubborn, so she’s leaving. Maximus says he will go with them.
They run into White Steve and Bone Thug Dog while Maximus checks out of the hospital. Bear asks Maximus to pretend like they busted him out of the hospital because that’s what the rest of their friends think is happening. Maximus agrees. Bone Thug Dog and White Steve hold up their jackets and act like security as they lead him to the bus. Everyone is excited that their plan actually work. They all jump on the bus and head home.
SMOKE SIGNALS
RESERVATION DOGS – “Send It” – Season 3, Episode 8 (Airs Wednesday, September 13th) – Pictured: Kirk Fox as Kenny Boy. CR: Shane Brown/FX. Copyright 2023, FX Networks. All rights reserved.
Big is confused. He has no idea how breaking Maximus has anything to do with the bus. So what happened to that bus? Everything was great. The group celebrates on the bus home. Mission accomplished. Until a hose busted and the radiator started smoking. Everyone jumps off the bus and starts running. A few minutes later, the bus blows up. Kenny Boy tells everyone to split up and run.
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Back in the interrogation room, Kenny Boy asks Big what the big deal is. Big is tired of all of the little crimes they all do. He says he’s giving everyone tickets. Kenny Boy won’t let him do that. He says the kids were taking care of an elder, so he will take all of the blame for the bus. Him and Ansel. Big thinks the kids need to pay for their crimes too, but Kenny Boy says they are good kids. They show up for each other and the community. They hold each other accountable. He says sometimes you take the heat, but it’s all in service of each other. All of us.
The kids go to the hospital with Maximus, where Wotko and Irene are waiting. Maximus visits Fixico by himself and holds his hand while Fixico looks at his brother-cousin. Oh, one last thing … Kenny Boy says he’s been sober since the woods. Big says he’s been through a lot.
END CREDIT SCENE
Big pulls out a computer and makes Bear play a video. It’s footage of Bev (Jana Schmieding) at work, playing with her gum. Bear is confused and Big gets embarrassed, closing the laptop. Later, he pulls out the laptop again for Cheese, Elora and Willie Jack. He shows them footage of the time they stole the chip truck. He says he found it on Facebooks. Cheese says it’s a deep fake. Elora denies it’s them because the criminals’ faces are covered. In the video, you can hear Willie Jack cursing. As she watches, she says it’s not her. They got the wrong guy.
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Watch the Reservation Dogs on FX on Hulu.
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.
