Life goes on in Reservation Dogs. In “Roofing,” Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) gets a job and learns some valuable life lessons from his co-workers.
Bear hasn’t been himself. He’s brooding more than usual. And any time he tries to get help from the Spirit William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth), Spirit leaves him high and dry. So what’s a rez dog to do … get a job.
RELATED: Reservation Dogs Recap (S02E02): Run
Bear is a little nervous about his first day on his new job. He is working with a construction crew with Cheese’s uncle Charlie (Nate Apodaca aka Doggface) and Marc Don (Chad Charlie). Rita (Sarah Podemski) finds him outside rubbing his tool belt into the ground with his foot. Bear says he has to age his belt so the other guys don’t make fun of him. When Charlie and Marc Don arrive, that’s the first thing they do. Make fun of Bear’s toolbelt.
When he gets to the construction site, he sees Daniel’s (Dalton Cramer) dad, Danny (Michael Spears) waiting for them. They are all roofers, but the only instructions that they give Bear is to do what they do. Bear watches, but feels like he’s not learning much. When they teach him to hit a nail, they tell him to think about what makes him mad. The only thought in his head is is dad, Punkin Lusty (Sten Joddi).
Spirit shows up when Bear is using the bathroom. Bear says he doesn’t think this job is for him because he almost fell off the roof. And the guys aren’t teaching him anything. They just expect him to know what he’s doing. Spirit says that’s the native way of teaching.
Bear was a little thrown off by Danny. He says maybe it’s time to get over Daniel’s death. Spirit says they have to mourn their relatives. They have to tear themselves to pieces so they come out new on the other side. He go through all of it to let them know that it’s okay to go. He will miss them, but we’ll be okay without them. When Bear gets back on the roof, Charlie and Marc Don are making a dancing videos.
At lunch, the guys start talking about when they were younger. They all played basketball with Bear’s dad. Bear makes a comment about his dad not being there for him and the guys realize that he’s got Daddy Issues. But he’s not the only one. Danny says all dads are bad. Bear makes a sny comment saying Danny should know about bad dads and Danny leaves.
Marc Don tells Bear that he has to let a man make his mistakes. Men learn from experience. It’s like when Bear almost fell off the roof. When it happens once, he should learn from it. If it happens again, then Bear is just playing around too much.
Later, Marc Don sends Bear to help Danny. Danny says he’s okay, but Bear tries anyway. He apologizes to Danny for what he said. Danny quickly forgives him and shows Bear how to hammer the shingles into the roof.
Danny also asks about Elora (Devery Jacobs) and Bear tells him how she left town without him. He says she hasn’t been the same since Daniel died. Danny says no one is the same. He broke up with his wife, quit drinking and moved out of his house. He said he couldn’t be in that house or that street after Daniel. Danny is in a lot of pain and wonders what he could have done to be a better father. Then maybe Daniel would still be there.
Bear tells him about their plans to go to California and says it was Daniel’s idea. Danny knew it was Daniel’s dream to go to California. Daniel always asked his dad to take him, but he couldn’t afford to. He says it’s good that Elora got out of town. He wishes Bear could have gone too.
Bear says he feels bad. He doesn’t think he was there for Daniel enough. Danny says it wasn’t up to Bear. The adults didn’t see Daniel’s pain and that’s on them. He tells Bear just to keep growing. And says a man isn’t someone who makes mistakes and hopes they can do better. A man knows whatever he does has consequence. Danny tells Bear to be good the first time around.
Marc Don calls it a day. Danny helps Bear stand up and they see an orb in the sky. Danny and Bear stare at the orb until it disappears. Neither of them say anything, but they know something special happened.
Marc Don drops off Bear and gives him a day’s worth of pay. Bear gives his mom money for the bills and puts the rest in a shoebox. He lays down to rest and Elora knocks on his window. She’s crying, but Bear doesn’t let her say why. He gets angry and starts yelling at her for leaving him behind. When Elora stops him from yelling, she tells him that her grandmother is dying.
RELATED: Catch up on all of the Reservation Dogs recaps here!
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.
