It’s the season finale of Reservation Dogs! In “Satvrday,” the Reservation Dogs prepare to leave for California, but are delayed by a tornado.
Directed by Sterlin Harjo
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The day has finally come. The day the Reservation Dogs leave for California. The Spirit, William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth) pays a visit to Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) to make sure he doesn’t have any unfinished business to take care of. He does. The Reservation Dogs have to fight the NDN Mafia. At least, that’s what Bear thinks he’s talking about.
Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) eats breakfast with her parents, quietly. She gives Leon (Jon Proudstar) a $50 gift card to the casino buffet to give to her mom (Jennifer Podemski) for their anniversary. Cheese (Lane Factor) plays chess with his new grandma Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek). Cheese admits that he’s not her grandson and says he’s leaving for California soon. Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs) sits with her grandma, thanking her for everything she did for Elora, but her Grandma isn’t paying attention.
Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer) rides into the Village on a riding lawnmower that he borrowed from the hardware store. When he runs into the Reservation Dogs, he tells them he has the shakes. They think it’s from withdrawals, but he says a tornado is coming. He needs an ax to perform his ceremony to stop the tornado. Willie Jack doesn’t believe him. Cheese thinks it would be cooler if he used a samurai sword.
RESERVATION DOGS “Satvrday’” Episode 8 (Airs, Monday, September 20) Pictured: (l-r) Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan, Lane Factor as Cheese, Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear. CR: Shane Brown/FX
The Reservation Dogs head to their hideout to count their money. They finally have enough to go to California. Willie Jack announces that she’s not going. Bear and Elora Danan get upset with her. Elora asks Cheese if he’s backing out and he’s not. Willie Jack doesn’t want them to be mad at her. She gives them her cut of the money to help them out. They are more than friends, they’re her siblings. She promises to visit when she can.
Bear decides to tell them he’s been seeing a spirit. He tells them the Spirit said to fight the NDN Mafia. Elora Danan doesn’t want to deal with them, but Willie Jack says the ancestors are telling them to do something. They better listen. They set off to find their rivals.
The NDN Mafia are sitting outside their house. Jackie (Elva Guerra) complains about being bored. She says they always had stuff to do in the city. Bone Thug Dog (Jude Barnett) suggests they get high because it’s Saturday, she doesn’t have anything to do and she doesn’t have a job. But Jackie does have a job. They turn their attention to White Steve (Jack Maricle), who’s dancing to the music in his head.
Big (Zahn McClarnon) pulls Brownie as the Reservation Dogs confront the NDN Mafia. They all start yelling at each other. Cheese yells loud enough to get their attention. The sky is getting dark and he tells them that a tornado is coming. They don’t care and continue yelling at each other.
RESERVATION DOGS “Satvrday’” Episode 8 (Airs, Monday, September 20) Pictured: Gary Farmer as Uncle Brownie. CR: Shane Brown/FX
Uncle Brownie scolds Big for stopping him, but Big knows he stole the lawnmower. Brownie says he has no jurisdiction; this is Indian land. Big reminds him that he’s a tribal cop and Brownie calls him a traitor. Hail starts falling, causing everyone to run away. Big tells Brownie to take the lawnmower back to the store. He’s heading to the church shelter. A tornado is coming and Brownie thanks the creator.
Everyone passes candles around in the church basement until Leon turns on the lights. Bear sees Jackie sitting next to him and the kids start yelling again. Leon and Big tell the kids to be respectful. Jackie asks Big if he ever found out who stole the chip truck, making Elora and Cheese nervous. Big hasn’t solved that case yet, but he has a couple of leads. Jackie has nothing to offer…right now. Cheese flips her the bird and they start arguing again, this time whispering.
Brownie knocks on the door of the house, but no one answers. He opens the garage door and sees an ax. He makes his way to the side of the house where he finds a ladder. Brownie climbs the ladder, ready to face the tornado.
Elora is tired of this town and leaves to be alone. Bear is worried about his mom. Willie Jack says she’s okay and thinks maybe her phone is off. Mose and Mekko start rapping for everyone. They are surprised when White Steve stands up and joins their freestyle. The kid has some skills.
Bear and Willie Jack pour water for everyone. He asks where Elora went. Willie saw her go upstairs with Jackie. She suggests maybe Elora is trying to figure things out with Jackie. Bear goes to the church balcony and watches Elora talking to Jackie. Bear goes upstairs to spy on them and the Spirit shows up. He says he’s called to Bear because of the fear in his heart. The Spirit says Bear has been doing good things for the community but there’s still one thing he needs to do. Bear says he tried to fight the bad guys, but the tornado came. Spirit says the fight isn’t what he was talking about. Elora and Jackie finish their talk, so Bear runs back downstairs.
RESERVATION DOGS “Satvrday’” Episode 8 (Airs, Monday, September 20) Pictured: Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan. CR: Shane Brown/FX
Bear confronts Elora about Jackie. At first Elora doesn’t tell him anything, but then she gets annoyed with Bear. She says she does all the work while Bear reaps all of the benefits. She saved the money, she got the car and the license. And when they get to California, he will probably mooch off of her there too. She says his dad would be proud.
That triggers Bear who argues that he’s going for the right reasons. Elora isn’t the only one who thinks of Daniel. He thinks about Daniel all the time. The difference is Bear thinks about when Daniel was alive and Elora can’t stop thinking that Daniel is dead. Elora gets upset. She starts to say something about seeing Daniel, but stops. She’s had enough. She scoots away from Bear.
Willie Jack tells everyone at the church to stand with her. She tells everyone that it’s her parents’ anniversary. They are good parents. Not just to Willie Jack, but to her cousin Daniel and all of her friends. But since Daniel died, they haven’t been happy. Neither has she. So she decided to stay in town because she won’t have her parents forever. Everyone wishes them a happy anniversary and sits down. Cheese stands up and announces that he’s staying too.
Bear stands on the roof of the house, yelling in Creek for the tornado to go away. He says he’s not afraid of the tornado as he holds the ax in the air and chops at the air. After the storm passes, the residents emerge from the church. The tornado didn’t hit the town. Big says someone has strong medicine.
Elora pushes her way past Bear and he tries to stop her. Willie Jack is frustrated that Elora is being dramatic. Bear admits he said some things he shouldn’t have said. He thinks they will talk about it in the car. Bear says his farewell to Willie Jack and Cheese. Willie Jack asks him to send her pictures of the ocean. Cheese tells him to watch out for smog levels. Bear gives them one last hug and says he loves them. I guess Willie Jack is the leader now.
RESERVATION DOGS “Satvrday’” Episode 8 (Airs, Monday, September 20) Pictured: (l-r) D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear, Sarah Podemski as Rita. CR: Shane Brown/FX
Bear meets Rita (Sarah Podemski) outside their house. He hugs her, afraid of what could have happened to her in the tornado. She says she’s not afraid of a little tornado. He stops her and tells her he loves her, giving his mom a big hug. She says she loves him too and heads inside to make dinner.
Elora Danan visits the hideout one last time before leaving. Bear waits on the curb of his house for her to pick him up. Elora picks up Jackie instead. Jackie is just as annoyed with the town as Elora Danan. She tells Elora to be happy she won’t ever see her family or friends again. Things are much better in the city because everyone minds their own business. Bear continues to wait for Elora as she drives out of town with Jackie.
Uncle Brownie wakes up naked in a field. He picks up the ax and it turns to dust. The Spirit William Knifeman greets him and says his clothes to the to place where the spirits go. They heard his prayer and had to take something from him in return. It was either his clothes or his life. The spirit is there to guide him to the good life. Spirit screams but starts coughing, like he always does.
Aho!
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.
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