‘The Lowdown’ Season 2 Cast and Returning Characters (With Photos)

FX has set the second season of ‘The Lowdown’ to debut on October 14 at 9pm ET, with new episodes arriving on Wednesdays. The season has eight episodes in total. The ensemble pairs familiar faces with two major additions.

Sterlin Harjo created the series, and FX renewed it for another chapter at the top of the year. Here is a closer look at the cast of ‘The Lowdown’ and the characters each actor plays this time around.

Ethan Hawke

Hawke stars as citizen journalist Lee Raybon, a self proclaimed Tulsa truthstorian whose obsession with the truth is always getting him into trouble. A first look from the new season shows him in the role.

The season picks up as Lee earns a local citizen journalist award for his reporting on the untimely death of Dale Washberg. Lee lives and works in a rare books store tucked in the heart of Tulsa, which FX describes as a local refuge and unofficial community hub.

Hawke also serves as an executive producer alongside Harjo, Garrett Basch, Ryan Hawke, Duffy Boudreau and Scott Teems. FX describes him as a current Oscar nominee.

Betty Gilpin

Gilpin plays Ginger, a public defender. FX describes the character as a beautiful and brash public defender who is herself a crusader for truth.

Lee’s wildly unfiltered speech at the award ceremony grabs her attention. One of Ginger’s clients has gone missing from the state penitentiary, and she accepts Lee’s amateur help on the case.

Gilpin is an Emmy nominee. She is widely recognized for her breakout role in Netflix’s ‘GLOW’. Her casting was announced before Tommy Lee Jones joined the series.

Tommy Lee Jones

Jones joined the cast as an Oscar winner, though FX initially offered no details about his character. He has since been reported in the role of Lee’s estranged father. One Italian report describes the story as bringing the return of a father Lee had preferred to declare dead.

Jones recently starred in Amazon’s legal drama ‘The Burial’ with Jamie Foxx and Jurnee Smollett. He earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar earlier in his career.

TheWrap’s first look at the season pairs Jones with Hawke in a shared image. That image offers an early glimpse of a father and son dynamic that the new episodes appear ready to explore.

Keith David

David returns as Marty among the supporting players who come back for the new season. He also starred in the first season.

Marty is now Managing Editor of The Heartland Press, much to Lee’s chagrin. Lee has butted heads with him in the past.

Marty is also the one who has to approve Lee’s research. That makes him a gatekeeper between Lee and the stories he most wants to tell.

Rafael Casal

Casal plays Johnny, a jujitsu trained dentist with a heart of gold. Lee reluctantly enlists his assistance while bumbling his way through the investigation with Ginger.

Johnny is also the new husband of Lee’s ex, Samantha. That connection places him at the center of Lee’s personal life as well as his professional one.

The investigation uncovers power, corruption and malfeasance among the wealthy elite, which gives Lee his next story for The Heartland Press. TheWrap describes Johnny as the stepdad to Lee’s teenage daughter.

Kaniehtiio Horn

Horn plays Samantha, Lee’s ex. She was among the guest stars who appeared in the first season.

She returns alongside Keith David and Rafael Casal as part of the supporting cast. Samantha is now married to Johnny and co-parents the couple’s teenage daughter, Francis.

One German report notes that Samantha, Johnny and Francis leave Lee caught between work and family once again. Horn’s character is therefore central to the emotional side of the season.

Ryan Kiera Armstrong

Armstrong plays Francis, Lee’s teenage daughter, who longs for more time with her ever busy father. She also appeared as a guest star in the first season.

Armstrong returns for the new season along with the rest of the supporting cast. Her storyline gives the series a personal counterweight to its crime plot.

The first season received an AFI Award for TV Programme of the Year and holds a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes. With Lee’s father returning just as Francis wants more of his attention, which of the two relationships do you think will test him the most this season?