I don't want to sound like a crazy person. Well, you failed.

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2021.  

#26 : Reservation Dogs

Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo’s comedy drama about bored youths trying to make it out of Oklahoma would have been brilliant in any case. But what elevated it is its cast (and near-uniform crew) of Indigenous North Americans. There’s a cultural specificity here that felt not only authentic, but authentically funny and sweet, like meeting a daft, lovable new circle of friends.

I've heard of this and heard it was good, but can't imagine I'd have watched it under any other circumstances.

But it is indeed pretty good - and far more relatable than I was expecting, as it follows four teenagers (Elora, Bear, Cheese and Willie Jack) as they attempt to navigate their daily lives.   Yes, it does strongly reference Indigenous North American culture, but they mostly all still have exactly the same problems at heart that everyone has the world over.  Such things live or die by the characters involved and they're an extremely likeable bunch - yes, they make some terrible decisions (show me a teenager that doesn't) but their hearts are in the right place and you want them to succeed as they interact with a particularly eccentric and often amusing bunch of supporting characters.

And what a strange bunch they are - Mose and Mekko (rappers of restricted growth), Uncle Brownie (well, he's my cousin's uncle), William Knifeman (a spirit guide who died at the Battle Of Little Bighorn because he was squashed by his own horse) and Officer Big (who's really not all that into arresting people, even when they admit to everything) were my favourites.  I'd also call out Bear's mum - she's not weird but she is a very likeable character.  

As well as great characters, it also does a great job on the story-telling front.  There's a decent overall arc, with opportunities for each character to develop within it and a nice bit of backstory which is drip fed to us throughout the season.  It also does a good job on the endings - one of which is extremely bittersweet but believable and the other being amusingly comedic whilst featuring far more full frontal male nudity than I was expecting (the pixellation has to do some heavy lifting here).

The acting throughout is of a very high quality - I'm going to call out Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack on the strength of episode 6 which is a surprisingly meditative two-hander reflecting on grief in the context of a hunting trip, Devery Jacobs as Elora on the strength of episode 7 which is a surprisingly meditative two-hander on grief in the context of a driving test and Lane Factor as Cheese on the strength of episode 5 which is an unsurprisingly unmeditative two-hander where him and Officer Big try to solve the mystery of who's putting weird copper sculptures around town (just your usual everyday problem).  I also have to mention D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as s Bear - he's still great without getting quite the same opportunity to shine, but he does have the most fantastic name.

There are some cultural references I didn't get, but I enjoyed reading up on them - pixellating out the eyes of a stuffed owl was a particularly odd one.  And Deer Lady was quite peculiar too.  Wikipedia also tells me it's the first series EVER filmed entirely in Oklahoma (it seems odd it took quite so long but, then again, I've never been to Oklahoma).

It's all very Waika - you can make many direct comparisons with What We Do In The Shadows both in terms of characters, balance of quirkiness and relatableness (that's a word, right?) and mix of both subtle and very unsubtle humour.  It's well filmed with some beautifully framed scenes and excellent use of the light - and it sounds surprisingly good as well, with it being very bassy in places.

All in all, I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting - it has some well-acted great characters in a great setting which really draws you in.  As with Only Murders In The Building, I'll definitely be checking out season 2 - which is coming later this year, so you've got plenty of time to check this out on Disney+ before it arrives.

#25 - A great bit of telly I wouldn't have otherwise watched
#27 - The most fascinatingly boring telly