Pups in a Dog’s world: A Reservation Dogs’ Analysis

The camera opens up on a peaceful Friday morning in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. That is, until it is rudely disturbed bright and early when a Flaming Flamers chip truck is stolen in broad daylight. In any other settlement, this type of situation would probably distress its residents to no end. But in this neglected small town, civilians are accustomed to the frequent torment by none other than their friendly neighborhood Reservation Dogs- Cheese, Willie Jack, Elora, and their leader Bear. On this reservation, a stolen food truck is nothing compared to jacked cars, destroyed streetlamps, stolen edibles, defaced property, and the occasional shoplifting.

This story is centered on Bear and his friends. Four kids linked together through less than perfect households and the death of their beloved friend, Daniel. Daniel is only mentioned a few times throughout the pilot, making his death an ominous topic and the audience desperate for more information. Though this topic is only given so much screen time, the grief is still very apparent as the group commemorates Daniel’s memory with ritualistic memorials and a small shrine. The grief is so consuming that at one point, Bear calls out to what looks like Daniel’s ghost shining under a streetlamp in an almost sinister atmosphere.

As the story progresses, we only get a glimpse of his cause of death in the first episode when someone vaguely mentions that “this place” [aka their hometown] killed him. But despite this hush-like like demeanor around his death, it is the driving force for the gang’s actions. Through this newfound disrespect of their homeland and the fear of experiencing the same fate, Bear and his group turn to a life a crime. They do this in hopes of scraping up enough money to pool together and escape to the wonderous land of California.

As the time runs for the pilot, it becomes obvious that these kids are just as neglected as the town they live in. “Latchkey kid” is a very loose term for what defines this group. In one particular scene, Bear is seen grabbing his mother’s wallet and looking back to see if he’s being watched. In this shot alone, one can only assume he’s stealing cash from her wallet. To the audience’s surprise, Bear reaches into his back pocket, slips a wad of money into the purse, and puts it back into place. The scene alone implies a lot. For one thing, money is tight enough in Bear’s home that he feels responsible enough to financially take care of his mother, despite the fact that she is consistently at the hospital working as a nurse.

After putting the wallet back into place, Bear makes his way over to the bathroom where his mom, Rita, is getting ready for a night out. The conversation starts from uncomfortable to tense in a matter of seconds when the subject of Bear’s dad comes up. From this exchange, the audience learns that Bear’s father is an out-of-work rapper and is very much absent from his life. And not only that, but Rita is consistently looking for a replacement and misses no chance to insult the father of her child, whether Bear is there to hear it or not. From the way Bear defends him, it is fairly obvious that he is desperate for his father and is not a fan of the revolving door of men trying to replace him. And in light of the financial hardships, he’s slowly losing his mother as well.

Though Bear is the only household we see in the pilot, seeing his situation alone allures to the rest of the group’s family situations as well. Which begs the question: are all these kids home lives so terrible that they feel like their only escape is a life of petty crimes and a road trip across the country?

In their most recent endeavor of stealing the food truck, the group comes across a moral dilemma that leads to a crossroads of where they want to go from here. Because of the recent heist, the food delivery man was fired from his job, causing a chain reaction of divorce, bankruptcy, loss of health insurance, and a potential loss of a leg caused by diabetes. Seeing the damage done across this man’s life, Bear’s has an epiphany. He convinces the group to give back the truck and the money they earned by stealing it.

Upon Bear’s newfound moral compass, a new gang makes their way into town called the NDN mafia. As the mafia makes their way into the neighborhood, they too start to make a name for themselves with the very same crimes the dogs did. With war declared against the Reservation Dogs, Bear swears to protect the home he once hated and won’t back down without a fight. But the conflict remains: When it comes down to it, will the dogs choose to preserve their plans to escape or the home that is responsible for their friend’s death?

(Blog post credit: Writer: Denise Espinola, Photo Editor: Lucien Zuniga, Social Media: Corey Landa, Scribe and Producer: Thanasak Cheng)

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