Rhythms of the Rez

Sound is part of the foundation that makes up a film or a series. Reservation Dogs is an example of how sound works are used in creative ways, either to tell a story or give some little nods to the past. This series has used sound in a way that can tell a story as well as giving some subtlety that can make something much more. Sound design helps this series go from having references to something that can have subtle foreshadowing.

The first example of sound being used is in episode two: “NDN Clinic”. In this episode, Bear goes to the clinic after getting decimated by the NDN Mafia. After Bear gets annihilated by the gang, the sounds of woodwinds play, which it cuts to Bear waking up in what seems to be a different world. These woodwinds have the aesthetics of Native culture, which is plausible because the show’s main cast are Native in heritage. After Bear wakes into the imaginary world, William Knifeman says “Aho, young warrior!” as he is peeing behind the garbage bin. Knifeman then tells Bear to go to the clinic, before that mentions Custard presumably did the same thing. This has implications on Knifeman’s past, though it could be just the spirit being metaphorical at that point.

In that same episode, there is this character that came into interest because of how he speaks the dialogue. This character is Dr. Kang. He is the person that treats Cheese, Elora, and Bear. How he speaks to them is quite different in many ways. While he kind of just speaks uncaringly to both Cheese and Elora, which makes him sound like he does not want to work with those patients and does not want to deal with them, he seems to be more caring towards Bear, as he is talking more sympathetically and talks about Bear’s mom as well. At first, how he sounds professional, even saying “he likes the Native American people”, which contradicts him with his talk with Cheese saying “Native American’s eyes fall out”, but when it gets to Bear’s mom Rita, he sounds flirtatious towards her. This just means that he secretly likes her and wants to date her.

Another use of sound in the series is in “Uncle Brownie”. In this episode, the Rez Dogs go to Uncle Brownie to teach Bear how to fight, where he will teach them after he sells his weed. The music choices in the episode are rather interesting. On one hand, the song “Lucky Penny” by JD McPherson is used non-diegetically to showcase locations,

while “Galaxy (I’m the Ruler)” by Bill Campbell is used in one scene where Uncle Brownie goes to a weed store and smells some strong weed, which is non-diegetic as well. The last song serving the end credits, “Flight of the Eagle” by Om, has implications for the future of the group. It could mean that the Rez Dogs are starting to get a footing of life.

The last example of music (and sound) being used in a symbolic way is in the episode “Come

and Get Your Love”. The title of the episode says the majority of the plot, but let’s get into the details. For starters, the song was made by Native Americans with some Hispanic heritage in them, which in a way, makes this episode unique as it connects their culture with the music even though it is not connected directly to them. Even more interestingly, the end of the episode even plays the original music video for that song. In the last segment of that episode, Cheese was trying to fix the radio of Officer Big’s car to play some music in the car to fill the silence. The noise that plays starts with some static and immediately cuts to the actual song, which if you may have guessed, is the title of the episode. The music so far is diegetic, but this is changed by the time the scene switches from the interior of Big’s police car to the outside, where the music is slightly clearer and this clarity carries over into the credits, where the band that made the music, Redbone, are singing it. This makes a rather recognizable transition from being what the characters are hearing to becoming diegetic, in that we hear the music in the music video

instead of it being played in the car.

The Deer Lady and the robber scene in the episode is something to discuss. The sound work here is rather interesting, so let’s dissect the scene for a bit. At the beginning of the store segment, the girl gives the store cashier the money, which in exchange gives the cigarettes. Initially, the sound of either the radio or TV is playing in the background, giving the vibe of just calm. The guy also sounds cheerful and delighted to see the young girl. 

When the robbers came in to steal the money and other things, there are multiple things at work. The first thing is the store owner’s dialogue changes from being calm to acting confused, which is human. Another thing, and this is important, is when one of the robbers points the gun at the Deer Lady, some small bell noises are heard. This is not heard anywhere else besides when the lady is in presence of the shot. This can indicate a couple of things. She could be a spirit that takes out bad people or she could be a person who can give a bunch of beatings and destroy their bodies. The bell noise is also present when the Deer Lady (presumably) gives the toilet paper to the girl. 

By the end of that sequence, the scene ends with the shot revealing that the two robbers are dead. The store owner speaks in a dreaded and confused way. Lastly, the radio/TV noise gets shut off by tense noises that seem to rise in volume, which indicates the mystery of how they were killed.

[Credits: Lucien Zuniga (Producer), Corey Landa (Scribe/Photo Editor), Thanasak Cheng (Column writer),  Denise Espinola (Social Media Manager)]