The bittersweet memories of an old friend: a Reservation Dogs analysis

Many would be led to believe that Reservation Dogs is mostly a comedy series, as most advertisements present it as such. While the show is primarily comedic, it does dip into more serious subjects and themes. Topics such as those of the loss of those close to you, dealing with grief, and even the subject of mental health. The show is seen through the lenses of the current generation of teenagers, those that are very much in a chaotic time in their lives, and it can be both wild and very emotion-filled. A majority of the series occurs on the native american reservation that the four friends live on, with their respective family members.  They go about their lives like most kids their age do, apart from the exception of getting into various antics in attempts to help their town or just stay alive in their day-to-day lives. They either spend their time hanging out at their houses, the store, or their hideout which just so happens to be an old worn-down abandoned building.

The show occurs very much in modern times, it shows the lives of the main four kids and how it goes for them. They live in an area that is very connected and as a result, this shows through their interactions with those around the reservation. It is very much a show about community, this is evident through the friends' dedication to making attempts to help those in their surroundings, even if they have their own issues in their lives to deal with. They do share in griefing for the loss of Daniel, the fifth member of their group, and the one whose passing has caused a change in each of them and others in their lives as well. Willie Jack and Elora are examples of how his passing has greatly affected people.

Willie Jack, the closest to the group's friend Daniel seeing as they were cousins, reminisces about a prior hunting trip they went on with her dad Leon long before Daniel’s passing while presently on one with Leon now in the sixth episode aptly titled “Hunting”.  The episode begins very somber, with Willlie speaking towards a photo of a smiling Daniel picture upon the wall of her home, as she continues to speak the photo then is changed to the smiling figure of Daniel standing opposite her, with him even reacting to what she is saying like he is physically there to hear her words being spoken to him. But alas, as the camera cuts back to his side he is shown to just be a photo, a memory of a time gone by. This shows the bond between the characters and how deeply his loss has truly affected her the most since they were family.

The episode is very much set in a significant environment for the family, as they have been hunting there for years, it holds memories and is even what leads to the father and daughter coming to terms with their grief somewhat, albeit in a humorous yet heartfelt and emotion-rich moment that they experience together. They both miss Daniel and even if he isn’t keen on their hunting trips, his absence makes the family miss him. Though not physically there, he is with them in other ways, like the bag of food Willie Jack brings out that was his and the place that he still has in their lives.

Elora has a memory with Daniel that she holds dear, this occurs in the seventh episode “California Dreamin’” where she remembers the time when she took Daniel to a Honky tonk. She was even the one to encourage him to dance with her, they both seem to be having a great time. She is almost a completely different person from who we see in the present-day scenes. Elora deals with her grief mostly by turning to petty crime and even attempting to get her driver's license, citing that she’s tired of walking. It is even shown that on the night after the two exited the honky tonk he was the one that planted the idea of going to California in her head, she even agreed to go with him when the time comes, but it never would for the two of them together. 

She has had a prior loss in her life that has been seemingly unresolved until now, that being the death of her mother in what she later learned to be a drunk-driving car wreck caused by her mother’s boyfriend having been the drunk driver. She hears this truth from her old basketball coach, who was a close friend of her mom. He mentions how there’s a before and after when someone you care about dies, much like how she is different and the changes that have followed with Daniel’s passing. Bringing up the loss of her mother, she connects this to the loss of Daniel, showing that she saw him as an important figure in her life and that the loss was also very significant to her. It takes her back to the day when she found him hanging, believing it to just be any other day, but it was the day that everything would change for her and the group.

Loss is something that Reservation Dogs returns to heavily, as it’s something that everyone has dealt with at some point or will go through eventually. It shows the hurt that can come from it, how it can affect those close to the ones that were lost, and how it is possible to move on while still carrying the memories that were both good and bad. But what should be gained from both instances used as examples, both characters were dealing with their grief with people who understand it as well, furthering the importance of community in the series.

(Blog Post Credit: Writer: Lucien Zuniga, Photo Editing and Social Meda: Thanasak Cheng, Scribe: Denise Espinola, Producer: Corey Landa)

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