'The Lowdown' Season 2 Episode 5: Kyle MacLachlan's Governor Springs Lee From Jail

Kyle MacLachlan returns as Governor Donald Washberg in Season 2, Episode 5 of "The Lowdown," titled "A Dog With Two Tails," and his first act is springing series lead Lee Raybon from Sheriff Thorne's custody. Sean T. Collins recaps the episode for The Times.

The favor has a history. Washberg, now the Republican governor of Oklahoma, owes Lee for solving the murder of his brother while keeping some of Donald's own secrets buried. The governor duly calls in the paperwork, and Lee walks free. Collins writes that "the resulting look of smug satisfaction on Lee's face is priceless," while predicting the sheriff will make him pay for it later.

What changes after the governor's favor?

The repayment cuts both ways. Lee's mood sours when he realizes Washberg wants nothing else to do with him now the debt is settled. After getting ditched, Lee corners the governor in a diner — and gets a front-row seat to the episode's main introduction.

Judge Jed Sallsman, played by John Hawkes, pops in to say hello. Collins asks of the casting: "will this show's well of great character actors ever run dry?" Sallsman is a rising star in Oklahoma politics and a political frenemy of the governor. All smiles, the judge is familiar with Lee's work and seemingly confident he can win over the affable but politically misaligned truthstorian. He invites both men on an impromptu tour of his estate, an offer Donald is forced to accept for public relations reasons.

What does the judge collect?

The tour moves through a vast estate. Sallsman stays coy about where his money comes from, but his palatial home is full of Old West artifacts. The collection includes the gavel of Isaac C. Parker, the so-called "Hanging Judge." Jed's offhand comment lands hard: "We should bring back the noose, to be honest."

The holdings also include items taken from the area's Native people over the years. Collins notes this does not seem coincidental. Earlier in the episode, a furious-sounding Frog delivers a speech to Marty and Ray about how "the record of an entire human civilization … the prayers and the hopes of an entire people" have been looted, hoarded and trivialized by museums and private collectors. Collins credits Tommy Lee Jones with making "the words of the speech sing with bitter music that keeps ringing in your ears as the swaggering lawman brags about how the West was won."

Where does this leave Lee?

The episode trades one patron for another. Lee loses the governor's protection but gains the attention of an ambitious judge with a fortune of unclear origin, a hanging judge's gavel on display and a casual nostalgia for the noose.

The recap ends with the collision fully staged: Sallsman's swaggering version of the West set against Frog's indictment of looted heritage — a tension the season now has on record.