FX‘s Reservation Dogs is coming to an end.
Co-creator Sterlin Harjo shared the news on Instagram ahead of the third (and now final) season’s premiere on August 2 on Hulu. “It’s been incredible. A dream. Mvto for coming with us on this journey. Hvtvm Cehecares (until we meet again),” Harjo wrote in the caption before telling fans to scroll through the photos for a message.
“Aho young and old warriors! Here it is: the coming third season of Reservation Dogs will be the final season Reservation Dogs,” the statement begins. “That’s a difficult line to write and a more difficult decision to make. However, it’s the correct decision creatively for the show. I always knew what the end of this story would be, I just didn’t know when it would arrive. As we continued to break stories and write scripts this season, it became clear to the producers, Taika [Waititi] and me that the season three finale is the perfect SERIES finale.”
Harjo continued, “The first and most basic idea for us as Native people, was to show the world that Native humor and Natives are funny. Almost all television and film depictions about Native people are mostly inaccurate. And most of them have been untruthful. It has been a gift to us to show the world a different perspective of Indigenous people and our culture. Most important of all, it has been a dream to collaborate and make a show that it is entirely written by, directed by and stars Native people. These are our stories, and they represent our people. We know it’s an enormous responsibility and we never took that lightly.”
However, it doesn’t sound like it’s completely the end of every part of the show. The statement concludes with, “Reservation Dogs has been a privilege. Although it’s the end of this story, it’s likely you will see Elora Danan, Bear Smallhill, Willie Jack, Cheese Williams and other characters in the Rez Dogs universe show up in other stories to come.” Read the message in full in the Instagram post below.
Following Harjo’s post, FX released a statement about the show ending: “People throw around the words historic and groundbreaking far too often and without merit: Reservation Dogs is worthy of those superlatives. Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi created one of the most important TV shows ever made. They gave the world a wholly unique, original, and honest portrayal of Native people — one that has never before been seen in television or film.
It’s difficult to say goodbye to these indelible characters and to an award-winning series that The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Variety and Vulture named The Best Show of 2022. That said, we support Sterlin and Taika’s decision to end the series in a way that will cement its legacy.
We, along with our partners at Hulu, are forever grateful to the producers, writers, directors, cast, crew and the Native land and communities in eastern Oklahoma who collaborated to make this masterpiece. While we’re sad to see the show come to an end, we’re excited for Sterlin, Taika and Garrett Basch to continue to tell stories for FX. And Rez Dogs fans, we hope you share our excitement and anticipation for the coming season.”
Reservation Dogs follows four Native American teenagers as they come of age on a reservation in Oklahoma. The cast includes D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, Lane Factor, Elva Guerra, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, and Dallas Goldtooth.
Reservation Dogs, Third and Final Season Premiere (two episodes), Wednesday, August 2, Hulu
