Reservation Dogs Creator Sterlin Harjo Talks Finale’s Focus on Community and Whether We’ll See the Rez Dogs Again

Just 28 short episodes in, the groundbreaking Reservation Dogs came to an end with a final installment that focused on the importance of community and learning from one’s elders. Although it wasn’t always his plan to wrap things up so soon, creator Sterlin Harjo says it “just made sense” to end it with Wednesday’s episode titled “Dig,” which saw the res preparing for the funeral of their late uncle/cousin/brother Old Man Fixico.

“Your individualism and your teachings come from the community and that’s what helps mold you into the person that you are, so I wanted to focus on that,” he tells TVLine.

Below, Harjo takes us behind the scenes of the dramedy’s exceptional series closer (read our recap here), detailing the importance of the elders’ storyline, the growth of Willie Jack and where he thinks the kids might end up in 10 years.

TVLINE | Now that the series finale is out, what has the reaction been like from people in your community?
STERLIN HARJO | It’s been amazing. Such a warm goodbye. Everybody loves the show and everyone’s been very grateful. I literally was at a coffee shop just a while ago and a Native woman walked out and thanked me and gave me a big hug. It’s been so, so cool. Such a good response. People love the show and are happy what we did it.

TVLINE | Prior to deciding that “Dig” would be the final episode, did you have any expectations of how long this story could go?
I thought it would probably go longer. But as I was writing it, it just made sense [to end it] this season.

TVLINE | How did it feel once that light bulb went off? I can only imagine it must’ve been a difficult decision.
It was exciting, but emotional, you know? Scary. My thoughts went to the cast and crew first, just to make sure people knew that this could be coming and make sure everyone was OK and not blindsided by it. No matter what, you sort of felt blindsided by it because I didn’t know for sure then. I still had to talk to FX and everything. But I let them know that it felt like this could be it.

TVLINE | So much of this finale — and the entire series really — homes in on the power of community for Indigenous folks. Why was that the right focus to end on?
I think that’s so important and the center of Native and Indigenous life. If you look at American literature and art and film storytelling, it centers a lot on individualism and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and walking off into the sunset alone. But the community that I come from is different than that. Your individualism and your teachings come from the community and that’s what helps mold you into the person that you are, so I wanted to focus on that.

TVLINE | A lot of this season has also focused on the elders’ storyline. In fact, they’re the last characters we see on screen and not the kids. Why is that?
I think it’s because in the show, the Reservation Dogs aren’t just four kids. They’re the whole community. I wanted to show that mirror of the kids and the elders happening because so much is about how they move forward. They’re going to have to go through all of these things and it’s important that they take care of community. And this is an example of these elders who have taken care of community and have welcomed their friend back. They’ve been through a lot. They’ve had people pass away, and it’s the Rez Dogs’ future. It’s “stick together and you can have the strength and help each other along the way.”

TVLINE | Your love of cinema certainly shines through this entire project, but just as important, I think, is the music. Can you speak a bit about the significance of using The Band’s “The Weight” in this episode?
Well, Robbie Robertson, we lost him and he was a Native songwriter, so it felt very fitting. And also, I think that it needed to be a popular song right there that we could all feel and sing to. It’s such a memorable, iconic song and it feels like home. That’s what that needed to feel like. It was also our shout out to Robbie Robertson.

TVLINE | Willie Jack has experienced a lot of sadness and loss in these three seasons. How would you describe the Willie Jack we leave behind now vs. the character we met in Episode 1?
I think Willie Jack was always kind of the leader and, for sure, the spiritual leader of the group. I think that what we saw was her accepting that role in her community. And we saw by the end that she knows what she needs to do and she’s been taught how to take care of her community. In the beginning, she’s trying to figure it out but maybe fighting it a little bit, and I think that she comes into her own by the end.

TVLINE | I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about Episode 9, “Elora’s Dad.” Every bit of Elora and Rick’s interaction felt very delicate and very real. With Devery Jacobs writing the episode, how did you two craft how that interaction was going to go and what was most important to you in the portrayal of that major reunion?
When we were outlining it, I talked to Devery about the Before Sunset movies and kind of modeling it after them. I love those movies because they’re so simple. It’s humans sort of fumbling through this relationship and trying to connect. And I mean, what better way to give homage to Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke by having Elora and her dad meet in a similar way where they’re really just walking and talking and fumbling through this relationship. It’s not like there’s any giant sweeping gestures of love that happened. It’s very simple and the needles move in a very small way. But because of their absence, that small movement of the needle is so strong and profound. I think that’s due to the fact that they haven’t known each other forever. It was really just our homage to Before Sunset.

TVLINE | What was the pitch to Ethan like?
There was no real pitch. He and I have written together before. We have been adapting a project that was from a graphic novel that he wrote and we became friends in that process. We wanted to work together and he loved Rez Dogs, so it was a very easy conversation.

TVLINE | If you could write a one-off episode of Rez Dogs that took place 10 years from now, where do you think Bear, Elora, Willie Jack and Cheese would end up?
I think Cheese would probably be in tribal government. Someone who is there servicing people. Knowing what it’s like to grow up without a traditional family and having to create your own family, I think that he would serve really well in some sort of tribal government department or something. I think Willie Jack would be Old Man Fixico. She’d be taking care of people in the community. Maybe a social worker. I think Elora is truly going into mental health. I think that she’s been affected by Daniel. With Bear’s imagination and everything, I think he would be sort of like a cultural leader, you know, maybe an artist. Maybe he gets into music. Whatever it is, it’s him sharing his heart with people. I think that’s what he will be doing.

TVLINE | When you officially announced Season 3 as the final run, you said, “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.” Is that still your plan and is there anything you can say about what those future stories might look like?
Yeah. I would love to. From the beginning, I’ve always created worlds and I would love to keep going with these characters, in feature films or whatever. Casey Camp-Horinek (who plays Cheese’s grandma Irene) has been in three or four of my films playing the same character every time at different points in her life. I like the idea of it being in a universe.

TVLINE | Is there anything you can say about what your next project might be?
I’m doing another project with Ethan Hawke that I can’t really talk about, but I’m very excited about it. And it’s not the adaptation that I was talking about [before], but that’s also in the works.