'Reservation Dogs' Closes the Circle of Peak TV

In the first minutes of Reservation Dogs, teenagers Bear, Elora, Willie Jack, and Cheese steal a Flaming Flamers truck, hoping to sell it for enough money to leave Okern, Oklahoma. Their friend Daniel died by suicide the year before, and the only way they can imagine living is by leaving the place they think killed him. The episode begins with a few establishing shots of town; one is an overhead drone shot of a cul-de-sac next to a long straight road extending off into the horizon. It’s how the Rez Dogs picture their options: Either they head off into the unseen distance, or they’re trapped forever in this insular, unchanging, futureless circle.