Reservation Dogs Season 3 Trailer: Time For One Last Adventure With The Rez Dogs

When news dropped last week that FX's acclaimed coming-of-age series "Reservation Dogs" would be ending on its own terms with season 3, it was hard to believe. The show, which was created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, has always been a bit of an underdog viewership-wise, but it's incredibly beloved by those who watch it. Do we really have to say goodbye to Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Elora (Devery Jacobs), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), and Cheese (Lane Factor) already?

I'm not sure if the new trailer that just dropped makes the process easier or tougher, but it certainly leaves me feeling confident that "Reservation Dogs" is going to bow out with just as much humor and beauty as it's always had. The preview of the final season is just over two minutes long, but that's plenty of time to remind us just how special this show — one of the first and only TV series that has ever been made by, for, and about Native Americans — truly is.

The new season looks like it's set to pick up right where season 2 left off, with the kids traveling back to their homes in Oklahoma after finally taking a trip to California to commemorate their late friend, Daniel. Except, after two seasons of struggling to accept his life in Oklahoma, Bear decides to go somewhere else. It's unclear exactly where his adventures take him in season 3, but we see him alone in a desert talking to his companion Spirit (Dallas Goldtooth) — the ridiculous, stereotypical ghost of a Native warrior who, as Willie Jack reminds us, he's really been speaking out loud to this whole time.

There's a lot more going on this season too: Bear's mom Rita (Sarah Podemski), who we see look worried when he doesn't get off the bus with his friends, has a spirit of her own now in the form of Elora's late mother, Cookie. Elora herself seems like she's on a journey of self-discovery, as she starts looking into continuing her education and ends up finding her birth certificate — which includes the name of her father, a guy called Rick Miller. Meanwhile, Willie Jack offers to learn the traditions of her elders so she can pass them along when they're gone, and Bear meets a woman played by Kaniehtiio Horn, who we've seen in past seasons embody the role of the supernatural protector figure the Deer Lady. All in all, the season looks sweet, funny, emotional, and more full of life than ever. It also looks like a pitch-perfect goodbye to one of the best shows on TV.

"Reservation Dogs" returns to FX on August 2, 2023.