As 'Reservation Dogs' ends, here are the 10 most memorable moments of the series

Showrunner Sterlin Harjo, his cast, crew and creative team dig into the sort of memorable moments that have made "Reservation Dogs" great in the series finale.

Fittingly titled "Dig," the 10th and last episode of the groundbreaking FX streaming series' third season debuts Wednesday, Sept. 27, exclusively on Hulu.

A coming-of-age comedy about four Indigenous teenagers growing up in the fictional rural community of Okern, Oklahoma, "Reservation Dogs" — co-created and executive produced by Harjo, a native Oklahoman and longtime indie filmmaker who is Seminole and Muscogee, and Taika Waititi, an Oscar-winning New Zealand moviemaker who is of Maori ancestry — has been blazing trails since it debuted in 2021.

"Reservation Dogs" is not only the the first mainstream television show on which every writer, director and series regular performer is Indigenous, but it's also the first full-time, scripted network TV series to film entirely in Oklahoma.

Although it sounds like Harjo and Waititi were allowed to make the call to end the acclaimed series on their terms, it's still a heartbreaker for those of us who have come to love the singular show. Screened in advance for critics, the series closer is an ideal ending to the Rez Dogs' adventures: Written by Harjo and Chad Charlie and directed by Harjo, "Dig" is another simple slice of underrepresented Native American, rural and Oklahoman life that also manages to be surprisingly funny and deeply meaningful. 

Since the finale calls back to so many indelible scenes from the previous three seasons, Features Editor (and fellow Rez Dogs fan) Moran Elwell helped me compile this list of our 10 favorite moments from "Reservation Dogs" leading up to the last episode, which we wouldn't dream of spoiling:

1. 'Aho! Young warrior': Bear meets Spirit for the first time.

From Season 1, Episode 1, "F*ckin' Rez Dogs." 

Moments after we first meet the titular foursome — Bear Smallhill (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Elora Danan Postoak (Devery Jacobs), Willie Jack Sampson (Paulina Alexis) and Cheese Williams (Oklahoman Lane Factor) — as they're haphazardly hijacking a chip truck in their own small Oklahoma hometown of Okern, we are introduced to the spirit of William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth).

After members of the rival youth gang NDN Mafia ambush the Rez Dogs with paintball guns, Bear is briefly knocked unconscious and has the first of many colorful encounters with his spirit guide. William Knifeman isn't Crazy Horse or Sitting Bull or "one of those awesome guys": He's an unknown warrior who claims to have died at the Battle of Little Bighorn when his ornery horse stepped in a gopher hole.

The hilarious, stereotype-smashing Spirit quickly became one of the show's fan-favorite characters and kept his status by dispensing outlandish but surprisingly sage "ancient wisdom."

2. 'It's the pain; that's what we're letting go': The Rez Dogs make it to the ocean

From Season 2, Episode 10, "I Still Believe." 

After many misadventures and much grief, the Rez Dogs finally make their long-awaited journey to California in the Season 2 finale. In honor of their late friend Daniel (Oklahoman Dalton Cramer), whose suicide has cast a cloud over their lives and community, they visit the ocean for the first time and wade into the waves determined to let go of their pain, fear and anger.

Written by Tommy Pico and directed by Harjo, the visually stunning and genuinely emotional moment provides a perfect payoff after two seasons of watching the teenagers struggle with their heartache.

3. 'You wanna touch my hooves?': Bear meets the mystical Deer Lady, whose backstory is revealed

From Season 3, Episode 3, "Deer Lady." 

When he gets separated from the rest of the Rez Dogs on the journey back from California, Bear encounters the mystical Deer Lady (the outstanding Kaniehtiio Horn), a legendary fan-favorite character who takes bloody vengeance on badly behaved men. Bear reminds her of a boy she once knew, flashing back to the Deer Lady's heartbreaking origin story in a cruel boarding school for Native American children.

Written by Harjo and directed by Danis Goulet, "Deer Lady" is not only one of the best episodes of "Reservation Dogs" but also one of the top episodes of any television show in recent memory.

4. 'This could be Bigfoot activity': Big the cop takes Cheese on a ridealong

From Season 1, Episode 5, "Come and Get Your Love." 

In an episode that is basically made up entirely of memorable scenes, tribal cop Big (Zahn McClarnon) takes young Cheese on a ridealong while recalling his early encounters with the Deer Lady, sharing his Bigfoot conspiracy theories and discovering that local eccentric artist and string theory enthusiast Bucky (Oscar-honored Oklahoma native Wes Studi) is behind a benign crime spree involving small mysterious copper sculptures.

5. 'These elders have lived very complicated lives': Bucky and Brownie help Willie Jack and Cheese break a curse

From Season 2, Episode 2, "Run." 

Elora Danan's Uncle Brownie (Gary Farmer) and Bucky shepherd Willie Jack and Cheese to the riverbank to pray and sing in their efforts to help the teenagers break the curse Willie Jack believes is causing chaos around Okern.

Their "strong prayer" becomes an outlet for Bucky and Brownie to air their past grievances, admit their flaws and mend their relationship. To complete the ceremony to have the bad medicine washed away, they sing "an old song" — Tom Petty's radio staple "Free Fallin’" — to the bemusement of Cheese and Willie Jack. Spirit declares to Uncle Brownie that the curse is gone, but the teenagers have to learn to be "good relatives."

Watching seasoned Native American actors like Studi, McClarnon and Farmer, whom Hollywood has too often limited to historical epics or bit parts, play colorful contemporary characters alongside talented young Indigenous performers has been one of particular joys of "Reservation Dogs."

6. 'Sure you are, even if you're not': Irene decides to take in Cheese as her grandson

From Season 1, Episode 8, "Satvrday." 

Factor, as the wonderfully innocent Cheese, specializes in creating small, lovely moments, as when he admits to Irene (Casey Camp-Horinek), the elder he randomly met at Indian Health Services, that he isn't really the grandson she's mistaken him for. She smilingly assures Cheese that even if he isn't her grandson by blood she still loves him and wants to care for him.

The Season 1 finale also memorably features Uncle Brownie fending off a tornado with an axe and rapper brothers Mose and Mekko (real-life Oklahoma City performers Lil Mike and Funny Bone) engaging in a freestyle rap battle with NDN Mafia member White Steve (Jack Maricle).

7. 'They're watching you, my girl': Willie Jack visits Daniel's mom in prison

From Season 2, Episode 9, "Offerings." 

Over its three-season run, "Reservation Dogs" has assembled some incredible cameos, with indelible one-off characters played by the likes of Oklahoma's own Emmy Award winner Megan Mullally, "Prey" star Amber Midthunder and podcaster, comic and actor Marc Maron.

But Lily Gladstone, now an Oscar favorite for the forthcoming "Killers of the Flower Moon," delivers one of the most powerful as Hotki, the incarcerated aunt of Willie Jack and mother of Daniel. When Willie Jack visits Hotki still grieving for Daniel and worried over her increasingly distant friends, Hotki, with the help of her smiling guardian spirit gram (Tafv Sampson), brings together a cadre of generational ghosts to support the teenager.

8. 'I'm about as white as they can come; good news is we come from a long line of Quakers': Elora Danan meets her dad, Rick Miller

From Season 3, Episode 9, "Elora's Dad." 

In another of the show's brilliant guest-starring turns, four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke plays Rick Miller, the father Elora Danan has grown up without her entire life but tracks down so that she can apply for financial aid for college.

Hawke brings an honesty and vulnerability to the role of the regretful dad, providing the perfect foil for Elora's usual prickly toughness.

9. 'White people go to Cancun; we go to IHS conferences': The aunties cut loose

From Season 2, Episode 5, "Wide Net." 

This episode's for the aunties. Okern clinic workers Rita (Sarah Podemski), Bev (Jana Schmieding) and Natalie (Oklahoman Nathalie Standingcloud) meet up with their out-of-town soul sister Teenie (Tamara Podemski) at an IHS conference where they can cut loose.

In that usual "Rez Dogs" way, the episode is bittersweet, as the ladies grapple with the loss of a childhood friend, the passing of their youth and the troubles of adulthood while also uproariously running wild.

They especially let go of their troubles on the dance floor with a dreamy drug-induced dance sequence to Brandy's "Sittin' Up in My Room" that fulfills all their R&B-scored childhood fantasies.

10. 'We can all be Rez Dogs': The Rez Dogs go on a rescue mission with the NDN Mafia

From Season 3, Episode 8, "Send It." 

Former rivals the Rez Dogs and NDN Mafia join forces to bust local elder Maximus (Oscar nominee Graham Greene) out of a mental hospital, setting aside their old hostilities and even upgrading local salvage yard owner Kenny Boy (Kirk Fox) to uncle status for driving them all on their mission in an old school bus.

Bear's declaration that "We can all be Rez Dogs" has been just what we've all been waiting for since we first started visiting Okern back in Season 1.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ten most memorable moments from 'Reservation Dogs' on Hulu