‘The Lowdown’: Martha Plimpton Breaks Down Her Role as Corrupt Sheriff Thorne

The Lowdown‘s Season 2 mystery became a touch clearer in the latest episode, “Raw Milk,” in which Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) ventured out of his Tulsa neighborhood to investigate corruption on the outskirts of town. Warning: Spoilers for The Lowdown Season 2 Episode 4 ahead!

After Lonnie (Austin Amelio) escaped Lee’s clutches, he sought out the crooked cop in Woodrell and his potential connection to public defender Ginger’s (Betty Gilpin) former client Mekko. Along the way, he tried to get answers from Sheriff Vela Thorne (Martha Plimpton), who is the county’s political face.

It wasn’t long before Lee was arrested for disrupting the peace and having kidnapped an officer, as Thorne is connected to both Lonnie and McMann (Shane McRae). But even as the episode’s final moments played out, it seemed that Lee had a secret ace up his sleeve. As we wait to find out how that will play out, Plimpton opens up about taking on the role of Sheriff Thorne.

The audience gets quite a colorful introduction to your character through Jeff (Kirk Fox). Was that aligned with the description you received in the script? 

Martha Plimpton: I didn’t really get a description. I just got the script, and that was plenty for me, and I loved it. I love the series. I love Sterlin [Harjo]’s writing, and I love the idea of getting to work with Ethan again, who’s a dear old friend. It just sounded like it was gonna be a blast, and getting to return to Tulsa after a long time was really wonderful.

Shane Brown / FX

Was it fun taking on a different side of law enforcement with Sheriff Thorne versus your role as Kathleen McGinty in Task?

They’re two completely different people who live in two completely different worlds. Now, I think as women, they probably share similarities in terms of what they have to do in order to excel in the world of law enforcement. It’s not very easy being a woman in law enforcement. Sheriff Vela Thorne is in a slightly different situation in that she’s also a politician; [sheriffs] are elected officials, so her talent at glad-handing is a bit more refined than Kathleen McGinty’s.

Sheriff Thorne is part of a larger corruption within the law enforcement system, and she thinks she’s got Lee trapped. Is she underestimating him? 

I think she finds Lee ridiculous and has no expectation that he’s going to become the thorn in her side that he does become. But he’s persistent. She’s got enough complications happening with the situation. She doesn’t need this guy around making things worse, which he, of course, inevitably does.

Part of that corruption is Thorne’s relation to McMann and Lonnie. How was it working on the dynamic with Shane McRae and Austin Amelio? 

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They’re just terrific actors, and the scenes are really well written with a deftness and a humor that is just a lot of fun. When you’re working with fun, smart, talented actors, and you’ve got great dialogue, there’s not that much more to do.

This season of The Lowdown shines a light on the corruption of the U.S. prison system. By taking on this role, were you hoping to shine a light on that very pressing issue?

I think it’s part of what made me want to do the show is that it’s not just your average funny cop procedural or something like that. Anything Sterlin writes is gonna have an undercurrent of truth deeply rooted in it. I think the way that you tell compelling stories is that you center them in a world that people know and have experience with, and he writes about these worlds that don’t often get written about. It’s really wonderful, and it makes it fun to be a part of it, particularly because he does it with such a light touch. He’s not out there writing some heavy-handed statement piece of politics; he’s telling stories about real things and real people, and real people and real things are ridiculous, scary, funny, and messed up.

The Lowdown, Season 2, Wednesdays, 9/8c, FX and Hulu