Offerings

Willie Jack visits Daniel's mom

**Offerings** is the ninth episode of the second season and seventeenth episode overall of *Reservation Dogs*.

## Synopsis

With a letter from Daniel, Willie Jack seeks guidance from the past.

## Plot

Grandma Irene greets Cheese at the table. She says she doesn't have much today, but then lists many things she has made.

The manager tells Elora there's a big mess in the bathroom for her to clean up.

Bear comes home and sits on his bed.

The three of them repeat the same actions for several days.

Bear wakes up in class. Mrs. Fixico welcomes him back. He asks Willie Jack what he missed and she says the whole class, plus he talks in his sleep. He says he's tired from work. Mrs. Fixico says graduation is around the corner and their freshman year, they did an assignment where they wrote themselves a letter talking about their goals and dreams. She passes those letters out. Willie Jack reads her and then asks to read Bear's, which says he wants to grow up to be a famous rapper like his dad. Bear points out that hers says she wants to be a wizard when she grows up. She still wants to be a wizard. The bell rings and Mrs. Fixico asks Willie Jack to see her before leaving. Once they're alone, she gives Willie Jack Daniel's letter.

Hokti Sampson plays basketball in the prison yard. Another inmate notices she's quiet. She says it's because it's the same day over and over. The guard calls for them all to line up.

Hokti returns to her cell and starts reading a book. She stops when Gram calls her attention from where she's perched on the plumbing. Hokti closes her eyes, but when she opens them, Gram is still there. Hokti thought she was gone for good. Gram says Hokti quit working with her medicine and ignoring her responsibilities is ignoring her ancestors. Hokti says she doesn't need Gram there, but Gram says today's the big day. Hokti doesn't believe that, but Gram says she tuned in today even though she didn't mean to. Gram disappears and Hokti picks up her book.

A guard tells Hokti she has a visitor whose name isn't on the list. She asks what the name is.

Willie Jack fills out paperwork and waits.

Hokti puts on her shoes and looks at a picture she has taped to her cell wall.

The desk attendant asks Willie Jack some questions.

Hokti brushes her teeth and does her hair.

Willie Jack waits. The person sitting next to her, Tupelo, says he once did mushrooms and spent the night in jail, a jail just like this. He says that white people built jails and Indians never had them. The people who built the jail had lost their way. He says it isn't natural to be separated from your family. He's there to visit his daughter. Willie Jack's also there to see family. He says visiting is the most important thing she can do for someone locked in a place like that. Willie Jack says she's not sure why she's there. It just felt like she had to do something, so she's doing it. He says it's a risk, but listening to her heart is good. She asks if he's some kind of guru, but he's just an old hippie who has done a lot of acid, which makes you think. He lives by a few rules: be kind to those you're closest to and wear a good hat and a good pair of boots.

Willie Jack gets called back to the visitor's room. She gets scanned by a metal detector and a guard explains the rules to her.

As Willie Jack waits for Hokti, a husband and wife nearby fight. When Hokti comes in, Willie Jack gets up and hugs her. There's awkward silence and then Willie Jack updates Hokti on people at home. Her dad tried the convince her not to come. Her parents don't know she's there. She and Bear are graduating this year. Daniel would have been with them. Hokti asks a guard for paper. Hokti takes it and rolls it, saying there's no smoking, so she goes through the motions. It helps with the stress. Gram watches from nearby. Willie Jack tells her about Cheese and Grandma Irene. Willie Jack tells her that Mabel died, which she thinks catches her right up. The couple's argument heats up and the guards make everyone put their hands on the table as the issue is resolved and the husband is escorted out and the wife is taken back to her cell. Willie Jack pulls out the letter and shows it to Hokti. Hokti says she doesn't want it. Willie Jack asks about reading it to her. She hasn't read it herself yet, but Hokti isn't interested. This is why no one in the family is on her visitors list. Hokti looks at them and sees Daniel. Willie Jack understands, but she's not the only one affected by it. No one's the same. She misses her friends and the version of Hokti she remembers from when she was little. She used to come to Hokti when she was hurt and Hokti made things better. Daniel was the same way. Willie Jack used to think she was so powerful, but now she sees that Hokti would rather be miserable. All the elders are always avoiding her. She understands now why her parents didn't want her to come. Hokti looks over at Gram and says when you ask someone for advice, you should bring them a gift. Food's the best. People are more open when they have food. Willie Jack says they won't let her bring food in, but Hokti points out the vending machines. Willie Jack gets up to get snacks. While she's doing that, Hokti talks to Gram, asking if she's just going to keep watching. Gram says Host's vibe sucks. Willie Jack returns with an arm full of snacks. They both start eating. Hokti asks Willie Jack to tell her what's wrong. Willie Jack says that Elora and Bear don't talk anymore. They hang out, but it's not the same. Cheese is with Grandma Irene all the time now. It feels like they're broken up and it's not supposed to be like that. Hokti says friends grow apart, but it's not like that. It's like everyone else is in sunshine, but they're in darkness, especially Bear and Elora. Hokti prays with Willie Jack, but she needs Gram's help. As she prays, the other people in the visiting room fade away as she calls on their ancestors. When they're finished, Hokti says she spent a lot of energy trying to fix Danny, but just ended up taking on his pain. But you can't love someone out of hurting themselves. She was so focused on Danny and herself that she couldn't see. You can't help people who don't want to be helped, a lesson she learned the hard way. She tells Willie Jack to create the space for her friends and either the path will be laid for her or it won't. Willie Jack nows they want to be helped, but she doesn't know how to bring them together. Hokti gestures to the food and says the answer's right in front of her. She and Willie Jack hug until the guard tells them to stop. Hokti tells Willie Jack to take the letter with her, because it found its way to her, not Hokti. She says it was good to see Willie Jack.

As Willie Jack cooks, Cheese asks if she invited Bear and Elora and she says she did. She's cooking the wild onions her parents picked earlier in the year. Elora comes in with potato salad. Then Bear comes in with potato chips. Elora and Bear exchange hellos, then sit in silence for a moment. Bear then asks quietly why they're there.

The four of them eat together in silence. Cheese breaks the silence to say it's been fun. Willie Jack then says she went to see Hokti in jail. She tells the others Hokti looks good. She went because she needed advice about the four of them. They barely talk or see each other anymore. Bear and Elora pretend everything's fine between them, but Cheese and Willie Jack aren't fooled. Willie Jack tries to do the same prayer with them that Hokti did with her, with a few modifications, but it doesn't work. They tell her they appreciate the effort, but they're good. Willie Jack pulls out Daniel's letter and tells them about it. She hasn't read it yet, but she wants to read it with them. They pass it around the table and read it to themselves. When they're done, Willie Jack says she thinks they should do it for Daniel, because he can't. If they still want to be weird after that, the Rez Dogs can break up. They all agree to do it for Daniel. Cheese has to tell his grandma first.

Hokti adds Willie Jack to her visitor list. Gram tells her she did good. Hokti hands the list over to the guard, then looks at the picture of Daniel.

## Cast

### Starring

* Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan Postoak
* D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear Smallhill
* Lane Factor as Cheese Williams
* Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack Sampson

### Guest Starring

* Casey Camp-Horinek as Grandma Irene
* Lily Gladstone as Hokti Sampson

### Co-Starring

* Tafv Sampson as Gram
* Daffany Clark as Mrs. Fixico/Teacher
* Brownie Harjo as Guard
* April Hartman as Female Guard
* Joseph Finfer as Desk Attendant
* Steve Mathis as Tupelo
* Aaron Jay Rome as Husband
* Cate Jones as Wife
* Tiffany Bruner as Native Inmate
* Joy Harjo as Manager