SummarySet in 1971, Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and his new deputy, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), investigate a double murder in this Graham Roland adaptation of Tony Hillerman's book series.
SummarySet in 1971, Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and his new deputy, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), investigate a double murder in this Graham Roland adaptation of Tony Hillerman's book series.
Dark Winds may seem similar to other detective shows but it’s more than that. With well-written and sharply defined characters, plus an invigorating and tightly wound story, it’ll be hard to wait a week for each episode to drop.
Dark Winds is much pulpier in its origins, though it shifts into being more profound when carried on McClarnon's shoulders. It is often messy and a bit haphazard, speeding through key revelations via flashback that could have used more time to breathe. However, the enduring commitment of the performances from McClarnon and the rest of the cast ensure that the final scenes piece everything together rather poetically.
This is a consuming story that left me bewildered at times, and then eager for more at others! Can't wait to see the next season's zany and mysterious episodes and hopeful that Zahn will continue delivering an incredible performance!
Dark Winds is in a perfect spot with AMC, which continues to show content that people once went to the movies to see. I think Actor Zahn McClarnon is one actor who always knows how to play it cool but wise. McClarnon and the rest of the ensemble are a great match-up. The showrunners (so far) are doing a great job getting me to connect with the characters through their stories. It feels like it's going to be a great series, and my curiosity is piqued, I honestly can't wait to see what happens next.
As always, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, and if you watch this series, let me know what you think.
Keep it interesting, Stay Channel Surfing!
Damian at TalkTeaV
From the gorgeous, stark southwestern setting to the mystery to the main characters to the hint of dark magic, everything works to heighten the drama and keep the action compelling despite a comfortable pace that matches the ‘70s aesthetic.
Aside from a few repetitive cat-and-mouse moments between Leaphorn and the new Big Bad, “Dark Winds” benefits from its short run because it’s not bloated like so many streaming series are these days. The show makes every episode matter and keeps up a breakneck pace that relentlessly drives the story forward.
The coming together of the murder and robbery plots is fine, and more or less satisfying, but it’s everything else about this series that will reach you.
Not enough of the supporting characters have the same texture as Leaphorn and Chee. The supernatural intrigue doesn't entirely work. Still, this is an atmospheric crime thriller with real potential.
Season one was decent. Season two crashed and burned. My primary issue is the pacing. I do not know why these morons in modern entertainment think scenes consisting of characters engaging in mundane activities while music plays is engaging story telling. Common activities they often choose include driving, preparing food and brushing teeth. I do not watch shows/movies to watch characters engage in mundane activities I do every day. It’s just filler material because they do not much story and need something to make up the run time. This became even more obvious when they started dragging out scenes. They ran out of story and had to come up with some way to fill up the run time. Boring. I, and I guess most people, have limited entertainment time and I will not waste it on boring. Another show with some potential went down the drain. People consume entertainment to be… surprise, entertained. Not bored, definitely not preached at, and not bullied. Modern “entertainment” is broken, fubar, and clearly has forgotten they are in customer service. Viewers are your customers; service them fool.
Well shot, well-edited, writing is better than Disney+ garbage level (i.e. above mediocre,) nice New Mexico scenery (this ain't shot in Arizona much if at all, though it's mostly set there. I lived right next to the Rez for years & spent plenty of time out there.)
For half an ep or so I figured it would be an organically diverse show instead of Disney+ "duhversity," but then it became clear that every Native or black character is a soulful saint/soulful saint with one flaw, every white character a villain, a bigot, or a villainous bigot.
In other words: just more woke trash. Maybe Noah Emmerich will learn what a horrible white privileged bigot he is by the end. That's called a "redemption arc" in woke trash parlance.
I won't be around to see his talent wasted on trite 2022 cliché though.
Tis the most god awful and shameful stereotyped display of native American actors ever, and that's from the pilot no less. Huge disappointment since the male lead in the AMC Pierce Brosnan series "The Son" and his performance there was much better, no comparison to this banal **** even. Terrible story all over the place, bad acting, bad story, very BAD idea yet again for a "new series", AMC---so you better run Better Call Saul for another season which is multiple powers of 10 better than "Dark Winds"