Setting is everything in the great detective thrillers of the past. It stands to reason that a detective thrillers will only ever be as good as the place it is set in. The cities of classic Golden Age noirs like Sunset Blvd. and The Third Man are just as important as the characters in them.
There are contents.
Dark Winds understands this. The series, which is based on the Leaphorn & Chee novels by Tony Hillerman, is set on a reservation in the early 1970s and goes to great lengths to portray its setting as respectfully and authentically as it can. The series stars an impressive cast of Native American actors, including Zahn McClarnon, a performer who has spent the past several decades building a reputation as one of Hollywood's most dependable and compelling screen actors.
The show is committed to telling a real Native American story. Hollywood has long denied Native American characters, but the figures that populate Dark Winds' central Navajo reservation are all treated with the kind of interest that Native American people have. The show is interested in issues of Native American representation and the ways in which the indigenous people of America have been taken advantage of and mistreated, and it is the perfect backdrop for that.
Dark Winds themes and moral questions only become clear over the course of the series. There is a bank robbery and a double murder in the show's premiere. It falls on the shoulders of the reservation's lead police chief to discover the truth behind the shocking and disturbing murders.
Joe is joined in his investigation by his second-in-command and a cop with a complicated past. Leaphorn is forced to look into the double homicide on the reservation while also being confronted by an FBI Special Agent who makes it clear that he doesn't care about the people of the reservation that he calls home. Leaphorn is forced to consider the possibility that the bank robbery and murders that started the story may not be as connected as he first thought.
Dark winds dives into its mysteries at a leisurely pace. In the final half of the show's first season, the various threads begin to grow more connected and a sense of real danger begins to emerge. The first half of Dark Winds was frustrating for some viewers, but the fast pace of the second half makes up for it.
The strength of the show's characters makes the impact of the pacing less. A lasting impression can be made by Joe Leaphorn. He has always had a magnetic screen presence, but he is getting his biggest and best role to date in Dark winds. Leaphorn, a Native American man struggling to protect his people while simultaneously dealing with his own personal losses, is astonishing. He is strategic and loved but lonely. Dark Winds is the kind of show that he has been waiting for.
Jessica Matten gives a confident, potentially star-making performance as Bernadette, a police officer who manages to exude confidence even when she is grappling with her own fears. The show does a disservice to the character when it comes dangerously close to reducing her role to that of a lonely love interest, but Matten's performance gives the character a constant, sometimes conflicting depth. Noah Emmerich and Rainn Wilson both turn in sleazy performances as FBI agents.
Some of the show's late-season twists might be ruined if more is said about the other performers. It is worth noting that Deanna Allison gives a moving performance as Emma, a caring nurse who also happens to be Joe's spouse. Jim Chee, a character who sometimes comes across as one-dimensional and stiff, is played by Kiowa Gordon.
It may be disappointing to hear that the two mysteries at the center of the show are not as complex as you might think. The series made the right decision to reveal certain details about Leaphorn's two cases early on. The decision helps turn the show into less of a convoluted murder mystery and more of a cat-and-mouse thriller, which increases the drama and tension in the back half. Despite the fact that some of the show's villains turn out to be one-note antagonists, that is still true.
Dark Winds makes a few strange structural choices throughout its run, and there are times when it feels unfinished and rough, which may be the result of certain budgetary constraints. The rougher edges seem to be smoothed out by the end of the first season. It seems more likely that the series will return stronger than it is now if it is renewed for a second season.
Even if Dark Winds doesn't get renewed, its first season still tells a story that's engaging and worthwhile, and Joe Leaphorn is one of the most compelling TV detectives of the past few years. His steadfast desire to find justice for his fellow Navajo citizens is not only powerful in its own right but made even more so by how it is mirrored by the show itself, which is a testament to the results that can come when artists are allowed to tell their stories.
There is a new show on AMC and AMC+. Digital Trends was able to watch all six episodes of the show.
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