“Dark Winds,” the AMC desert-noir drama centered on a Navajo Tribal Police force in 1970s New Mexico, has been widely acclaimed since its debut in 2022, and viewing numbers have also been solid. An average of 2 million people tuned in for each episode, AMC said, good enough for the second season to rank among the 10 most-watched cable dramas in 2023. Then last year, the series received the well-known Netflix bump after its first two seasons arrived on the service in August, landing in the Top 10 of Nielsen’s overall streaming chart.
Now AMC will see how many new fans follow “Dark Winds” back to its home platform: The third season premieres Sunday on AMC and AMC+ — it has already been renewed for a fourth — with more murder and mysteries for the stoic tribal cop Joe Leaphorn, played by Zahn McClarnon, to investigate.
Leaphorn has been a noble figure in the series, and critics have given particular praise to McClarnon’s performance as well as the show’s evocative mix of crime drama, poignant family dynamics and authentic portrayals of Navajo traditions and culture. But at the end of Season 2, Leaphorn left his foe to die in the desert, and the new season finds him grappling with the consequences of that decision.
“Joe is definitely struggling quite a bit with a lot of fear and anxiety over some of the choices that he’s made in the past, specifically last season,” McClarnon said in an interview.
Season 3 in general is darker and more mystical than the first two. Leaphorn’s sidekick, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), is haunted by past traumas and abandonment. (“Dark Winds” is based on Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee novels.) The former deputy Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) is now a Border Patrol agent investigating a human trafficking ring. Back on the reservation, two Native boys have disappeared, leaving behind only a bicycle and a patch of blood. And as Leaphorn investigates the harrowing case, he is pursued by — and pursuing — a demonic, mythical Native monster known as Ye’iitsoh.
Other potential bad actors include a fifth-generation oilman who may have a sinister side hustle, played by the veteran character actor Bruce Greenwood. Jenna Elfman is another notable addition to the cast, as a visiting F.B.I. agent investigating the disappearance of the man Leaphorn left in the desert.
McClarnon is also an executive producer of “Dark Winds.” In an interview, he discussed the new season, the show’s retro appeal and its return amid America’s backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion programs. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Last season ended with Leaphorn leaving a villain to die. Is it safe to say the new one might bring the darkest winds yet for him?
Well, yeah. What’s at stake here is possibly Joe’s freedom, his relationship with his wife, his job. He could go to jail for the rest of his life for what he chose to do. And as far as being a Navajo man, the values that he upholds and the values he represents to the rest of his people, the air’s going to be let out of who Joe is. The respect from his people is going to be lost.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s also dealing with a pretty terrifying monster in the desert.
Yes, the Ye’iitsoh. Basically, Ye’iitsoh is a general word for negative energy. What can be more formidable than negative energy? Just portraying it in that way, I think, is pretty unique in itself. But it’s also the Navajo culture, and what the Ye’iitsoh means to a Navajo person is a perspective that has never been done on TV before.
The desert can seem like another character in “Dark Winds.” How does the setting shape the series?
It just breathes life into these stories and allows me, as an actor, to bring Leaphorn, a Navajo cop, to life. Because the land is the culture of the Navajo people. The land is a foundation of all our cultures within different tribes, spirituality. The land is — there’s no other way to put it — sacred.
Most of the show’s cast, writers’ room and crew are Native. “Dark Winds” has been part of a broader flourishing of Indigenous stories on TV along with shows like “Reservation Dogs” and “Echo,” both of which you were also on. How has all of this changed Native portrayals onscreen?
We’re always just trying to humanize and normalize. And in the last decade we’re chipping away at those stereotypes and those tropes that we’ve been dealing with for a long time. Now we’re trying to tell stories in an authentic way.
“Dark Winds” tackles subjects like the Native sterilization movement during the ’70s, notions of “white justice” vs. “Indian justice” and human trafficking. How do you tackle weighty subjects like this without being heavy-handed?
We try to touch on things in the past that have affected Native communities — Border Patrol, human trafficking. Cultural sensitivity is at the forefront of our show. We touch on aspects of Navajo culture, but we’re not trying to teach people about the Navajo culture.
People won’t truly know what the Navajo culture is unless they spend time in Navajo Nation within that culture. Re-educating people about the values of that culture can lead to more people getting involved in education politically, economically. If “Dark Winds” can get people to crack their interest, to maybe visit the Navajo nation, spend time with Navajo people and learn more about the culture, that’s a positive thing.
Do you think the fact that Leaphorn can’t rely on satellite surveillance or criminal databases enhances the show’s appeal? He doesn’t even have a cellphone if he gets lost in the desert.
Sure. It’s a bit of a reboot of those old classics that I grew up with. My favorite TV show was “The Wild Wild West” with Robert Conrad — as a kid I used to emulate that character and dress up in these little western vests. Old mysteries like “Colombo” didn’t have all that technology.
Leaphorn has to rely on his knowledge of the land and his culture to solve these mysteries. A lot of the newer generation hasn’t been exposed to those kinds of characters that have to solve these mysteries through their intellect.
You’ve played policemen in “Longmire” and “Reservation Dogs,” in addition to “Dark Winds.” Do you think your upbringing — spending time on reservations with your mother and a father who worked for the National Park Service — trained you to play Native cop?
Yeah. But really, these are the roles that have come to me, and I’m very grateful that people are asking me to be on their TV shows. It was a concern because I was doing Leaphorn and Big from “Reservation Dogs” at the same time, but there was such a big difference between these two characters. For some reason, people just see me as a cop.
It almost sounds like you don’t?
I mean, I’m grateful that they’re casting me; I just don’t know if I’d cast Zahn as a cop. But that’s just my own issues with self-esteem, et cetera. I mean, you want a cop, you want Walt Longmire [played by Robert Taylor]. He’s 6-foot-4 and huge. He looks like the guy from “Gunsmoke” — and I’m completely the opposite of that!
Season 3 premieres at a time when Natives are making headlines: The activist Leonard Peltier was released after 49 years in prison, and Navajo Nation leaders have complained that tribal members have been caught up in federal immigration raids. Do things like this affect how you think about “Dark Winds”?
I am — and a lot of people are — glad that Leonard gets to spend the remainder of his life a free man. We all know that relationship between Natives and the U.S. government has been problematic and dysfunctional, and I think Leonard, to a degree, became a symbol of that dysfunctional relationship.
Our show seeks to touch on some of those issues we’ve dealt with in the past and still do today. But we also try to entertain an audience.
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