Stream free On Demand
Dark Winds
series • Crime drama
MA15+
series • Crime drama
MA15+
Despite some mystical elements, there is a gritty realism to Dark Winds – SBS On Demand’s new crime drama – that comes from a place of authenticity, according to its star and executive producer, Zahn McClarnon.
The groundbreaking series – set on an impoverished Navajo reservation in the starkly beautiful American southwest in the early 1970s – has a cast that’s 90% Native American, which he describes as a dream come true.
“This is the first cop drama with Native leads, Native writers, Native producers and a Native director,” he has said to . “It’s great to walk onto a set and realise we’re getting a chance to tell our own stories.”
Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn in season 1 of Dark Winds. Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions / AMC
Much of the authenticity comes from McClarnon himself, who plays veteran Navajo cop Lt Joe Leaphorn. Of Hunkpapa Lakota and Irish heritage, the actor grew up in Montana and spent a lot of his childhood living with relatives on a reservation.
“Being part white and part Native, I always felt I didn’t belong to either community,” he reveals. “I took a lot of those experiences and put them into Joe.”
The first season of Dark Winds is ostensibly a murder mystery – Leaphorn is investigating the brutal deaths of an old man and a young girl, Anna, in a motel room. Complicating the matter is the cop’s painful, personal history with Anna and her family.
He’s also being harassed by the FBI to look into a nearby violent robbery committed by thieves using a helicopter. The feds suspect they may be members of a radical Native American organisation called the Buffalo Society.
As the body count climbs, Leaphorn begins to suspect the crimes are connected – and that not everyone he meets is exactly who they claim to be.
If McClarnon looks familiar, you may have seen him in recent years in series including Longmire, Fargo, Westworld and Reservation Dogs.
Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn in Dark Winds season 1 Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions
However, Dark Winds is his first lead role and he is mesmerising. His well-worn face is perfect for TV and the cinematography takes full advantage of it. Each time Leaphorn is onscreen the camera lingers on his every expression, be it anger, dog-tiredness or sorrow.
From the get-go it’s apparent he carries a ton of emotional baggage – which is slowly revealed in flashbacks throughout the first season – and has endured much while cementing his place as the region’s top lawman.
He cares deeply about his community, even if many of the residents resent and distrust him for being on the side of what they see as “white man’s law”.
He carries himself with stoic dignity and decency, only occasionally allowing his true emotions to break through when alone. McClarnon to flesh out his character’s moral code and emotional scars.
Backing up the lieutenant are fellow Tribal Police officers Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) – a deeply spiritual woman who would rather spend time with her horses than other people – and newcomer Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), who has his own bitter childhood experiences and a hidden agenda.
Jessica Matten as Sgt. Bernadette Manuelito in Dark Winds season 2. Credit: Michael Moriatis / AMC
Keen eyes may also spot Rainn Wilson from The Office as sleazy used car salesman “Devoted Dan” DeMarco, who provides some much-needed humour in what can be some grim storylines.
Ever-present in Dark Winds is the element of racism. In one distressing scene, a pregnant teenager is checked out by a white doctor who asks if she plans to have the baby at home or in the medical clinic.
With a fake smile, the nurse standing nearby translates his query into Navajo, adding, “After you deliver, he will operate on you to prevent you from having more children while you’re under anesthesia.” She smiles again as the doctor smiles back, oblivious to her warning.
The nurse is Leaphorn’s wife, Emma (Deanna Allison), who carries her own personal trauma that drives her to protect the more vulnerable people in her community.
The gripping action continues in the second season of Dark Winds, which deals with another murder and a mysterious cult. Like season one, it’s based on the Leaphorn & Chee series of 18 novels written by Tony Hillerman between 1970 to 2006, and – following his death – eight further novels penned by his daughter, Anne. If the series gets greenlit for a third season, the writers have no shortage of material they can tap into.
Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee (left) and Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn. Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions / AMC
With shows like Dark Winds, Reservation Dogs and Letterkenny currently enjoying critical and ratings success, now seems to be a renaissance period for Native American culture on TV, allowing the wider public to view Native Americans from a different perspective.
“They’re seeing the different characteristics of those cultures and the humour,” McClarnon tells . “They’re not seeing them on horseback in feathers and leather sitting next to a teepee.”
STREAM FREE AT SBS ON DEMAND
Dark Winds - Season 1 Episode 1
