A number of readers have written asking about “Dark Winds,” the evocative 1970s-set AMC mystery series adapted from the fiction of Tony Hillerman. The first six-episode season finished last July, and the second season, also six episodes, is due to premiere on July 30 on AMC and AMC+. Once again, the tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee will team up to solve a spree of murder on the Navajo Nation.
That means that, if you’re looking for a show, now is the time to watch the first season, which is available on Amazon and on AMC+. It’s a good whodunit involving an armored car robbery that may be related to murders on the reservation. But, more compellingly, it’s also a story marked by its detectives’ personal demons, family histories, and, most of all, Native American identities. Adapted by a creative team largely made up of Indigenous talent including director Chris Eyre, the show gives us a 1970s world ridden with micro- and macro-aggressions against the tribes, which lift it from being yet another crime drama into something more interesting, distinctive, and haunting.
Advertisement
One of the best things about “Dark Winds” is the lead performance by Zahn McClarnon as Leaphorn. McClarnon is mesmerizing, as his detective is always quietly watching everyone around him to pick up clues, weary but driven. You can see decades of hard living on his face, as well as grief from a tragic loss. I’m hoping he’ll be on the best actor list when the Emmy nominations are announced on July 12. But with the likes of Pedro Pascal, Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, Matthew Rhys, Gary Oldman, and the three “Succession” actors also in the running, it’s especially hard to predict.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.