It premiered on AMC and AMC+ on June 12, 2022, with the first season consisting of six episodes.[2] After its premiere, the series was renewed for a six-episode second season, which premiered on July 30, 2023.[3] In September 2023, the series was renewed for a third season that is set to premiere on March 9, 2025.[4][5]
In Gallup, New Mexico, robbers pilot a helicopter to rob an armored truck, killing two guards. The fleeing helicopter flies over the nearby Navajo reservation, where it is seen by an older man named Hosteen Tso. Three weeks later, Tso is found dead in a motel room along with Anna Atcitty, the granddaughter of a Medicine Woman he was visiting due to ailments since seeing the helicopter. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police investigates the murders; Tso's body is mutilated, while Anna's body is unmarked. Leaphorn has a personal history with Anna's family, which he does not disclose to his colleagues. The medicine woman is blind, and in a catatonic state since witnessing the murders. Leaphorn's wife, Emma, a nurse, convinces him to investigate the living conditions of a pregnant girl named Sally Growing Thunder, who visited her clinic. Leaphorn's deputy Bernadette Manuelito visits Sally's home but is intimidated by her mother, a witch, and convinced the woman cursed her. As Leaphorn begins his investigation, his department is joined by Deputy Jim Chee, who is, in reality, an undercover agent for the FBI. Agent Whitover, who was responsible for planting Chee, believes the armored truck robbery was committed by a Navajo radical group called the Buffalo Society and wants Chee to use the motel killings as a cover to investigate this lead on Navajo land. Leaphorn visits Tso's property, where he finds that his water supply has been contaminated – the helicopter is at the bottom of his reservoir with a dead body inside.
Flashbacks reveal that Anna Atcitty was dating Leaphorn's son Joe Jr., who worked at an oil drilling site with her father, Guy. At a Peyote ritual, a friend who had a premonitory vision warned Guy not to go to work that day. Guy warned several others, but not Joe Jr., who was killed in an explosion at the drilling site. Lester, the trading post owner, overheard the warning and told Leaphorn about it. Leaphorn confronted Guy and the two fought. Leaphorn shot Guy in the leg as he approached with an axe. In the present, Leaphorn quickly identifies Jim Chee as an undercover FBI agent and convinces him to work as a double agent using the FBI's resources to assist in the double homicide case. Chee has water from Tso's property tested and confirms Leaphorn's suspicion that a petroleum product—which turns out to be hydraulic fluid—is in the water. Meanwhile, an autopsy report reveals that Anna was apparently "scared to death". Emma convinces Sally Growing Thunder to stay at the Leaphorns' home, believing Sally is unsafe on her family's property. The armored truck robbers are revealed to include a man posing as Tso's Catholic priest grandson. A scarred man living on the Growing Thunder property chases down and abducts a Mormon tourist family who unknowingly purchased a painting at a local gift shop where some of the money from the heist was stashed.
Money from the robbery is funneled through Devoted Dan's car dealership. Wanda, the painter wife of gift shop owner Lester, is also part of the money laundering. Leaphorn and Chee ask Raymond Begay to dive the pond on Tso's property, looking for evidence of the helicopter. Emma invites her niece, Nanobah, to stay at the Leaphorns' home as she celebrates her Kinaaldá. Leaphorn retrieves Anna Atcitty's and Hosteen Tso's bodies when the coroner releases them. Manuelito and Chee investigate the whereabouts of the missing Mormon family. Chee shows Manuelito where he lived on the reservation before he and his mom left because of his mom's abusive boyfriend. Manuelito invited Chee to the celebration at the end of Nanobah's Kinaaldá. Sally gets scared when Father Benjamin Tso comes to thank Leaphorn for burying his grandfather and has to be taken to the hospital. While there, Sally tells Emma the scarred man, Frank Nakai, is the father of her child.
Raymond finds a helmet, but is shot by Father Tso. He and Frank Nakai are revealed to be buying up land around the mine with the Buffalo Society. Leaphorn suspects all of the crimes on the reservation are related. He and Chee talk to Father Tso, who admits he has a brother who attended Catholic school. Leaphorn and Chee look through the school records and discover there are twin Tso brothers. James wears glasses, while Benjamin does not. They realize James has been impersonating Father Benjamin Tso. Leaphorn and Chee make a plan to arrest James, while James and Frank make plans to ambush them. Chee tells Agent Whitover about Frank and James, who the FBI knows as Hoski. Leaphorn invites Chee over for dinner. At dinner, Emma tells Leaphorn she wants Sally to stay with them when she gets out of the hospital. The next day, Manuelito goes to the pond looking for Raymond and hears the shoot-out between Leaphorn, Chee, James, and Frank. She helps to arrest Frank, but James escapes on Manuelito's horse, Taco. During the arrest, it is revealed that Frank and Chee had met before, which Leaphorn did not know, and Manuelito finds out Chee is an FBI agent. Outside the tribal police station, Chee tells Leaphorn the FBI will put in a request to have Frank transferred. Chee and Leaphorn fight.
Chee leaves the reservation, saying goodbye to Manuelito on his way out, but she remains angry with him. He tends to a stranded motorist, who clues Chee into the too-good-to-be-true deals at Devoted Dan's car lot. Chee interviews Dan, who explains he is being blackmailed to help Buffalo Society launder money. Chee also learns that Dan was previously interviewed by Whitover, however, the FBI has nothing on file. Chee is able to retrieve the file from another agent, whom Whitover had asked to destroy the file, and returns to the reservation; the file reveals Whitover knew about Tso. Leaphorn interviews Frank, trying to discern Tso's location. Frank implies that there is more to the accident that killed Joe Jr. than meets the eye. Leaphorn asks Guy Atcitty about the day of the accident, and learns that there may be uranium in the area. Leaphorn and Guy make amends as they each mourn their lost child. Manuelito, alone at the station, hallucinates, and awakens to find that Frank has escaped with the help of Sally's mother. She tells Leaphorn, who goes home and tells Emma to take Sally and go someplace safe because he believes Frank will come for Sally since she is carrying his child. Emma tells Leaphorn that Sally has admitted that the real father of her child is Tso. Manuelito goes to Sally's home and fights with the witch. A fire starts, and Manuelito barely escapes, but Ada dies. After she dies, her curses start to lift and Wanda, who has been in a coma since the spider bit her, wakes up and starts talking about the heist. When Manuelito returns to the station, Whitover arrives, intending to take custody of Frank, and he and Manuelito set out to search for him. Leaphorn tracks Tso on foot, and arrives to see Frank tending to a fire.
A flashback shows Whitover and Tso discussing the armored car heist, revealing that Whitover was in on the robbery. Chee radios Manuelito to warn her about Whitover, speaking Diné so Whitover cannot understand. Tso and Frank make a plan to escape by using the Mormons as cover, however the father crashes while going to retrieve a van; he is spotted and rescued by Guy Atcitty. Chee confronts Whitover, who shoots Chee, though not fatally. Tso and Frank discover Leaphorn in their cave hideout and try to smoke him out, but Leaphorn is able to evade them and disable their vehicle. Leaphorn manages to capture the two Buffalo Society members, but is then ambushed by Whitover who shoots Frank and leaves with half of the robbery money. As Whitover tries to talk his way past Chee, he is shot and killed by Guy. Leaphorn tracks Tso, but Tso commits suicide. Meanwhile, Manuelito and Chee rescue the Mormons and dynamite the cave, burying Frank's and Whitover's bodies. Three months later, the cave has been excavated, with Frank's body gone missing, possibly still alive. Leaphorn offers Chee, who has left the FBI, a position and the two shake hands.
In June 2022, AMC renewed the series for a six-episode second season.[8]John Wirth replaced Calandra as showrunner for the second season.[29]Billy Luther, who wrote for season 1, directed an episode of season 2.[30]
In September 2023, the series was renewed for a third season,[4] which consists of eight episodes and will premiere on March 9, 2025.[5]
Alongside the series announcement, Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon were cast as Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.[6][10] In August 2021, Noah Emmerich was cast as Whitover.[7]Jessica Matten was cast as Bernadette Manuelito.[11]Rainn Wilson was cast as Devoted Dan in early September.[14] In February 2022, Deanna Allison was announced as co-starring in the series as Joe's wife Emma Leaphorn, in Allison's "first major television role".[13]
In the second season, Nicholas Logan and Jeri Ryan joined the cast as Colton Wolf and Rosemary Vines, respectively.[33]
The second season began filming in November 2022 in Santa Fe and Tesuque Pueblo and wrapped in March 2023.[39][40]
Reception
Critical response
For the first season of Dark Winds, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.1/10, based on 36 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Zahn McClarnon is riveting as a coiled cop in Dark Winds, a solid procedural that derives much of its texture from an underrepresented cultural milieu."[41]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 80 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[42]
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 17 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Dark Winds' sophomore season is just as captivating as its predecessor, with Zahn McClarnon reaffirming his indispensable gravitas as a leading man."[43] Metacritic assigned a score of 84 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[44]
The Navajo Times criticized the series for lacking authenticity in its representation of Navajo people and language.[45] Series director Chris Eyre responded to the criticism, and commented, "It's critically important to all of us that we represent the culture correctly. If there's course-correction to be made, we're happy to do that."[46] For the second season, the series hired Navajo cultural advisor George R. Joe to help create more accurate portrayals of the Navajo culture.[47]
In May 2023, Dark Winds received several Vision Awards from the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC). It received the award for Best Drama, and for Best Performance in a Drama Series, awarded to Zahn McClarnon.[50]
