Dark Winds

:

Season 1
  • Network: AMC , AMC+
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 12, 2022
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 16
  3. Negative: 4 out of 16
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User Reviews

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  1. OlivierPiel
    Jun 13, 2022
    2
    Clichés, stereotypes and tropes! What's not to like?
    - is it your woke dose of reversed racism that you want? Madame est servie: White people: all bad, evil, stupid, entitled. Indian people, all imbued with superior morals, culture, not only in tune with nature but also the supernatural. Dance with your wolf now!
    - Detective: Taciturn, oh yes! Brooding? Hiding a dark secret! Say no more.    Clichés, stereotypes and tropes! What's not to like?
    - is it your woke dose of reversed racism that you want? Madame est servie: White people: all bad, evil, stupid, entitled. Indian people, all imbued with superior morals, culture, not only in tune with nature but also the supernatural. Dance with your wolf now!
    - Detective: Taciturn, oh yes! Brooding? Hiding a dark secret! Say no more. That one never smiled in his life!
    - Convulated heist that unearthes a deep-routed cancer at the heart of a community ? True, Detective!

    Hail the algo!    … Expand
  2. WatchinMovies
    Jul 9, 2022
    7
    I like these mysteries. It reminds me of Tony Hillerman mysteries, which I always liked with the tribal police being the protagonists and good mysteries to solve, with lots of action happening on the side. Good acting, good scenery, good interaction of characters, good bad guys. All in all, worth watching.
  3. IndyHCKM
    Jul 10, 2022
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Watched all but the unreleased season finale so far. One episode felt slightly mushy, but wow, I'm excited for the finale! Love the setting - I wish the feel were a bit more like the movie Dark Wind, which felt more brooding, observant, and intense, with less action. But it's a lot of fun in a setting not commonly seen.

    Lots of negative reviews riff on this idea the entire season is just "woke reversed racism" - but unless the finale shows us something different, Navajo characters include the show's most ruthless killers, some of whom border on the embodiment of pure evil. The main hero shoots his brother in law in the leg (permanently maiming him) after his brother tries to kill him with an axe, all because they can't deal with their emotions of losing a son/nephew. This same hero and his wife are so habituated into dinner arguments that he falls into the same old routine even when a guest comes over for dinner.

    Meanwhile a white dude is a philandering used car salesman who is extorted by Navajos into money laundering. Another is a helicopter pilot who is shot in the head by a Navajo. Another is an FBI special agent who appears to be dirty (but we aren't sure) and has to navigate dealing with local police that literally tells him crime happening amongst white people are white people problems, suggesting the Navajo police won't dedicate any resources to assisting in law enforcement. And then there is a lab tech who is ordered to destroy case files but refuses to and alerts the only other agent he knows who is involved with the file and tips him off that something may be wrong. Oh, and yet another white guy who keeps telling his Navajo compatriots that they have gone too far and the entire situation has gotten completely out of hand, after multiple murders and a kidnapped family.

    I suspect people who view this show as "woke" will struggle with most shows that portray white people in less than favorable light when the main characters are not white, and the show setting also reveals some uncomfortable facts about race relations in America - like the forced sterilization of Native American women (which is brought up at least twice in the show)(between the 60s and 70s, Time magazine estimates about a quarter of all Native American women of child bearing age were sterilized in the US) or the systematic integration campaign with Native American Residential Schools. I'll be curious to see if they touch on the Mormon church's "Lamanite Placement Program" operated by the Mormon church from the 50s to the 90s, which involved around 50,000 children according to Wikipedia - they do have a Mormon family in a pit, and some unresolved questions about one of the main character's childhood.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Best TV Season of 2022

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. What's Alan Watching?
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    May 4, 2026
    86
    This is a well-built show, where the relatively unusual setting, plus the performance at the heart of it, breathes new life into old cliches. At this point, Dark Winds is already doing variations on its own themes. But they're good themes, and interesting variations. Change can be overrated sometimes, when you're already good at what you do.
    Read full review
  2. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Graeme Virtue
    Oct 18, 2023
    80
    It is a knotty, atmospheric mystery that still feels fleet enough to be tackled in one or two binges.
    Read full review
  3. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    Jun 13, 2022
    80
    Dark Winds feels like it will deftly combine a standard murder mystery, tribal traditions and difficulties, and supernatural elements, tied together by a great performance by McClarnon.
    Read full review
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