True Detective has developed its own cult following over the years, thanks to a memorable Season 1 featuring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and a strong latest entry in the form of Jodie Foster and Kali Reis-led True Detective: Night Country. In a pool with plenty of fish, True Detective stands out as a compelling detective drama with unmatched atmosphere and dependable writing, backed by strong acting performances across multiple seasons of anthology crime drama television series.
AMC’s Dark Winds has found a new home on Netflix, bringing a wider audience to the Navajo Nation captured artistically by Graham Roland,based on the “Leaphorn & Chee” novel series by Tony Hillerman. For fans of True Detective, Dark Winds is an appetizing entry into a drastically different but eerily familiar world against the backdrop of a mystery that keeps getting increasingly complex as the story progresses. While fans await True Detective Season 5, two seasons of AMC’s Dark Winds (with Season 3 in the making) are ample to satiate the thirst for a dark, mysterious, and captivating crime drama.
‘Dark Winds’ Shares Many Thematic Similarities With ‘True Detective’
Set in the 1970s Navajo Nation, Dark Winds follows three Navajo Tribal Police officers — Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and the newbie Deputy Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) — as they investigate a local murder linked with a bank heist in Gallup, New Mexico. As the investigation proceeds, new threads in the story open, revealing a larger conspiracy in the background. Backed by Robert Redford and George R. R. Martin as producers, Dark Winds boasts a strong cast led by McClarnon, who also serves as executive producer on the show. Moreover, Dark Winds is filled with indigenous talent who provide greater depth to its world and story. While Dark Winds has a lot of merits to boast in its own right, the many similarities this Western noir thriller shares with Nic Pizzolatto‘s crime series make it a must-watch for True Detective fans.
From the beginning, the thematic similarities between True Detective and Dark Winds are obvious. Apart from being buddy cop dramas (for the most part), these shows depend on the worlds they present to deliver their biggest impact and pull the audiences in. In Season 1 of True Detective, the state of Louisiana serves as a great setting for the story to unfold. The depredations of Hurricane Rita and the socio-political climate of the times it captures allow Season 1’s story to flourish. Similarly, the wilderness of the Ozarks in True Detective Season 3 and the cold Alaskan desert in Season 4only amplify the atmosphere of the stories. Similarly, Dark Winds banks on its deserted Navajo Nation backdrop to tell a tale of crime and politics.
Both Shows Present Culturally Rich Landscapes for Their Mysteries To Brew
In the specific context of True Detective: Night Country, both shows blend Native American history and culture to present captivating worlds. Specifically, the elements of mysticism and Native American mythology, and cultural symbolism help the stories of these detective dramas, rooted in real-world struggles, dip their feet in the waters of the supernatural. Often, both shows borrow from their real-world settings to present even darker tales of self-exploration. Jessica Matten’s Bernadette in Dark Winds can be seen undertaking a very similar journey to Reis’ Navarro in True Detective: Night Country, with both characters deeply affected by their belief systems rooted in Native Indian customs and practices.
The accommodation of the local cultures and politics allows both shows to rise above the isolated mysteries they explore and delve into stronger themes, even strongly committing to questioning ideas around god and the supernatural. While True Detective Season 1 and subsequent seasons explore the conflicts emerging from the play of religion and varying ideas of god, Dark Winds looks into the world of magic and mysticism, which is integral to the Native American culture, with larger stories of crime and deception looming in the background.
‘Dark Winds’s Protagonists Will Remind You of ‘True Detective’ Favorites
Just like a good psychological detective thriller should, True Detective manages to perfectly intertwine the personal journeys of its protagonists with their professional duties of doing justice — something which the show tries to continue for the next seasons as well. In Season 1 of True Detective, McConaughey’s Detective Rustin “Rust” Cohle served as a character that became possibly the most fascinating aspect of the inaugural season. The complexity of McConaughey’s character and the distinct worldview he shared made for a compelling watch as the twisted detective went about solving the mystery at hand in his own quirky way. Much like McConaughey’s Rust in Season 1 and Foster’s Liz Danvers and Reis’ Evangeline Navarro in Season 4 of True Detective, the characters portrayed by McClarnon, Matten, and Gordon in Dark Winds must navigate their own personal journeys while rising up to their professional commitments.
Specifically, Joe Leaphorn’s trajectory in Dark Winds would remind True Detective fans of the emotionally turbulent journey of the latter’s protagonists. Similar to McConaughey’s Rust and Foster’s Danvers, who have lost their children, Leaphorn shares a history affected by a deep personal tragedy, which Season 1 of Dark Winds continues to explore till the very end. Naturally, the personal struggles of the protagonists affect their interactions with the other characters and the choices they make. Particularly, it’s the unconventional choices of the characters, motivated by their unending turmoil, that provide impetus to their pursuit of justice. For instance, in True Detective: Night Country, Danvers and Navarro come together to find the truth behind Annie Kowtok’s (Nivi Pedersen) murder after having made their own share of questionable choices. As a result, the stories of both Dark Winds and True Detective are held together by characters on the brink of a self-imploding emotional calamity, which only makes the experience a more rewarding and nail-biting one. Through the course of the individual seasons of True Detective and the two seasons of Dark Winds, the audience witnesses the protagonists trying to balance coming to terms with their own realities.
True Detective and Dark Winds are heavy-hitting police procedurals with the protagonists and acting performances leading the charge. Both make for strong detective dramas where the mystery itself is captivating enough to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. To add to the mix, the thematic explorations and the utilization of the diverse, culturally rich settings allow the shows to rise above the sea of detective dramas that have nothing better to offer. While True Detective has found its well-deserved standing among detective dramas for years to come, Dark Winds has the same things (and some more) to offer — a reason why it should be given a chance if you are looking for some True Detective-esque thrill and suspense.
Both seasons of Dark Winds are available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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