If you’ve been meaning to watch the George R.R. Martin-executive produced murder mystery with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, now is your chance! The underappreciated AMC series “Dark Winds” is now finding a new audience on Netflix.
“Dark Winds” debuted on the streamer this week as part of a new Netflix deal with prestige cable channel AMC – one that’s also brought critical darlings like historical thriller “The Terror,” weird meta-sitcom “Kevin Can F*** Himself,” and gorgeous vampire melodrama “Interview with the Vampire” to the platform’s new AMC hub. The licensing deal is surely a bid to get more eyes on these great shows, and so far, it’s already paying off with several of them. According to viewership data site FlixPatrol, AMC shows like “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches” and “Fear the Walking Dead” have already cracked the top 10 most-watched English-language shows for the streamer, with “Dark Winds” beating out the rest of them to land in third place overall (as of August 21, 2024).
Netflix’s own viewership data is a bit murkier, as its official top 10 site currently only lists Netflix Original audience numbers and “Dark Winds” doesn’t fall under that category. But by cross-referencing that data against FlixPatrol’s findings (Matt Rife’s standup special is a benchmark that appears on both lists), it becomes obvious that “Dark Winds” is pulling in an impressive amount of viewers –- seemingly somewhere north of four million and counting.
Dark Winds is a Western crime drama worth watching
So, why should you be watching “Dark Winds”? Well, for one thing, the two-season-and-counting series is one of a tiny handful of shows on TV today that center Native American stories, and it features a great performance from veteran actor Zahn McClarnon (“Reservation Dogs,” “Fargo,” “Westworld”). McClarnon stars as Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo Nation tribal police lieutenant investigating a string of deaths plaguing the sprawling territory in the Southwest United States. Kiowa Gordon (the “Twilight” films) plays his investigative counterpart, young FBI agent Jim Chee, while the show’s enjoyably eclectic supporting cast includes “The Office” alum Rainn Wilson, “The Americans” star Noah Emmerich, and “Star Trek” actor Jeri Ryan.
“Dark Winds” is based on the book series by Tony Hillerman, and it counts both “A Song of Ice And Fire” author George R.R. Martin and esteemed actor-filmmaker Robert Redford among its producers. It’s also very bingeable, with short six-episode seasons that blend together moody mysteries and something darker –- more like folk-horror-tinged “True Detective,” according to Joshua Meyer’s review for /Film. Several reviews of the show’s first season (which holds an impressive perfect critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, as does its second) mention the way it rewards viewers’ attention rather than falling apart in the eleventh hour. “The mystery loses none of its intrigue even as it becomes clear who is behind the murders, but it’s the character digressions that keep us riveted from one episode to the next,” Pajiba’s Dustin Rowles wrote in his review of season 1.
If you tear through the first two seasons of “Dark Winds,” you’ll luckily have more to look forward to. The show was renewed for a third season in September 2023. At the time, AMC Networks’ president of entertainment Dan McDermott told Variety: “There is so much storytelling yet to come in this universe. Thanks to the fans for embracing this series and the critics for celebrating and shining a light on it.” Luckily, AMC’s new streaming deal means that the show will be more in the spotlight than ever.
You can now watch both seasons of “Dark Winds” on Netflix.