Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.
There are grittier, hipper, more popular crime dramas coursing through the TV/streaming ecosystem – “Tulsa King,” “Presumed Innocent,” “The Rookie” — but none of those shows can match the quality of AMC’s “Dark Winds,” returning for its third season at 9 p.m. March 9 on AMC and AMC .
Based on the late author Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn and Chee book series, “Dark Winds” stars Zahn McClarnon (“Fargo”) as tribal police Lt. Joe Leaphorn. Each season, Leaphorn and fellow officer Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), investigate a new case. (This latest season is a mash-up of two Hillerman novels, “Dance Hall of the Dead” and “The Sinister Pig.”)
But in season three, the case from season two plays a prominent role as Leaphorn is haunted by his decision to leave the villainous B.J. Vines in the desert to die. That decision creates even more stress when an FBI agent (Jenna Elfman) arrives to investigate Vines’ disappearance.
There’s also a new case to explore: The disappearance of two boys. The father of one kid is Chee’s high school nemesis.
Meanwhile, a former member of the tribal police department, Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), tries to make a go of it 500 miles away as a border patrol agent, but she gets little support from her sexist boss when she stumbles on what appears to be a human trafficking and drug smuggling operation.
Set in the 1970s on the largest Native American reservation in the United States, “Dark Winds” distinguishes itself by embracing a setting – geographic and cultural – rarely seen in prime time. “Dark Winds” explores stories and characters through the lens of its Native American characters, perhaps even more so in season three than in the past.
A guilt-ridden Leaphorn is seeing things, including, possibly Ye’iitsoh, the Navajo word for “monster.” Leaphorn’s actions cause a rift in his marriage to wife Emma (Deanna Allison), already frayed by the death of their son.
The Vines case also dredges up Leaphorn’s childhood memories of a terrible incident that plays out in a dream state in the season’s sixth episode, a masterful blend of mythology and memory that moves the story forward while interrogating Leaphorn’s character to the greatest degree yet. McClarnon, who’s never anything but excellent, might finally get some deserved Emmy recognition.
Unlike the first two seasons of “Dark Winds,” which consisted of six episodes, this third season has eight episodes. Viewers often grumble when shows have shorter runs, but compared to many bloated streaming series, “Dark Winds” continues to feel taut and right sized.
McClarnon, who is an executive producer on “Dark Winds,” expressed discomfort with the original ending to season two. In the initial script, Leaphorn shot and killed Vines, which didn’t sit right with McClarnon.
Typically, TV writers often do not love it when actors try to get involved in storytelling, but Wirth said he and McClarnon have open communication.
“I don’t surprise him with something, and he doesn’t surprise me with something,” Wirth said in a Zoom interview late last month. “If there’s something that comes up that I think could be challenging or maybe he may have sensitivity about in some way, I always let him know in advance.”
Wirth said McClarnon had misgivings about season two’s denouement from the start, but Wirth talked him into it. McClarnon expressed concern a few more times after that.
“I said, ‘Well, if you tell me I’m drunk once, I might not be, but if you tell me I’m drunk three times, I probably am, and I hear you,’” Wirth told McClarnon. “He had some very strong reasons why he was uncomfortable with it.”
In a recent issue of “Emmy” magazine, McClarnon said, “It’s just too much for a Native American to murder a white man. And I’m the only Native American lead on an American television series.”
“(McClarnon) suggested that (Leaphorn) just take this character out in the desert and leave him, which would resonate off of this ‘Long Walk’ story that is a historical Navajo story,” Wirth said. “I had some concerns: Did this really change anything? Because at the end of the day, (Leaphorn) is killing him anyway. And (McClarnon) said, ‘Yeah, I hear that, but it’s just better for me, and I think ultimately, it’s better for the character.’ And I have to say, I believe he’s right.”
AMC already renewed “Dark Winds” for an eight-episode fourth season. That’s good to know, because Wirth said, unlike past seasons, this third season concludes with unresolved storylines.
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“There isn’t a big cliffhanger, but there are a lot of things left hanging and some pointing at things to come,” Wirth said. “Anybody who’s watching the show would not think that everything’s all wrapped up. At the end of season two, there was more of a sense like, ‘Oh, this could be the end.’ I never thought that, but people had said that to me, so I think I tried a little bit harder in season three to suggest that there’s more to come.”
‘Watson’ ratings
In its second episode opposite the “SNL50” special on Feb. 16, ratings for CBS’s Pittsburgh-set medical drama “Watson” tumbled 84% in the 18-49 demo (from 1.6 in its Jan. 26 premiere to .26 on Feb. 16) and 55% in viewers (from 9.6 million to 4.3 million).
For its third episode on Feb. 25, “Watson” ratings ticked up a bit, growing 4% in the demo (.27 rating) and 8% in total viewers (4.6 million).
CBS already renewed “The Amazing Race,” “Elsbeth,” “FBI,” “Fire Country,” “Georgie Mandy’s First Marriage,” “Hollywood Squares,” “Matlock,” “NCIS,” “NCIS: Origins,” “NCIS: Sydney,” “Survivor” and “Tracker” for the 2025-26 TV season. “Ghosts” got a two-year renewal through the 2026-27 TV season.
CBS says additional renewals will be announced in the future.
Renewed
PBS Kids renewed “Alma’s Way,” from Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers’ Productions, for a 15-episode third season.
Fox renewed “Doc” for a 22-episode second season.
Netflix will bring back wilderness competition show “Outlast” for a third season.
Apple TV renewed “Where’s Wanda?” for a second season.
Fox ordered a fifth and sixth season of Gordon Ramsay’s cooking competition series “Next Level Chef” and a spin-off series, “Next Level Baker.”