If you’ve missed “Dark Winds,” you’re not alone. Netflix added its fourth season this week just 5 months after it wrapped up its run on AMC, and it barely made a ripple in the streaming conversation. Buried under its arrival is a remarkable stat: every single season of “Dark Winds” has scored a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. At the center of that streak is actor Zahn McClarnon.
Taking a Look at Zahn McClarnon
McClarnon plays Joe Leaphorn. Joe is a Tribal Police officer solving crimes across the Navajo Nation in the 1970s. “Dark Winds” isn’t even an outlier for him, it’s a part of a pattern.
McClarnon also voices Orlox in Netflix’s animated series “Castlevania: Nocturne,” which sits at a 98% critics’ score. Before that, he was a standout on “Reservation Dogs,” one of the most acclaimed comedies of the last decade that holds a 99% score of its own. Across three completely different projects, all three have landed in the same rarefied critical territory.
McClarnon got his start in Hollywood in the 1990s and has previously starred in classics like “Fargo,” in its second season and “Westworld” in its second and fourth seasons, which have made him popular. Both shows scored high with critics, but his more recent projects have surpassed all expectations.
“Dark Winds” isn’t chasing algorithm-friendly buzz in the first place. It’s a patient, character-driven mystery that trusts its setting and its actors, like McClarnon, to do the work. That may be a part of the reason why critics keep responding to it season after season, even if casual audiences take their time to catch up.
The History Behind “Dark Winds”
The show is based on the Leaphorn and Chee novels by Tony Hillerman released in the 1970s. His daughter, famed journalist Anne Hillerman, continued the series after her father’s death in 2008. She revived the series in 2013 and has since published 10 books. The latest book in the series, “Bloodline,” is set to release in 2027.
McClarnon also joins an incredible group of executive producers, including Graham Roland, George R. R. Martin, and the late Robert Redford. Roland is known for “Jack Ryan” and “Mile 22” which have both had their time in the spotlight.
“Dark Winds” has a psychological crime thriller backdrop that follows McClarnon’s Leaphorn and Kiowa Gordon’s Chee as they investigate seemingly unrelated crimes. These crimes begin to reveal deeply connected networks of corruption, murder, and spiritual unease. It’s been previously described as a neo-noir and mystery storytelling to feature the Navajo Nation in authentic indigenous perspectives.
Season 4 moves the action out of Navajo Nation and into 1970s Los Angeles, following Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito (portrayed by Jessica Matten) as they search for a missing girl connected to organized crime. This backdrop is bigger than the show has attempted before, and it’s an early signal that the showrunners aren’t interested in resting on a formula that’s already working.
All 4 seasons of “Dark Winds” are now streaming on Netflix.
