Dark Winds season 3; episode 1 starts with a crime, and a villain that is, apparently, a big one. This time around, the show is starting out big and from episode one, they want us on the edge of our collective seats.
It is working.
*Never mind that the show gives us a brilliant “in-cell” chess cameo with Robert Redford and R R Martin. Redford gets the best lines here, natch, and Martin does pretty darn good for a writer. This is an extra treat for fans of the show. *
The story
In episode 1 of Dark Winds: Leaphorn and Chee are trying to find a missing Navajo boy. Manuelito is having issues in the Border Patrol. She is also attempting to stop a potential serial killer. The FBI has sent an agent to investigate B J Vines and his connection with Lt Leaphorn.
the cast
Zahn McClarnon is Joe Leaphorn.
Kiowa Gordon is Jim Chee.
Jessica Matten is Bernadette Manuelito.
Deanna Allison is Emma Leaphorn.
A Martinez is Gordo Sena.
Jenna Elfman is Agent Sylvia Washington.
Natalie Benally is Natalie Bluehouse.
Ye’iitsoh (Big MOnster)
This week’s tale seems to be about a big monster. One that is apparently taking little boys. Leaphorn is under suspicion from the FBI and Manuelito is facing hard times with her new job.
A boy goes missing. Leaphorn and Chee attempt to find him. This particular season opener owes much to Vince Gilligan and his Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul episodes. It starts with Leaphorn lying either dead or wounded. (We later learn he is injured.) Speaking to dispatch in Navajo, he finishes in English, “Send them all.”
Ye’IItsoh must be one big “bad.” As the first episode unfolds, we begin to learn that there is a whole lot going on here.
It works
This “Big one” or “Big Monster” is more than a legend here. Leaphorn keeps seeing something that looks like a R rated version of the Crypt Keeper. It is jarring. Dark Winds season 3 starts by giving us a case of the whim whams right off the bat.
More importantly, we see Lt Joe Leaphorn at his most vulnerable. This too is jarring. It feels like he has been given a long lasting hallucinogenic drug. This could explain the arrow in his neck. But we have yet to see this part of the flashback that is this episode.
Season 3 is going to be brutal.
The Verdict
Dark Winds season 3; episode 1 is a full 5 stars here. It should lose a star just because of that creepy figure we see on the other side of that boulder. I, for one, want to know what is going on here.
The Trailer
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