
Tonight, the new series
Dark Winds premieres on AMC and AMC+, with the first two episodes available on the latter. Set in 1971,
Dark Winds follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) as he investigates a series of seemingly unrelating crimes. The series is based on the
Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman. Chris Eyre, who is a director on the series and is also an executive producer actually worked on adaptations of the book series previously, but this time is different. “I think this is the first time that it feels like it's crystallized into something appropriate to the time and the place,” said Eyre. “Graham [Roland]’s pilot script was amazing, and it spoke to just the contradictions and the beauty of the story and the characters.”
Roland, who is not only also an executive producer in addition to writer on the series but credited as creator, said he hadn’t read the books prior to receiving one from his agent. “That was my first introduction to it,” said Roland. “Then, I was completely taken, not only with the idea of doing a project that was Native centric, there was [also] no white character bringing you into the Native world. It started through the Native character’s POV, and then you experience the world to their point of view. [Hillerman]’s writing was so immersive, the sense of place that you got from his writing, as a writer and trying to adapt it, it gave me a great place to start from, because there was so much there. His books were so rich with detail. There was so much there for me to draw from.”