Dark Winds, a crime series starring Zahn McClarnon, has become a little show that could over the last couple of years, thanks in no small part to the show becoming available on Netflix, where many new fans have discovered it.
Not a lot of ink spills on behalf of Dark Winds—it’s a show I enjoy and don’t feel like turning into work, though I have covered it occasionally—but it has chugged along through two seasons, with season three premiering on AMC and AMC+ on March 9, 2025.
Ahead of the season three premiere, the White House hosted a special screening event for the series, attended by McClarnon and his co-stars Jessica Matten, Deanna Allison, and Kiowa Gordon as well as writer Steven Paul Judd. It’s Native American Heritage Month in the US, so the timing of the event makes sense, despite season three not premiering for several months, but I also assume they’re doing this now because the odds of the White House celebrating Native American artists and storytellers go down drastically on January 20, 2025.
I’m not sure how much more Dark Winds we’ll get to enjoy, especially since season three is a “super-sized” eight episodes, as opposed to the usual six. I will not be surprised if this is the season that ties everything up at least well enough to serve as a closing point if the series isn’t renewed again. There is always the Netflix echo effect, though, that gives the series a second life after its initial run on AMC. As long as it has some popularity on Netflix—which it does!—maybe AMC will give us more of Zahn McClarnon: Leading Man, the role he truly deserves. If you’re looking for a holiday season binge to watch while vegging out on the sofa, give Dark Winds a go. All twelve episodes are streaming now on Netflix.