Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 3, episode 1.Even after a single episode,Dark Windsseason 3 has proven that it’s very different from the rest of the show in a major way.Dark Windshas always been - as the name implies - a fairly dark show.Dark Windsseason 1 saw Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and the rest of thecast ofDark Windsdeal with bad medicine, witchcraft, and more. Likewise, theending ofDark Windsseason 2saw Leaphorn confront and kill BJ Vines, which was a low point for the normally heroic character. Of course, as a police procedural,Dark Windsalso routinely deals with gristly murders.
Dark Windsseason 3, however, took the show’s dark tone up a notch in a very interesting and unprecedented way. While the show has always dealt with serious topics and heartbreaking realities,Dark Windshas never been a true horror show, until now. The premiere ofDark Windsseason 3 was actually frightening, and a lot of it is due to the fact that the show has broken the tradition of its last two seasons by depicting a Navajo monster on-screen.
Dark Winds Season 3 Has Shown The Ye’iitsoh Monster (A First For The Show)
Dark Winds Has Never Actually Shown A Monster From Navajo Folklore Before The Ye’iitsoh
Right from the get-go,Dark Windsseason 3 broke from the previous two seasons' lead by showing a monster from Navajo folklore.The Ye’iitsoh inDark Windsmay have just been a vision Leaphorn had, but either way, the show has depicted a figure in Diné culture.EvenDark Windsseason 1, which featured a more direct focus on bad medicine, only hinted at Ada Growing Thunder’s (Amelia Rico) witchcraft, and it wasn’t nearly as central of a focus as the Ye’iitsoh is. On top of that,Dark Windsseason 2 moved away from the darker parts of Navajo folklore, so season 3 has truly bucked expectations.
George R.R. Martin’s Cameo in Dark Winds Season 3 With Robert Redford Calls Out The Winds Of Winter Taking So Long: “The Whole World’s Waiting”
With George R.R. Martin appearing in Dark Winds season 3, the show couldn’t help but poke fun at his ongoing Game of Thrones-related delay.
In fact,Dark Windshas actively avoided depicting the monsters of Navajo folklore on screen in the past.George R. Joe, the Navajo cultural advisor forDark Winds, said that the show ultimately decided against depicting the shape-shifting Skinwalkers on-screen due to the taboo and questions of cultural sensitivity surrounding them(viaLos Angeles Times). While the earlier adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s novel -Skinwalkers, starring Wes Studi - did depict them, the show never has.Dark Windsseason 3 broke that tradition in the first minutes of its premiere, and it also distanced itself from the previous two seasons in a much broader way.
Dark Winds Season 3 Was Much Scarier Right From The Opening Scene
Leaphorn’s First Scene In Dark Winds Season 3 Saw Him Terrified By The Ye’iitsoh
In general,Dark Windsseason 3 is a lot darker and more frightening than either of its predecessors. Nothing demonstrates that better than the opening scenes of each season’s respective premieres. The opening ofDark Windsseason 1 was the armored truck robbery, while season 2 opened with Bernadette and Leaphorn being shot at by Colton Wolf (Nicholas Logan).The first scene ofDark Windsseason 3, however, shows Leaphorn injured and nearly dead, only for him to crawl through the darkness and see the monstrous Ye’iitsoh. In comparison to the earlier seasons, it’s downright frightening.
The Tunnel Scene In Dark Winds Season 3, Episode 1 Was Straight Out Of A Horror Movie
The scares didn’t stop at the premiere’s opening scene, however. At theend ofDark Windsseason 3, episode 1, Leaphorn and Sheriff Gordo Sera (A Martinez) had to crawl through a culvert to investigate some tracks they found. Everything about the scene, from the score to the low lighting and the smell, made it seem likeDark Windshad become a horror series.Even the moment when Ernesto Cata’s body fell through the ceiling was more disturbing than other murder victims inDark Winds, and it was an actual jump scare moment for the show.
“Ye’iitsoh (Big Monster)”
“Náá’tsoh (Big Eyes)”
“Ch’į́į́dii (Ghosts)”
“T’áá Áłts’íísígo (Just a Small Piece)”
“Béésh Łį́į́ (Iron Horse)”
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Clearly,Dark Windsseason 3 is taking a much darker approach to Tony Hillerman’s novels than it ever did in the past.Leaphorn’s opening scene and visions of the Ye’iitsoh, coupled with the heart-pounding and frightening discovery of Ernesto Cata’s body, indicate thatDark Windsseason 3 is getting closer to the horror genre than the show has ever gotten before. That darker tone has worked very well - the premiere is already the highest-rated episode in the show’s history (viaIMDb). If the whole season is like the premiere, there may be many more scares in store forDark Winds.
