“It’s the best hidden gem TV show of 2026.”
A crime drama situated in the American West has mesmerised audiences. Dark Winds, now streaming on Netflix, takes viewers back to the ’70s in an enthralling story that combines murder mystery, thriller, and Western noir elements.
Even though its fourth series is currently airing, Dark Winds is still being hailed an underrated gem. Inverse magazine dubbed it “the best show you haven’t seen”.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve been watching from the beginning or just tuning in for this season, Dark Winds is the best hidden gem TV show of 2026 so far, and it’s hard to imagine another show unseating its traditional structure and innovative story,”
A series of seemingly disconnected crimes have struck Navajo County in Arizona. Opening with a blockbuster-calibre heist sequence, the show chronicles three police officers’ pursuit of answers in a slow-burning mystery that resurrects painful memories for its central character, Sheriff Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon).
Since launching in 2022, audiences and reviewers have been captivated by the programme. All four series have an impeccable 100% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating.
Dark Winds kicks off explosively with a bold daytime robbery. Armed assailants descend from a helicopter and intercept an armoured vehicle and murder two guards. A police officer in on the crime helps ransack the car before detonating it and absconding with the money.
During their getaway, an elderly man observes the helicopter soaring above Navajo territory. Weeks afterwards, he is discovered dead and mutilated in a motel room.
The incident proves to be a double murder — a teenager is also discovered dead, though her body bears no marks, having been apparently frightened to death. The sole witness to the crime is her blind grandmother.
There’s also a young new deputy, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), whose assignment returns him to the reservation he’s deliberately stayed away from for years.
Completing the central trio is Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), Leaphorn’s trusted second-in-command and the sole female sergeant on the reservation.
“This brooding Navajo murder mystery begs to be binged,” said The Guardian.
“Murder mysteries with compelling hooks too often fall apart as the investigations get underway and the stories drift into character digressions, but Dark Winds works in the opposite,” wrote Pajiba’s critic.
Viewers paying close attention to the credits will spot two well-known names linked to the project: executive producers Robert Redford and Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin.
The popular series is based on the Leaphorn and Chee book collection. The novels, for which Redford owned the film rights, were his passion project — Dark Winds marked the third adaptation he had overseen.
The legendary actor’s cameo in the show proved to be his final on-screen appearance before his death in September 2025.
The first three series of Dark Winds are currently available to stream on Netflix UK. The fourth series is currently airing in the US on AMC.
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