Another killer season from the Tony Hillerman-inspired series “Dark Winds” and and an endearing new Kate Hudson sit-com top our roundup this week.
The two shows land in the same week as Marvel reboots Daredevil.
“Dark Winds: Season 3”: While AMC lacks the sheer volume and deep pockets of other major series providers, the underdog network has nonetheless produced two of the best series running.
One is showrunner Rolin Jones’ take on Anne Rice’s “Interview With a Vampire” (you can stream the first season on Netflix and watch the first and second ones on AMC and AMC+), which is one of the sexiest, most tantalizing shows on TV. And then there is Dark Winds” — kicking off its third season this weekend — which continues to expand and deepen its ethically challenging themes as it immerses us into the folds of a taut, tricky police procedural that doubles as a window into the life of Navajo culture.
“Winds” brings to life author Tony Hillerman’s 26-volume Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee detective series, bang-up noir-tinged grabbers that were set mostly on sunbaked 1970s New Mexico tribal land. The late author’s work has been a draw for filmmakers for some time, with three PBS films and a mediocre 1991 Errol Morris movie “The Dark Wind” starring a miscast Lou Diamond Phillips as Jim Chee.
Season 3 maintains the same high standards from before and presents a twisty mystery and goes to darker moral places. It’s creepier too, as it digs even deeper into Navajo mythology and legends. You realize you’re in for something scarier from the very first scene of the first episode. It’s freaky stuff.
Season 3 finds the brittle sanity of Navajo Tribal policeman Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon, still deserving of an Emmy) eroding in the aftermath of the death of B.J. Vines (John Diehl) — a fateful figure with ties to his family. His death finished off Season 2.
Burdened by guilt six months later for a variety of reasons including his bending the law, Leaphorn’s psyche grows shakier while he and his more mellow, younger partner Chee (Kiowa Gordon) seek to solve the disappearance of two teens.
The case coincides with suspicious activity occurring near the border where Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) — who used to work for the Navajo Tribal Police with Chee and Leaphorn and had a relationship with Chee — now gets drawn to cocky and handsome border agent Ivan Muños (Alex Meraz).
Further stirring the pot is the appearance of an FBI agent (Jenna Elfman) who starts snooping around into missives about Vines’ death. Her investigation brings back one of my favorite characters from last season: the narcissistic chain-smoking widow Rosemary Vines (played to the diva hilt by Jeri Ryan). It also rubs raw the emotional wounds of Leaphorn’s wife, Emma (Deanna Allison) and strains their relationship.
The stakes in Season 3 are raised even higher for the main characters with the filmmakers playing around in the surreal fringes of what a David Lynch film might do.
New characters playing essential roles include wealthy oilman Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood) and the mysterious, fearsome Budge (Raoul Max Trujillo). How do they figure in? The series takes its time to interlace all these threads.
A lot of talent backs up this series — from showrunner John Wirth to directors Chris Eyre and Erica Tremblay and more — and all that skill is put to great use. AMC only granted reviewers six of the eight episodes, and I keep checking on when the next two will drop.
An unexpected treat is a hilarious cameo featuring two of “Dark Winds” best-known executive producers, Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin. It’s brilliant.
AMC has already announced that a fourth season will be coming. That’s confidence. But what remains a mystery is why some haven’t discovered this neo-noir gem yet. Dive in. You’ll love it. Details: 3½ stars; first episode drops March 9; you can stream the first two seasons on Netflix, AMC, AMC+).
Hudson sparkles in ‘Point’: Netflix’s new sports-themed sitcom “Running Point” isn’t in the same league as Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” but it’s a minor-league winner regardless and that’s because of its MVP — Kate Hudson. The “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” actor (heck, she can even sing) has a natural gift for comedy and she also has some serious acting chops. She flexes both as Isla Gordon, the new president of the Los Angeles Waves basketball team. Hudson makes a self-involved character genuinely likable and relatable.
She gets bounced into the head position after its revealed that her older brother Cam (Justin Theroux) has a serious drug addiction. He bows out of the job and moves her in, a decision that doesn’t initially sit well with other members in this dysfunctional Gordon clan, Isla’s often inappropriate brother Ness (a very funny Scott MacArthur), the team’s general manager; and her gay, rather cutthroat half-brother Sandy (Drew Tarver), the team’s numbers cruncher. The setup is said to be inspired by real-life L.A. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and creates some sitcomish scenarios that sometime work and other times fail to the sink the basket.
The best exchanges in this series created by Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and Elaine Ko involve the players — their demands, their problems, even their families (especially a mom played by hysterical scene-stealer Nicole Sullivan). That along with the interplay between Isla and her new assistant Jackie Moreno (Fabrizio Guido, who’s the rookie of the year here), make up for the stumbles and some way undercooked storylines. “Running Point” is far from perfect but it still has Hudson and she’s sinking three pointers every time.
Details: 3 stars; All 10 episodes now available on Netflix.
“Picture This”: Entirely innocuous and forgettable except for two standout performances, this pedestrian rom-com from director Prarthana Mohan uses a wheezy premise cribbed from another movie no one saw, 2024’s “Five Blind Dates.” Ever hear of it? Thought not. “Bridgerton” star Simone Ashley is radiant as the independent-minded Pia, owner of a going-broke East London photography studio she runs with the help of her equally radiant and wickedly charming gay bestie Jay (Luke Fetherston, who is missed in every scene he’s not in). Her sis Sonal (Anoushka Chadha) is prepping to wed, and mom (Sindhu Vee) has a batch of pricey jewelry she’ll give to her two daughters when they land a wedding ring. The industrious Pia hears from a psychic that it’ll take five dates till she meets the special someone she’ll love forever. She goes for it and gets paired up with oddballs — a rich guy (Asim Chaudhry) with germ issues, a family friend (Nikesh Patel) who has a crush on someone else, a yoga guru (Phil Dunster) with dubious notions. Her ex (Hero Fiennes Tiffin, given little to do), who is still in the picture, watches on. The problem here is the comedy. It’s way too broad and makes the outcome preordained. The result is there is zero tension, making us go through the motions along with Pia. Ashley and Fetherston are such astro-glow presences and deserve better in a romcom that cobbles together elements of better romcoms, including “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” “Picture This” fades the instant the credits roll, and that obvious wedding dance sequence we’ve come to expect comes rolling along, just as manufactured, just as planned. Details: 2 stars; available to stream March 6 on Amazon Prime.
Contract Randy Myers at soitarandy@gmail.com.