Give Zahn McClarnon an Emmy Already

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By now, it would be reasonable to expect that Zahn McClarnon has garnered around six Emmy nominations, given his impressive acting career. His chilling portrayal of the rising crime lord Hanzee Dent in the second season of Fargo stands out, as does his memorable role as the growing consciousness host Akecheta in Westworld’s “Kiksuya.” The comedic flair he brought to the superstitious lighthorseman Officer Big on Reservation Dogs, a character that contrasted sharply with his sarcastic tribal police chief from Longmire, showcased his versatility. Despite these notable performances, none of them resulted in an Emmy nomination. However, they have paved the way for his leading role in AMC’s Dark Winds, a part that seems ideally suited to finally bring him the recognition he has long been due as the third season unfolds.

In a dry, witty manner reminiscent of the arid southwestern Diné terrain, McClarnon skillfully portrays Joe Leaphorn in Graham Roland’s neo-noir adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s “Leaphorn and Chee” novels. As the head of the Navajo Tribal Police, Leaphorn is a character trying to maintain balance on the reservation amidst encroaching outsider influence. McClarnon’s previous roles as law enforcement officers allow him to challenge stereotypes through his unique tone and physicality, ensuring that no character becomes a cliché. In one scene, he transitions effortlessly from following a blood trail, to joking about his colleagues’ survival skills, to expressing shock and dismay at an unanticipated corpse that disrupts Leaphorn’s Indigenous beliefs. In the series’ third season (renewed for a fourth), McClarnon delves deeper into the complexities of Leaphorn, showcasing a performance that is both punishingly introspective and emotionally vulnerable. Dark Winds has already introduced us to a man whose life experiences have shaped his moral compass, and this season further explores that journey.

In the first season, Navajo police officer Leaphorn and his wife Emma (Deanna Allison) are mourning their son Joe Jr., who perished in an explosion at a reservation drilling site. During the second season, Leaphorn uncovers that businessman B.J. Vines (John Diehl) orchestrated the accident to acquire the land cheaply. When Vines’ vast business and political influence result in the dismissal of charges against him, driven by a speech from his police officer father Henry (Joseph Runningfox) about the disparity between “white justice” and “Indian justice,” Leaphorn expels Vines to a desolate, snowy region close to the reservation. This is essentially a death sentence, and when Dark Winds‘ third season resumes six months later, Vines remains missing, and Leaphorn appears both relieved and tormented by the retribution burdening his soul. McClarnon’s captivating screen presence has always kept viewers hooked whenever he appears, but in these eight episodes, he showcases cracks in that image, imbuing Leaphorn with a doubt that makes him seem more vulnerable and raises Dark Winds’ current season to its highest point yet.

In the story, Leaphorn is concerned about the possibility of Special Agent Sylvia Washington (Jenna Elfman) from the FBI investigating the incident involving Vines, given that the FBI has jurisdiction over significant crimes on Indigenous land, a relationship that’s been strained for decades. Simultaneously, he and his partner, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), must locate two missing 14-year-olds, Ernesto Cata and George Bowlegs. The boys were working at an archaeological site, and Leaphorn wonders if their disappearance is linked to the site in any way. As the situation escalates, he starts contemplating whether they should prepare for a grim scenario or if the boys have fallen victim to the Ye’iitsoh, a mythical creature that adds a supernatural element to the series Dark Winds.

As Leaphorn delves deeper into the case, he finds himself plagued by unsettling visions, causing him to ponder if his professional duties are incompatible with adhering to Indigenous customs. Meanwhile, his former protege Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) is attempting to establish a new career with U.S. Border Control. Her probe into an Indigenous Mixtec mother and daughter being forced across the border leads her to oil tycoon Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood), who may have connections to Leaphorn and Chee’s case, potentially putting Manuelito in peril that her old colleagues might not be able to extricate her from.

The idea that a single imprudent, self-centered, or dangerously careless action can irrevocably alter your fate is profoundly important to the current season of Dark Winds. This theme is developed by introducing new characters to challenge Gordon and Matten’s personal struggles. Derek Hinkey, famed from American Primeval, portrays Shorty Bowlegs, the father of the missing George and a childhood tormentor of Chee. Alex Meraz plays Ivan Muños, a Border Patrol agent who dances slowly with Manuelito to Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Night Time Is the Right Time” and cautions her to stay vigilant. Notably, the series also features significant musical moments such as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

One of the standout aspects of Dark Winds is its commitment to creating Native American characters from diverse backgrounds and beliefs, a point emphasized by McClarnon during production. The series’ exploration of contrasting perspectives regarding Indigenous communities’ interactions with larger American systems gives it a thought-provoking quality, reminiscent of the question “What is our praxis?” However, this expansive narrative and intellectual scope requires a focus to tie it all together, and no one does it better than McClarnon. With each episode, he subtly lowers his character’s posture, squints more at the strange intrusions into his reality, and gradually erodes his character’s adherence to the law.

As the third season approaches its climax, it’s evident that Leaphorn’s internal struggle between right and wrong is not merely a narrative element; it’s the core storyline, one that only McClarnon can effectively portray. His interactions with Allison are deliberately staged to emphasize their misalignment in position and viewpoint. McClarnon’s chemistry with A Martinez, who plays Leaphorn’s colleague Chief Gordo Sena, is rooted in a mutual feeling of weariness and frequent contemplative gazes into the distance. However, all this subtlety pales in comparison to the depth McClarnon brings to the sixth episode “Ábidoo’niidęę (What He Had Been Told)”. This episode, directed by Erica Tremblay, breaks new ground and carries a Lynchian tone, revealing an aspect of Leaphorn’s past and bringing to light the series’ long-standing themes about acting against white supremacy, Catholicism, and systems that have sought to erase Indigenous people. In this episode, McClarnon is required to kill off part of Leaphorn as a form of renewal, which he portrays masterfully, gradually building on the character’s stillness until his realizations become like a massive cleansing wave. This is truly remarkable work in what promises to be a career-defining season for McClarnon, and it’s high time the Emmys recognized this.

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2025-03-11 02:55