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Zahn McClarnon directs a propulsive Dark Winds

The star pulls double duty this week.

By Brian Tallerico  |  February 22, 2026 | 10:01pm
Photo: Michael Moriatis/AMC
TV Reviews Dark Winds
Zahn McClarnon directs a propulsive Dark Winds

It’s not uncommon for stars of shows that have been on for years to eventually take the directorial reins. After all, who knows the show better than the people who have been on set every day? Noah Wyle directed the sixth episode of the current second season of The Pitt, Elisabeth Moss somehow found the time to helm 10 episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, and even Bryan Cranston got the credit on three episodes of Breaking Bad. So it makes sense that Zahn McClarnon would take a stab at his directorial debut in a world he knows so well on Dark Winds. His episode, “Bikéé’ Doo Éédahoozįįdę́ę́góó (Toward Their Unknown Paths),” continues the confident setup of the season premiere and hints that McClarnon, unsurprisingly, may have a future behind the camera if he chooses it. It’s a propulsive episode that still takes the time to build character-driven arcs for the season like Chee and Bern’s growing relationship and what her promotion might do to it. It also has a very strong visual language, an element that has always separated this program from similar procedurals.

In one sense, “Bikéé’ Doo Éédahoozįįdę́ę́góó (Toward Their Unknown Paths)” is basically an extended chase episode, one that follows our trio of investigators—and, again, it’s so great to see them on a single case together instead of approaching one from different angles like the last couple seasons—as they assess the massacre at the diner and track Billie and Albert across the region, hoping to reach them before the mysterious blond assassin named Irene does so instead. However, the action begins with the episode’s best scenes, the ones right outside the diner after the opening credits (and the prologue that reminds us of the carnage that took place). 

Let’s talk about those scenes. First, there’s the oner in which the camera slowly moves over the destruction caused by Irene that slows down as it reaches the doorway, framing a crouched Joe Leaphorn in the incredible red glow that the diner sign casts on the parking lot. The show has used the color red before to indicate danger, and the flow of the camera in this shot feels almost supernatural, akin to the “ghost sickness” that Leaphorn mentions the diner’s owner thought would haunt him and the otherworldly sensation produced by the final scene with Chee. And yet, there’s Joe and, later, Bernadette with their bright, white flashlight beams cutting through the red that’s all around them, a visual representation of warriors for good in violent worlds. Visually, it’s one of the best sequences in Dark Winds to date, especially when you consider it as a bookend to the last one, another sequence in which beams of light cut through darkness and another one in which ghost sickness, this time Chee’s, influences the flow of the camera.

It’s not just the strong direction, but the screenwriting choices by Max Hurwitz and Wenonah Wilms. They never forget to remind us of the inherent decency of Joe Leaphorn, who doesn’t panic or focus solely on the villain and the escaped Billie and Albert. He pauses to remember the owner of the diner, a man named Lucius, who was “pretty sweet.” When Leaphorn responded to a dead body there, Lucius thought he would be haunted by ghost sickness. It’s a beat that ties everything back to the people of this region, their beliefs, and their history. Most other shows wouldn’t take that time, believing that getting to that action was more important.

From here, Dark Winds moves pretty quickly, but it never loses that visual language or grounded character beats of the opening scenes. For the latter, a lot of choices this week center what will clearly be growing tension regarding Joe’s choice to promote Bernadette over Jim. She tries to give the case to Chee, sending him along with Leaphorn as they follow Irene’s broken radiator fluid leak through the night. They end up at a service station in a few scenes that remind us that they’re being hunted by a true outsider, someone whose presence Joe even noticed in the trading post in the last episode. There’s another great beat that emphasizes the villain’s interloper status this episode as she listens to an intense opera piece from Wagner’s Tannhäuser, music probably not commonly played in the American Southwest.

Finally, let’s talk about Billie. She not only tries to get her injured cousin to safety, but she goes to a hospital to steal drugs to treat him. The episode sets her up as resilient and quick-thinking, even trying to find a way to excuse her being there when she’s caught. Our heroes eventually get their hands on her but lose the other two parts of this chase as a seriously wounded Albert drives off and the cops realize they can’t track him right away because their cars have been disabled by Irene. She’s going to get the job done.

The last sequence reveals that she has, as Chee finds Albert dead with a blanket over his face. He has flashbacks to a similar discovery of violence with the same blanket from his past, his nose starting to bleed. He’s got the ghost sickness that Lucius feared. It turns out he may have much bigger things to worry about in the near future than moving in with Bernadette.

Stray observations

  • • Loved the beat in which Leaphorn tries to pass off “It’s not a secret if three people know it” as a Native American proverb but can only do so for about a second before fessing up to it being Gaelic. I also love the classic variation on it: “Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.”
  • • The episode is dedicated “In Memory of Taylor Roberts.” 
  • • The score on this show deserves some praise. Crafted by the Kiners, it alternates between pulsing rhythms as Joe and Jim track the radiator fluid through the night and more Southwestern/Native melodies. It’s an excellent tone setter.
  • • Direct again, Zahn. You’re really good at it. 

Brian Tallerico is a contributor to The A.V. Club.  

 
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