I just finished watching the first season of this very good new mystery series, based on the Tony Hillerman series of novels and characters, and co-produced by George R.R. Martin (of Game of Thrones fame) and Robert Redford.
The story takes place in the early 1970s, on a Navajo reservation in the Southwest. The tribal police chief, Joe Leaphorn (convincingly played by Zahn McClarnon, who also played tribal police chief Matthias in Longmire), is trying to solve several crimes on the reservation which he suspects may be linked, with the help of a new deputy, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), and Joe's more experienced female deputy, Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten).
What stands out about this series is the way it weaves together traditional crime story elements with many culturally and historically relevant factors for the time and place. For example, there is a Native American militant group involved in a deadly armored car robbery in a nearby town, which is being tracked by a cynical and shady FBI agent as well as by the Navajo police. This leads to the usual jurisdictional conflicts, very true to life, between tribal authorities, the federal government and the FBI.
There is murder on the reservation too. There are Navajo traditional spiritual beliefs to be considered, and perhaps even some black magic, along with rural poverty, discrimination and the lives blighted by it, that all must be factored into the process of solving the crimes. And there is the lingering aftermath of an explosion at a uranium mine on the reservation that took several native workers’ lives, and the unresolved mysteries surrounding that community trauma.
It took me a couple of episodes to warm up to this series, but then I began to really appreciate the authentic characters, the complex plot, the growing suspense and the sensitive portrayals of native life and family dynamics. I also thought the show created convincingly realistic challenges for Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito to face in trying to solve these crimes, and provide good law enforcement and social justice for their people, in the harsh and often hostile environment of the reservation.
From what I can find on the internet, it appears that this series has been continued for at least another season. I look forward to more episodes of this entertaining new mystery show from AMC+ whenever it returns for that new season. Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment