Dark Winds Is Missing the Best Character
By
Jake Dee
What Is Dark Winds About?
Jim Chee in the Dark Winds Books vs. the TV Show, Explained
The 1991 Movie Dark Winds Is a More Accurate Depiction of Jim Chee
As Dark Winds continues to find new success on Netflix, the AMC original series may be robbing viewers of the most compelling character dynamic established in the Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman. Indeed, fans of the books have noticed how Jim Chee's character has been altered, stripping away his spirituality and fascination with his Navajo heritage. The character change has become so apparent that some fans have suggested checking out the 1991 movie adaptation, The Dark Wind, for a more accurate depiction of Jim Chee.
On the other hand, protagonist Joe Leaphorn retains his hardened demeanor and uses his cold, hard logic to solve various crimes in the American Southwest, adhering to the characterizations written by Hillerman in 18 novels published between 1970 and 2006. While it's no surprise to change a character from a book to a TV adaptation, fans of the Dark Winds series should know that the dynamic between Leaphorn & Chee saps the investigative tension between the title characters.
Zahn McClarnon , Kiowa Gordon , Rainn Wilson , Noah Emmerich
What Is Dark Winds About?
Dark Winds is an American psychological crime thriller with neo-noir Western tropes created by Graham Roland for AMC. The show premiered on the network in June 2022 and has lasted 12 episodes (six per season) before being renewed for an upcoming third season in September 2023. Although the series is based on Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn & Chee novel series, it's important to note that it wasn't until the seventh novel, Skinwalkers, that Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee began working together as detective partners.
Before Skinwalkers, Jim and Joe starred in standalone novels, giving readers six books worth of material that established their characters, shaded their backgrounds, described their personal beliefs and values, and set up a clear-cut investigative dichotomy between them. Before detailing the major differences between the books and the underrated Western TV show, the show stars Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn and Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee. Leaphorn is an Indigenous Navajo American and tribal police lieutenant in the Navajo County town of Kayenta. He is austere, straight-faced, humorless, and does not suffer fools easily.
Rather than acting on emotion, Leaphorn employs logic to solve various crimes perpetrated in Kayenta. He rules the town with an uptight air of professionalism, maintaining order as best he can by acting as proper and dutiful as possible. For the most part, Leaphorn's personality in the books is translated accurately to the screen, with McClarnon delivering smoldering intensity in all 12 episodes and counting. Yet, for Leaphorn & Chee fans, Jim Chee's inquisitive spirituality is oddly missing from the TV show, depleting viewers of the compelling character dynamic that amplified the tension between the two leads.
Jim Chee in the Dark Winds Books vs. the TV Show, Explained
In Dark Winds, Jim Chee is introduced as a Deputy Police Officer assigned to work with Joe Leaphorn's unit in Gallup, New Mexico. In reality, Chee is an undercover FBI agent who becomes deputized by Leaphorn after being planted in the unit by FBI supervisor Leland Whitover (Noah Emmerich). Unlike the grizzled and hardened Leaphorn, Chee is imbued with a bright-eyed naivety and spiritual curiosity that shines through in the novels but hardly registers in the TV series.
In his 2001 autobiography Seldom Disappointed, Hillerman stated that he created Chee as a necessary antidote to Leaphorn's gruff demeanor, who needed to be more gullible to suit the story. In the books, Chee is given his Navajo name, "Long Thinker," by his uncle. A former anthropology student, Chee is naturally curious, deeply spiritual, open-minded, and defined by his photographic memory. One of the most compelling components on the page is Chee's relationship with his uncle, Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai, who educated Chee in various Navajo rituals. Since childhood, Chee has memorized tapes of several Navajo words and concepts that bolster his spiritual side.
Dark Winds Cast and Character Guide
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Dark Winds Cast and Character Guide
We've compiled a guide to the cast and characters of Dark Winds, the hit AMC series.
Nakai (Eugene Black Rock) appears in Dark Winds Season 1 but is absent from Season 2, robbing fans of the spiritual teachings that result in Chee pushing back against Leaphorn during the investigations. As such, the tension between Leaphorn & Chee on the page is virtually eliminated on screen. Fans have noticed the glaring differences between the books and the TV show online. In a Reddit thread wondering what happened to Chee's background on the show, the original poster posited:
"I’m enjoying the series but one thing I miss is Chee’s interest in his Navajo spiritual heritage. I thought I learned so much from the books and that seems to be mostly missing from the TV show, at least from the episodes I have watched thus far. Bernie seems more into it than Chee from what I have seen."
Supporting the sentiment, another Redditor added, "I think Leaphorn's character is pretty similar to the books, despite changes. Chee is practically a different character." While several other Redditors agree that Chee's character has been altered, decreasing the tension between Leaphorn and Chee, some believe Chee's spirituality will be explored when Dark Winds returns. As one Redditor notes:
"I’m wondering if they’re going to have him [Chee] come around to it, especially given what he’s seen and experienced, plus getting his own medicine."
The response prompted support, with another adding:
"I think they are building up to it. He has a lot of resentment toward his community that he is working through in the first two seasons."
Perhaps the most explainable reason for Chee's changes comes from ConsciousAnimator87, who notes how Dark Winds combines Hillerman's novels to streamline the narrative, leaving Chee's spiritual background as collateral damage.
"I'm currently on the latest Anne Hillerman novel that was released a few days ago and it seems like Dark Winds are condensing something like 1-3 novels into a season. I agree that the Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito we see on the screen are very different from the books."
The 1991 Movie Dark Winds Is a More Accurate Depiction of Jim Chee
For a more accurate representation of Jim Chee onscreen, fans of Hillerman's novels should watch Lou Diamond Phillips' performance in the 1991 feature film The Dark Wind. In the Reddit thread mentioned above, one of the most upvoted responses to the OP belongs to AltseWait, who stated, "Watch Dark Wind (1991) to see a more spiritual Jim Chee."
Based on Hillerman's novel of the same name, the underrated '90s Western movie finds Chee working with Leaphorn (Fred Ward) to untangle a criminal conspiracy involving drug smuggling, vandalism, robbery, and murder after a plane crashes in Navajo country in the Southwest U.S. Phillips gives a mystical turn that is far more in line with Chee than Gordon in Dark Winds. As the original Reddit poster noted in response to The Dark Wind movie recommendation:
"I agree. I have that on DVD. Also in that movie they kept Chee’s warmth. In the new TV series they seem to have left that out of his character."
Although Dark Winds Season 3 has not yet received a release date, it is expected to return to AMC in 2025. Tune in to find out whether Chee's spirituality is depicted more accurately. Dark Winds is available to stream on Netflix and AMC+.
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