George R.R. Martin show with 100% RT rating needs to be your next binge watch

• Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has a long career in TV.
• He is the producer of a crime show with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• But what is it about and how to watch it?

A crime drama produced by George R.R. Martin needs to be your next binge-watch, according to critics.

Dark Winds has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and recently released its third season. One of the major names involved is the A Song of Ice and Fire author, who is an executive producer along with Robert Redford.

The period series is set in the 1970s and is based on the Leaphorn & Chee series by Tony Hillerman. It stars Westworld and Twilight actors.

What is Dark Winds about?

The synopsis overview on Rotten Tomatoes for the show reads: “Set in 1971 on a remote outpost of the Navajo Nation near Monument Valley, Dark Winds follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Tribal Police as he is besieged by a series of seemingly unrelated crimes.

“The closer he digs to the truth, the more he exposes the wounds of his past. He is joined on this journey by his new deputy, Jim Chee.

“Chee, too, has old scores to settle from his youth on the reservation. Together, the two men battle the forces of evil, each other and their own personal demons on the path to salvation.”

The first two seasons had six episodes each, however this was expanded to eight for the third one. It stars Zahn McClarnon, who was in Fargo season two and Longmire as well as playing Akecheta in Westworld.

Why do critics say you should watch Dark Winds?

The show has a 100% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, across all three of its seasons. Debuting back in 2021, the most recent set of episodes came out earlier in 2025.

In the consensus verdict on RT for the first season, it reads: “Zahn McClarnon is riveting as a coiled cop in Dark Winds, a solid procedural that derives much of its texture from an underrepresented cultural milieu.”

It is a similar story for the second season, with the consensus reading: “Dark Winds' sophomore season is just as captivating as its predecessor, with Zahn McClarnon reaffirming his indispensable gravitas as a leading man.”

How is George R.R. Martin involved?

Despite being best known for his A Song of Ice and Fire series, which was the basis for HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones and its spin-off House of the Dragon, George R.R. Martin has long worked in TV.

He worked on the revival of The Twilight Zone and was also writer on the late 80s/ early 90s series Beauty and the Beast. He has also produced shows like Nightflyers and of course Dark Winds.

Speaking about the show back in 2021, Martin told The Hollywood Reporter: “Tony Hillerman was one of the greats, as every mystery reader knows. Down here in the Southwest, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are as iconic as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Philip Marlowe, and Travis McGee.

“When my friends Robert Redford and Chris Eyre asked me to help bring Leaphorn and Chee back to television, I could not agree fast enough. We have great source material in Tony’s novel Listening Woman, a great pilot script from Graham Roland, a great director in Chris… and what a pair of leads, with Zahn McClarnon as Leaphorn and Kiowa Gordon as Chee!

“Our plan is to shoot in New Mexico, in and around Santa Fe and on the Navajo reservation, and we are bringing in as many Navajo and other Native Americans as possible, as writers, directors, cast, and crew, to capture all the magic and mystery and wonder of the Land of Enchantment.

“Thanks to AMC for making it possible. Tony Hillerman wrote a lot of amazing books, and it is our dream to adapt as many of them as we can.”

He also appeared in a cameo role in the first episode of Dark Winds series three alongside fellow executive producer Robert Redford.

How to watch Dark Winds in the UK?

For British viewers, Dark Winds has been broadcast by Alibi as we do not have AMC on this side of the pond. So far, only the first two seasons have crossed the Atlantic but it can be found on Now TV, if you want to catch up.

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