This weekend I have … an hour, and I want a crime drama.
‘Dark Winds’
When to watch: Sunday at 9 p.m., on AMC, or on AMC+.
If the hiatus in the final season of “Better Call Saul” has left an “ominous lonesome desert footage”-shaped hole in your heart, try this six-part mini-series set in and around the Navajo Nation. The show, based on the Leaphorn and Chee books by Tony Hillerman, is set in 1971 and follows tribal police officers investigating a series of perhaps unrelated crimes. While the plotting can get a little baggy, brilliant performances (especially from Zahn McClarnon, as Joe Leaphorn) and striking cinematography make up for it, and the show’s sensibilities around mourning, community and spirituality elevate it beyond other sad-man cop shows. If your soul is at peace whenever Noah Emmerich plays an F.B.I. agent, watch this.
… an hour, and I want something spooky.
‘Evil’
When to watch: Sunday, on Paramount+.
Season 3 of this well-done churchy horror procedural picks up right where Season 2 left off, with David (Mike Colter) and Kristen (Katja Herbers) seeking absolution … with a side of potent sexual tension. Characters on “Evil” are in a constant do-si-do of advance and retreat, encroachment and rapprochement, crossing the line and then scuttling backward and swearing to never commit that sin again. The show takes its scary parts seriously, but it also takes its funny parts seriously — characters make jokes and experience the ordinary humor of life while also understanding a demonic realm, and whatnot. If you ever thought you and Dana Scully would be friends, go back and start with Season 1 of “Evil” and have yourself a fun little summer TV project.
… a few hours, and I need closure.
‘Peaky Blinders’
When to watch: Arrives Friday, on Netflix.
The sixth and final season of “Peaky Blinders” is finally here, nearly three years after Season 5 and nine years after the show premiered. Through its run, “Peaky” has become a little less focused, as Tommy (Cillian Murphy) develops appetites for new vices, and this long after its debut, the show feels like part of an older, fleeting TV era of violent bleakness and damp British criminals. It remains ominous and tragic, though, its haunted beauty intact, with air so thick that cigarette smoke doesn’t rise, fog so heavy that the horses seem to exhale extra hard. There are only six new episodes, so binge gently.
