I was wrong about slow burn dramas after watching Dark Winds

I always thought slow burn shows were boring and a waste of time. But I gave Dark Winds a shot last weekend and the way they built tension episode by episode had me hooked by episode 3. Has anyone else changed their mind on a genre after one good show?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith1644d ago

I read somewhere that slow burn shows work better when the characters and setting are really strong, not just the plot moving fast. Dark Winds grabbed me the same way, with that whole Navajo setting feeling real and tense. My wife tried to get me into Better Call Saul for years and I gave up after two episodes. But she made me stick with it after we watched Dark Winds together and now I get it. Once you learn to trust a show to pay off later, it makes the slow parts feel important instead of boring. Sometimes a good one just clicks and opens the door for a whole genre you never gave a chance.

gray3144d ago

Once you learn to trust a show to pay off later" - that's exactly it. I think slow burns work for certain kinds of stories that need to earn their big moments. @keith164 mentioned Better Call Saul, which is a perfect example. I tried it twice and bounced off both times before it finally clicked on the third try. The thing nobody talks about is that some genres are actually designed for slow burns but get mislabeled. Westerns and crime dramas both need that pacing to build the world before they can hit you with the big stuff. Dark Winds works because it's really a mystery show disguised as a drama, and mysteries need to slow down so you can pick up clues you didn't even know were there.

anna7174d ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard. I used to be the queen of "if it's not action packed in the first ten minutes I'm out" which is ironic because I've fallen asleep during Fast and Furious movies more times than I'd care to admit. But yeah, Dark Winds did the same thing to me. I actually had to check if I was still awake by episode 2 because nothing "happened" yet, but somehow I was totally locked in. The way they make the desert feel like its own character is something else. I think the real test is when you start noticing all the little weird choices and then bam, they all matter later. Makes me wonder how many good shows I've abandoned after one episode because I was too impatient.