Accused Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Naataanii’s Story

On Accused Season 1 Episode 6, “Naataanii’s Story,” the show explores a story about survival and strength within an Indigenous community. 

Accused has not been afraid of pushing the envelope from the beginning, and this episode continues to do just that. 

Centering on a group of Indigenous folks, the episode features the crowd breaking into a local mill that’s been poisoning their families to shut it down. 

It is heroic work, though unfortunately, the government doesn’t see it that way. 

This heartbreaking story is told from several different perspectives, as opposed to the usual format of the show, which spotlights one person. 

We get the story from a 360-degree angle as everyone within this story arc must watch as the conflict plays out around them, which is deeply harrowing. 

“Naataanii’s Story,” is like a bad case of Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong. 

We see more growth in a character we know for 30 minutes than in seasons of some TV shows. This is because the characters are all three-dimensional, genuine people instead of caricatures. 

The story hits home too — Native tribes in the United States have lost nearly 99% of the land they previously occupied — with a scenario that’s too common to fully dissect in the review for a TV show: stolen land for the price of capitalism.

Tazbah Chavez writes and directs this heartfelt episode, where though justice isn’t fully served, there’s enough accountability to count this as a win. 

“Naataanii’s Story” also does a fantastic job of pointing out microaggressions in ways others have struggled to put together. For example, not allowing them to speak Navajo in court, not calling conjecture when a witness says “I think,” or macing peaceful protestors in broad daylight. 

Accused is not a fantasy. These things happen regularly to Indigenous people, and this episode is a win because it’s written to reflect that reality. But, unfortunately, that’s not how the real world is. 

It’s a story in which you can find beauty despite the tragedy. 

A man dies because a white FBI agent decided to play God. Three people would’ve gone to jail because a white man lied on the stand to one-up a group of people who were trying to protect their families. 

The beauty comes out in the middle, and in the end: Naataanii refuses to kill Derrick because of his betrayal, allowing him to be judged the way he was raised and not simply in a dismissive court of law. 

Natalie Benally plays Shandiin, Naataanii’s sister, beautifully. Her grief is felt through the screen, even in the happy moments of the aftermath. 

“Naataanii’s Story” reminds us that standing up for ourselves, our families, and the oppressed is never the wrong thing to do.

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Accused airs Tuesday at 9/8c on FOX.

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