Hooghandi – The fourth episode of Dark Winds begins five months before the armored truck heist as B J Vines (John Diehl) invites two men into his home. They warn him against buying the oilfield. The men call themselves the Buffalo Society while withholding their names. One explains that they stand for the decolonization and liberation of their lands. They reject their imperialistic, capitalist settlement culture. BJ offers to put them in charge of security of their looking for jobs only to be reminded that six Dine brothers were lost during the explosion. They think they found something more valuable than oil down there. Hoski tells him that they’re part of the land and not for sale. BJ suggests they belong to him since he just bought that land. Frank warns him that they’re going to pull the rug out from under him.

BJ tells them they might make the rug, but they don’t have the money to buy it. Then, we see the armored van robbery and the two men fly away in a helicopter. They ask the pilot, Chip, to land them near the lake. Once he does, he is shot in the head. They push the helicopter over the cliff. Ada Growing Thunder (Amelia Rico) is there to greet the two robbers. In the present, Raymond (Quenton Yazzie) comes out of the water with the helmet he discovered only to be shot in the head by Hoski. After the intro, Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) stops and checks on a horse and Rod. Later, Rod exchanges his cowboy hat for the helmet at the market. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) has breakfast with Emma (Deanna Allison) who says Sally should be out of the hospital soon.

She asks Joe whether he has thought about what they talked about. Joe thinks she’d be better off in the shelter in Gallup. He rushes to the station where he tells Bernadette and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) that he has a name in the Growing Thunder domestic case. He mentions the name Frank Nakai (Eugene Brave Rock) who is a vet that was honorable discharged and got a Purple Heart. Joe was hoping they could find out where he is. Meanwhile, Frank complains about the Dine man that Hoski killed, but Hoski says you sometimes have to sacrifice one for the sake of others. He doesn’t know why they can’t save them all because they’ve already lost too many lives. Hoski tells him they’re not the creator or naive. They walk into the water to deal with the body.

In the car, Joe wonders why McGinnis’ wife wouldn’t send this letter. Jim says she is cagey and they never gave him a description to go on regarding the man looking for the painting. Jim confirms there was a white guy in the armored truck heist posing as a cop so he believes Joe is thinking all these crimes are connected again. Joe says the helicopter landed somewhere on the reservation. They go into the trading post to talk to Lester (Jonathan Adams) who believes they’re there to talk about Wanda. Joe doesn’t know anything about that and wants to speak to her about the letter. Lester tells them that they can’t because Wanda is in a coma. Bernadette goes to the hospital to see her. She talks to Emma and says she needs to talk to Sally for a second too. Emma reminds her that she doesn’t need to ask her before Bernadette reveals Chee asked about her clan.

She hasn’t told him yet and asks Emma not to tell Joe. Moments later, Joe and Jim meet with Father Benjamin Tso. Joe admits he couldn’t get in touch with him so he took care of things himself. He shows Benjamin where he buried the body before Jim asks if there is anyone they should notify. He says he has a brother although they haven’t seen each other since they were children. He was a wild horse that couldn’t be tamed since he was kicked out of school and allegedly set a chapel on fire. He says it was St. Michael’s and it was something his brother would do because he had authority issues. Benjamin knows the type since they come to him searching for salvation. Joe asks if he knows Wanda (Ryffin Phoenix). Ben says he knows her from the trading post. Joe asks him to check in on her now that she is sick.

As they walk away, Joe tells Jim that Benjamin said he had no family previously. Bernadette checks on Sally (Elva Guerra) who says she should be able to go home soon. Bernadette turns off the television, sits down, and begins asking questions about Frank Nakai. Sally doesn’t know where he is since he only comes to the house with his friend. He comes at night and lays down with her mother. Sally knows she is afraid of her mother, but she isn’t the one she should be afraid of. Frank uses a rope to give the Mormon family food. Karen Smith (Kate Bergeron) gets upset that they’re having beans again before asking Frank what they want from them. Kevin tells them that they’re the devils that came to their door in Dine. Pete Samuels (Rob Tepper) surprises Frank as they hold each other at gunpoint.

Joe and Jim go to the church to speak to Sister Doris (Lucina Marker) who says they’ll have to look in the archives. Emma reveals that the baby is going to be a boy and he is going to have a wonderful mother. She asks her if she’d like to stay at their place. Jim can’t find any files for Tso leading Joe to say they should go through the S files. Joe confesses this place brings back memories since he got married here. It is a long story since he attended assimilation school, but he wasn’t dragged out of bed like most of his classmates. His parents thought it was the best thing and he always listened to them. Once he arrived, they cut his hair and took his clothes, but they never crushed his spirit. Benjamin tells Hoski and Pete that they need to calm themselves since they’re almost out of this.

Pete suggests they give him his cut so he can be on his way. Ben tells him to meet them at the original drop site tomorrow. He warns him not to be surprised if they pull up in a squad car. Jim finds a picture of Benjamin Tso and his twin brother James. Joe finds it odd that James has glasses while Benjamin does not. He believes Benjamin is lying about everything else since he is impersonating a priest. Joe thinks they’ll have enough for a warrant once they question him. He agrees to let Jim drive for a change. Before they pull away, he tells Jim he has plans for dinner tonight. Hoski tells Frank that they’re going to pull up. They’ll wait for one to enter and take the other one out. Frank doesn’t like the idea of sacrificing two more Dine, but Hoski doesn’t see another way.

He says they’ll take a car to the cave, load it up with money, and roll out like a pair of cops. The Mormons will pay for the lives lost at the drill site. Moments later, Jim meets with Whitover (Noah Emmerich) to ask if he is serious about the DC promotion. Jim admits he was right about the Buffalo Society pulling the heist in Gallup. He mentions Frank who they brought in after the Stockton Credit Union heist. Frank is on the reservation and Jim believes Pete Samuels is there as well. He also has a real name for Hoski, James Tso. Whitover learns that he has been posing as his priest twin brother. He wants to call the boys to come out and grab them, but Jim warns him that the sight of Feds on the reservation would cause them to run. He recommends letting himself and Leaphorn handle it.

Once he gets them, Whitover can get a federal warrant and pick him up. Otherwise, Joe will try to make the murder case and they’ll have to wait for the heist charges. That evening, Hoski grabs a horse. Jim arrives at the Leaphorn house with a gift of Dine tea. Once they sit down, Chee tells Emma that his clan is One-walks-around. He apologizes for their son before Emma talks about Bernadette looking beautiful the other night. Joe doesn’t think they’re a match, but he soon learns that his wife didn’t have to play matchmaker after all. They agree to invite Bern to join them next time if she brings foil for the television. Emma says Sally is coming back tomorrow night because she is scared and has nowhere to go. She intends to let her stay for as long as she wants. That creates an argument between Joe and Emma.

Jim tries to leave, but Joe calls him Joe and tells him to sit down. The next day, Bernadette stops Roderick to see if he left the gate open yesterday because she can’t find Taco. She tells him not to worry since Taco has escaped before. He tells her about the helmet he got from Ms. Nez at the flea market. Roderick agrees to give it to her for a dollar and a bag of carrots. She sees that the helmet has a bullet in it and the initials CW. Joe apologizes to Jim for last night while saying they just have a lot going on. He thinks Bernadette should know about him if what Emma is saying is true.

Jim says he is just trying to find the right time. He wanted to tell her on the night of the ceremony, but he isn’t sure how much longer he’ll be here. They might find him another post once they finish this case. Bern goes to Nez who says she got it from Raymond Begay. She goes down to the lake and notices the boat sitting out in the water. She takes her uniform off so she can swim to the boat. Ray’s shoes are still in the boat. Joe and Jim find horse prints on the ground leading them to believe someone galloped in. Joe wonders if it is reinforcements and suggests they call for backup too. Jim is asked to go up on the ridge to make sure they’re not sitting ducks. He doesn’t see anything. When he returns to Joe, Frank comes out of his hiding place with a rifle in his hand.

Hoski watches the officers from inside the shack as Jim is instructed to go around back. They think it is clear until they notice that Taco is standing nearby. Jim sees Frank nearby and yells for them to get down. Bern hears the gunshots so she rushes toward them. Frank unloads bullets into the police vehicle. Hoski nearly shoots Joe from behind, but Jim shoots at him to stop him. Joe yells that he is out of bullets. Frank nearly shoots Jim while he searches for more bullets, but Bern shoots him in the arm. Hoski jumps through the wood and rides off on Taco moments later. As for Frank, he is handcuffed by Bern. When Jim walks over, Frank calls him his favorite FBI agent. He goes on to say they go way back. Bern is mad that she didn’t know. Pete smokes a cigarette and laughs at the “Injuns”.

He visits BJ and says he is there on business. Pete explains he knows who is buying up the surface land surrounding his mine. He says BJ can own all the mineral rights, but only Navajo can own what’s above the land. Pete says the Injun vets or the Buffalo Society are choking him off. He offers to tell BJ where he can find them for 5k and the money they stole. BJ promises to think about it only to be told he has until tomorrow. Jim meets with Joe to tell him he’ll be receiving a warrant for the man he has in custody. Frank is considered a federal prisoner so Jim will be seeing his transfer to the FBI. Joe asks why he didn’t tell him about them. Jim says he was sent here to solve the bank heist. He offers to still help him with Big Rock now that everything is in the clear.

Joe says there is nothing in the clear between him and he never wants to see him again. Jim wonders if they’re right about him being too close to the case. Joe punches him and they begin fighting. After a brief scuffle, Jim speeds away in his car. Joe returns home to eat alone.

 

Dark Winds Review

Despite some odd moments, the fourth episode of Dark Winds was pretty enjoyable, especially the action scenes. They were well done although we could argue about the realism of those scenes. Some aspects of the story have been predictable including Benjamin, but I am not sure this was ever meant to be hidden from the viewer.

The soundtrack is good and matches the flow of the show well. The conflict between Joe and Jim seems a bit forced and possibly even unnecessary. It could be good depending on how it plays out in the end though. One thing that really shoots holes into the story is the fact that they pushed the plane off the cliff and into the lake below.

There would be glass, paint clips, metal, and other things sitting on the ground that Joe and Jim would’ve found a long time ago. It was also funny to see Joe call Jim his name during the argument in his kitchen when Jim was trying to leave. It sometimes feels like some of the performers are reading their lines, but most are good.

Still, the episode was enjoyable and forced the story ahead a lot. It was good entertainment that didn’t require the viewer to put in a lot of effort to figure things out. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Dark Winds can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work by following this link.