As this episode of Dark Winds begins, Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and Bernadette (Jessica Matten) approach a trailer with the vehicle’s lights off. Joe uses the radio to tell Natalie that they’ve tracked the suspect to a trailer an hour south of Rough Rock. He asks her to call Sheriff Sena. Joe is tired of chasing this guy so they decide to move immediately instead of waiting for backup. Once they enter the trailer and begin looking around, a vehicle turns turn on outside and Joe sees someone moving around out there. A man, Colton Wolf (Nicholas Logan), opens fire into the trailer. The show jumps back six days after the intro. A man at the clinic tells Emma (Deanna Allison) that he was attacked by aliens.

She learns that the rest of him is in a Cracker Jack’s box. As Emma drives the boy to the hospital, she nearly runs over Colton. While Emma waits, she looks through the window and sees an old man leaving. The vehicle blows up as he tries to open the door. Sally (Elva Guerra) runs over to Joe to tell him that something happened with Emma. Joe rushes to the hospital to check on Emma who says she is ready to go home. Gordo Sena interrupts to speak to Joe about the victim. He explains that the victim was Navajo and came in for cancer treatments. His name was Emerson Charley. Joe knows his brother, Dillon Charley.

He ran a church on the reservation in which they called themselves the People of Darkness and was killed a couple of years ago in a car accident. Before he died, he predicted something bad would happen out of the Drumco oil well. Joe is talking about the explosion that killed those six men and his boy. They speculate that the vehicle had a leak in the gas line. It blew up around 10:00 and his appointment was at 7:00 so the truck was sitting there for nearly three hours. Joe says the engine would’ve been cold by then so he questions what the accelerant was. He uses a flashlight to look at the gas tank and finds a timer spring. Joe believes they’ll find more pieces if they look closely.

Gordo questions why someone would want to blow up Emerson when he only had two months to live anyway. The man has a son named Tomas who lives out by Red Mesa. Emma tells Joe that the family needs a ceremony, but Joe reminds her they just did that. She argues that the family needs to be put back in balance. She is adamant that they’re going to have a ceremony. Bernadette chases a man who is on horseback. When she calls it in over the radio, she says she believes it is Dean Bitsuie. Joe returns to the station where he learns Bernie is going to be late. Joe tells everyone that Felix got another complaint from Gerald Nez about someone dumping RV waste on his property.

Joe asks the others if they heard about the truck bomb in Skunkborough yesterday. He is going to talk to Emerson’s son Tomas. Bernadette returns with Dean who is locked up. Joe tells her she should ask for help the next time she has to ride a suspect in on a horse. He asks her to see what Steve has to say when she is done there. Steve speaks to Bernadette and asks if she believes. Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) wakes up at a motel. Colton Wolf meets with a man and asks if he has found her. They talk about Linda Maddox Colton gives the man more money and insists he needs her to be found. He is told to relax because they’re close.

Colton follows him to the bathroom before shooting him. He grabs the money before leaving. Joe tries to get in touch with Tomas only to find that he is not home. Jim meets a woman and tells her that her nephew has been stealing her pinon nuts. She gives him partial payment and asks if he can wait for the rest until the first of the month. After receiving a call, Jim Chee visits Mrs. Vines who says there was a burglary there a few days ago. Someone stole a box from her husband’s safe so she wants Jim to bring it back before he gets back from his hunting trip. She’ll pay him $500 now and $2,500 when she receives the box. Mrs. Vines doubts the police will help because her husband supported the sheriff’s opponent in the last election.

It is also an Indian problem. Mrs. Vines believes the People of Darkness is responsible for the burglary. Jim believes she isn’t telling him something and that is a good way to get hurt. In the middle of the night last Wednesday, Gabriela hear a noise and came down there. She saw the safe open and Tomas Charley outside sneaking away with the box under his arm. His father Emerson introduced her husband to the People of Darkness. Since he stopped giving them money, Mrs. Vines believes this is their way of getting back at him. She just wants the box back. She believes he can get it by finding Tomas Charley. Steve takes Bernadette to the site where they find a strange object. When she checks it, she finds that it is the property of the United States Air Force.

She tells Steve that he needs to get himself straightened out. As Bernadette leaves him, an animal blocks the road in front of her. Jim finds and confronts Tomas. He wants the box. Tomas says the white man is a witch and he’s killing his father with cancer. His father told him that BJ Vines cursed him. Tomas was instructed to get the box and take it to their sacred place. There is supposedly something in the box that can reverse the spell. Tomas left the box on the Malpais. If his father hasn’t gotten to it yet, it should still be there. Tomas offers to draw Jim a map. Colton watches them through the window. Jim runs into Joe when he leaves. They discuss the bombing and the fact that Tomas broke into the Vines house.

They go back inside to speak to Tomas only to find that he is already gone. Jim tells Joe about the box before showing him the map that Tomas drew. They agree to check out the location together. On their way there, they discuss the possibility of Jim returning and Bernadette. Joe admits Bern is still mad. Jim asks if he has any advice for working his way out of the dog house. Bern locks the sheep in the jail. The new officer seems scared when she looks at the sheep. Joe and Jim get the license plate number from a truck. Then, they try to use the map to find what they’re looking for. Once they find the spot, they discover burned papers and a Navajo Rodeo buckle.

On the back, it says Joe Leaphorn Jr. He tells Jim that it belonged to his son and he wore it on the day he died. Jim says that is some crazy witchcraft stuff before someone shoots him. Joe pulls him to cover as the shots continue. Joe gives Jim a handgun and explains that he needs to get the rifle from the truck. They learn that it is a white man instead of Tomas Charley. After Joe gets the rifle from the truck, it explodes. Colton manages to get away in his truck although he is bloody. Joe checks on Jim who asks for a minute.

 

Dark Winds Review

The opening episode of Dark Winds’ second season did a good job of loosely establishing the core story for the season. At this point, it is hard to know exactly what is going on although we know that Colton Wolf is heavily involved. The People of Darkness and the Vines are also linked to everyone somehow and it could provide Joe with information crucial to solving his son’s death.

The series is following the timeline jumps from the last season with the episode starting with a possible showdown before jumping back. I do wish the show would work more on introducing the new characters because it is hard to know who some of them are and what their purpose is. There are at least two new officers at the station and one may have a bigger purpose so a little more on that would help.

I was halfway through the episode before I knew Steve’s name. His discovery will probably matter in the long run too, but the character is somewhat cartoonishly dumb. Some of the scenes looked really dark even though the characters were outside and in bright rooms. As a result, it would be impossible to see facial expressions or whatever was written on Jim’s mirror at the motel.

There were some performances that were less than perfect, but that is easy enough to ignore and understandable for what the series is doing. It was a little annoying that Jim and Joe didn’t realize they were walking into a trap because even a blind man could see that coming.

Truthfully, this was a good starting episode that did just enough to build interest for the rest of the season. Much like last season, it is going to take time for Dark Winds to really switch gears and get into the grittiness of the story. After this episode, I am cautiously optimistic for the rest of the season and eager to see how it goes regardless.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Dark Winds can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.