Black Hole Sun – As this episode of Dark Winds begins, a young Colton Wolf (MG Barnes) finishes delivering newspapers and returns home where he finds his dad passed out on the couch. When he looks closer, he sees blood on his father’s shirt. Colton begins calling for his mother (Melissa Christopher) and Janey. He soon finds Janey dead at the piano. Once he finds his mother upstairs, he asks her what she did. She says she is sorry. In the present, Colton Wolf (Nicholas Logan) sits in a cell. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) stares at him until Sheriff Gordo Sena (A Martinez) interrupts with a Scarborough County warrant.

Sena wants to take Colton out of his hair and off to the chair. Outside, Joe tells Sena that he wants to interrogate him, but they need more time. Sena reminds him that Colton will be put to death by Christmas. Although Joe is eager to find out why he did it, Sena isn’t sure it matters. Joe tells him that Benny Charley overhead his dad and grandpa talking about a blond man blowing up a Drumco oil well. Then, a blond man shows up and starts picking off Charleys. Sena calls that a six-year-old talking. Joe asks to search the trailer and get some time with Colton before he is taken. If Sena takes him now, they’ll never find out who he is working for.

Sena relents and agrees to give Joe six hours. Joe tells his men to find something in the trailer that links to the Drumco explosion. After the intro, Joe tells Emma Leaphorn (Deanna Allison) that he got him although he believes someone else is involved. If he can find out who, they may be able to put all of this behind them. Emma admits she was excited when Sally (Elva Guerra) moved in. She was thinking about herself instead of Sally or the baby because she was trying to fill the hole her grief was digging. Emma thought this was what they needed to put everything behind them, but there is no behind now. She believes they’re going through it together. Joe is adamant that he needs to find out who is behind this.

Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) is bothered by a man when he tries to keep an eye on Rosemary Vines (Jeri Ryan). Jim is told that they got the blond man who is sitting in the jail right now. He decides to leave. Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) receives a letter from the United States Border Patrol confirming her application has been accepted. She tells Nat she better get home because she is going to be late. Jim enters the station to look at the blond man. He tries to get Bern to tell him about the Border Patrol position, but she isn’t eager to talk about it. When Joe returns, Jim tells him that he wanted to take a look at Colton. Joe asks him to help out, but Jim needs to get back since he is working surveillance. Colton is taken to an interview room.

He refuses to give Joe his name before Joe tells him he is a dead man. Joe tries to get the man to tell him who he is working for. When Joe mentions the oil well, Colton acts like he knows nothing about it. He suggests he just doesn’t like Indians. Moments later, Bern tells Joe about Deloyd Webster (Tank Jones) who is a private investigator. Colton met with Deloyd the morning he went after Chee in the hospital. Deloyd is brought to the station and asked about Colton. He says the blond man called himself Al Newman. Deloyd eventually tells them that the blond man hired him to hire his mother who is allegedly named Linda Maddox. He admits that the whole thing was kind of squirrelly though. When he is shown pictures of several women, he picks out one and says she is Linda Maddox.

Although Deloyd took the picture, he knows that Linda isn’t old enough to be the blond man’s mother. Joe asks for him a favor before Deloyd joins the blond man in the interrogation room. Deloyd found something he might be interested in. He shows the man a picture of a woman in Chandler, Arizona which is just outside of Phoenix. Although she is the right age, height, and build, her name is not Maddox. Instead, her name is Maguire. Deloyd says he is going to have to give up something if he wants to see his mom again. Emma is surprised when Mary Landon (Jacqueline Byers) comes to the meeting. Sally thinks she should be there and the others are okay with it. Emma tells her not to write or publish anything from the meeting without her permission.

Mary tells everyone she works for the Los Angeles Times and is writing a story about the Family Planning Services Act. She thanks Helen and Emma for letting her sit in on the meeting. Bern isn’t happy to see that Dean has been arrested for trying to hotwire a car at the Laundromat. She agrees to take him since Joe is sending everyone home for the upcoming eclipse. Once they’re alone, Dean tells Bern that he got picked for the draft. He thinks they won’t take him if he is locked up. Bern argues it is their duty to serve when they’re called. Dean says he can’t go because he takes care of his grandmother and sister. Bern tells Dean (Zakota Shade) to go home and figure out what to do.

Deloyd comes out of the interrogation room before telling Joe that the blond man claimed he was hired by someone named Carl LeBeck. After Joe thanks Deloyd, he asks Bern to bring in Guy Atcitty as soon as the eclipse is over. Jim drops off an apology present at Bern’s house thinking she won’t be home. Bern reminds him he doesn’t have long before the eclipse so he should come inside. Once they go inside, Jim notices she has a picture of Elvis. Bern tells him that they went on a date when she was stationed in Germany. When she is asked about Joe and the job, Bern says he knows she applied but not that she got it. Jim asks what it’d take to get her to stay. Bern doesn’t think it is that simple. Soon, she says she needs to get back to work.

Joe receives a call from Carl LeBeck’s sister who says her brother has been dead for over three years now. Guy Atcitty (Ryan Begay) arrives once the call ends. Joe isn’t sure it matters anymore now that he knows LeBeck is dead. Guy says otherwise because he believes Carl LeBeck is in the holding cell. Jim keeps an eye on Rosemary Vines. In the interrogation room, Joe accuses the blond man of killing Carl LeBeck and using his identity to access the drill site. He wonders why he killed six men. The blond man suspects Joe is more worried about his son. Joe pulls out a knife and holds it close to the man’s head while asking him who hired him to blow up the well. The blond man tells him he died because he was there and he wasn’t even important.

Joe slams his head to the table causing the man to laugh. Once Joe leaves the room, Bern tells him that the sheriff is on his way because the FBI is eager to get the suspect. Joe asks her to get BJ Vines down there. Jim follows Rosemary to a gathering. BJ Vines (John Diehl) arrives as well so Jim conceals his face. BJ address the People of Darkness and welcomes them to their holiest of days. Rosemary walks up next to him and asks him to heal her. The crowd wants the same. BJ says he shall. Jim notices a woman rushing away from the crowd so he follows her. He notices that she has a bag. Jim tells her that this is not Navajo. He says it is a bunch of crazy white people eating peyote and playing Indian. Two men approach and ask about the bag. Jim beats them up as the woman flees with the bag.

Jim catches up with her and tells her to wait while he gets Rosemary. Sheriff Sena arrives to pick up the blond man. In a flashback, Colton takes the gun from his mother before possibly shooting her. In the present, Joe and the others watch him being taken away. Bern finds out that Dean is going to the military after all. She agrees to check in on his grandmother and sister while he is away. Bernadette gives him a necklace for protection before he is taken away. When Joe makes it home, Emma asks whether it is over. Joe admits he doesn’t know. It is out of his hands now that the Feds have the suspect. He gets a call and leaves home. Joe finds a bunch of sheep blocking the road so he tries to get them to move along.

Then, he finds a police car flipped on its roof. Joe checks on Gordo who seems to be okay. He calls in the accident on the radio. Gordo tells Joe that the suspect got away.

 

Dark Winds Review

This episode of Dark Winds was better than the previous one although it feels like the story is moving so slowly. It is a good thing the series is only six episodes because the pacing would be intolerable at eight or ten episodes. There are too many moments in which nothing is really happening and the characters are just staring into the camera or tapping their fingers.

The performances are mostly good, especially those from the main characters. The characters are easy to like, but the villains aren’t that special this season. The twist at the end of the episode was predictable considering anyone could see that the blond man would escape. The series is watchable and even good in some regards, but season two’s story is lacking something special.

The creators could’ve done so much better with the stories considering they were already laid out for them in the form of novels. The characters, scenery, soundtrack, and most of the camerawork are great. The story this season is just dry and doesn’t hook me to the point that I feel the urge to watch the next one.

Truthfully, the season has been bland despite compelling performances from Zahn McClarnon and the top cast. 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.