Joe Leaphorn may be haunted by his past — literally — while Bernie Manuelito continues an unauthorized investigation.
Warning: This is an overview of Episode 2 for Season 3 for Dark Winds, so there will be scads of spoilers here. We strongly recommend that you not read this if you have not yet watched the episode on AMC or AMC+.
Lt. Joe Leaphorn has a wide-awake nightmare, Bernadette “Bernie” Bernadette is suspicious of an influential oil man, and FBI Special Agent Sylvia Washington makes a point of befriending Emma Leaphorn. What are we to make of this? Here are our five takeaways from “Náá'tsoh (Big Eyes),” Episode 2 of Season 3 for Dark Winds.
Takeaway No. 1
Joe Leaphorn continues to be rattled by fleeting glimpses of something possibly supernatural — either a manifestation of his guilty conscience, or a real-deal bogeyman — and FBI Special Agent Sylvia Washington’s pointed questions about the disappearance of BJ Vines. (Of course, we know what happened to that SOB, and why Leaphorn’s conscience may be bothering him, don’t we?) Washington ingratiates herself with Emma, Joe’s wife, and even wrangles an invitation to have dinner at Casa Leaphorn. This, too, distresses Joe, but he’s not quite ready yet to tell Emma why.
Takeaway No. 2
Joe and Deputy Jim Chee carry on with their investigation into the murder of Ernesto Cato, the youngster whose body Joe and Sheriff Gordo Sena discovered in a culvert pipe, and the disappearance of Ernesto’s buddy George Bowlegs, who likely knows something about the killing. Ernesto was found with an arrowhead in his mouth, leading Joe to pay another visit to the archaeological dig, where he meets — Holy Moley! It’s Swede from Hell on Wheels!
OK, no, not really. It’s the same actor who played that part, Christopher Heyerdahl (pictured above with Zahn McClarnon), here cast as Dr. Reynolds, the researcher in charge of the dig. Reynolds does his best to comes across as cordial and cooperative while claiming neither Ernesto or Shorty have been around for a while, and dismissing the arrowhead as a fake after a cursory examination of it. But he’s just a mite too quick to toss that “fake” into a trashcan. Joe quickly retrieves it, explaining that the arrowhead is evidence. The question is: Evidence against who? For the time being at least, Joe keeps his suspicions to himself.
Takeaway No. 3
Over in Hachita, New Mexico, newbie U.S. Border Patrol agent Bernadette “Bernie” Bernadette traces the white van she spotted in the Season 3 Premiere to the spread of rancher and oil man Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood). He’s viewed as a pillar of the community, and has friends in very high places. Even so, however, he politely and patiently answers Bernie’s questions, claiming that he has no idea which of his oil company’s many vans could be the one she’s looking forward. Shortly after her return to headquarters, however, Bernie is told she’s being reassigned to the late-night shift at a weigh station, obvious as punishment for bothering the model citizen. Why? Spenser and his employees, fellow agent Eleanda Garza warns her, “are responsible for one third of the intelligence we work from every year.”
At the weigh station, Bernie has her first encounter with Budge (Raoul Max Trujillo), one of two drivers transporting a Spenser company oil tanker truck. But this isn’t our first look at the guy: In the episode’s opening scene, we saw him disposing of the dude who drove off in the while van after swiping Bernie’s gun. Bernie is suspicious of Budge, if only because he looks so damn suspicious, but gives the truck a pass. Reluctantly.
Takeaway No. 4
Bernie feels the need to confab with her longtime friend and former boss, Joe Leaphorn. But when she calls the Navajo Police station, Jim informs her that Joe is out of the office. There is a flirtatious undercurrent to their conversation — not surprisingly, considering their passionate kiss at the end of Season 2 — but Jim fails to respond in kind when she ends the conversation with, “Nice to hear your voice, Chee.” The commitment-averse deputy had better watch out: Another Border Patrol agent, Ivan Muños (Alex Merza), already is making some smooth moves on Bernie, and helps her when she finds her tire slashed in the Border Patrol headquarters parking lot.
Evidently, it hasn’t occurred yet to Bernie that maybe, just maybe, Ivan is the one who did the slashing. Nor has she noted the drawing Bernie received from the undocumented little girl in the headquarters holding cell sure looks a lot like the Spenser Ranch brand.
Takeaway No. 5
Jim Chee finally convinces his old adversary Shorty Bowlegs, George’s father, to lead him and Joe out to the secluded cabin where his son has been hiding. Soon after they get there, however, Joe enters the cabin to find Shorty unconscious with a bloody head wound — and has a close encounter with Ye’iitsoh, the monster from his worst nightmares. Is this, too, a bad dream? Doesn’t look like it: Jim enters and sees Joe has a wounded arm. As the episode ends, Joe gasps: “It’s real!” No kidding.
