Joe Leaphorn is rattled when the corpse of BJ Vines is finally discovered six months after his disappearance.
Warning: This is an overview of Episode 3 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+.
Emma strongly disapproves of Joe’s avenging the death of their son. Bernie pretends to be apologetic to continue her investigation. And FBI Special Agent Washington may closing in on solving an open case. What are we to make of this? Here are our five takeaways from “Ch'į́į́dii (Ghosts),” Episode 3 of Season 3 for Dark Winds.
Takeaway No. 1
Back in the Season 2 finale, Sheriff Gordo warned Joe: “If you kill a man, they’re bound to you. Wherever you go in this life, they’re with us. Maybe the next one, too.” That may be why, so far in Season 3, Joe has had so many spooky visions and apparently supernatural encounters — like his brush with the fearsome Ye’iitsoh in Episode 2 — six months after he avenged his son’s death by leaving BJ Vines to die in the desert. After Vine’s largely decomposed corpse was finally found in a secluded spot, Emma guessed right away who left the SOB there, and raged at her husband: “You invited that man’s spirit into our home and you covered [our son’s] memory in blood.” Joe replied — “I did what I had to do!” — twice. The second time, however, he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.
Takeaway No. 2
To be sure, not everyone was unhappy about the grisly proof of Vines’ demise. When Henry Leaphorn (Joe Runningfox), Joe’s father, heard a radio news report about the discovery of the corpse, he actually celebrated: “Well, it makes me happy that the man that killed my grandson got some Indian justice!” (Come to think of it, Henry didn’t appear to mind much when, again back in the Season 2 finale, he overheard Joe and Sheriff Gordo in a kinda-sorta incriminating conversation regarding the vanished Vines.) But if FBI Special Agent Washington also seemed less than distraught, that’s only because she may finally be able to close an open case. And her sly questioning of Joe strongly suggests she already has a culprit in mind.
Takeaway No. 3
Meanwhile, Joe and Chee continued to investigate the murder of Ernesto Cato, the youngster whose body Joe and Sheriff Gordo discovered in a culvert pipe, and the disappearance of Ernesto’s buddy George Bowlegs, who likely knows something about the killing. Shorty, George’s father, fears the worst for his son, but Chee offered some encouragement. When Joe and his deputy returned to the cabin where George had been hiding, they found a stranger who immediately ran off — to a nearby chili farm occupied by hippies whose suspiciously amiable leader, Halsey (Hell on Wheels veteran Phil Burke), claimed to know nothing about Ernesto and George. Joe didn’t buy the guy’s story, and noticed Suzanne (Casimere Jollette), Halsey’s main squeeze, was more than a little fidgety. The Navajo Police officers departed, but appeared prepared to return. Very soon.
Takeaway No. 4
Speaking of fake amiability: Bernie — a.k.a. US. Border Patrol agent Bernadette Manuelito — slapped on a happy face and told her superior she wanted to smooth any possibly ruffled feathers and personally apologize to oil man Tom Spenser for taking so long to scrutinize one of his oil tanker trucks at a weigh station. Of course, we know she wasn’t the least bit sorry: She wanted another chance to scope out Spenser’s ranch, which she suspects is a hotbed of illegal activity, and have another chat with Budge Baca, the “security man” who rode shotgun on the oil tanker truck. Turns out Spenser wasn’t at all upset by the delivery delay Bernie caused — well, that’s his story, anyway. But he more or less shooed her out of his house, politely but firmly, after offering her some coffee. As for Budge, Spenser told Bernie: “There’s no need to apologize to Budge. He doesn’t have feelings.”
Takeaway No. 5
On the other hand, Bernie demonstrated — not for the first time — that she doesn’t have fear. Or at least so little of it that, after initial hesitation, she agreed to join Budge for a drive across the border, for some real-deal Mexican cuisine, when he showed up at her door on the same night she had planned a dinner date with fellow Border Patrol agent Ivan Muños. (By the way: What is it with this guy? Friend or foe?) She brought along a gun in her purse — which Budge duly noted, but dismissed as unnecessary. “There are times when you could be a problem for me, Agent Manuelito,” he calmly told her while they conversed in a restaurant. “Tonight is not one of those times.” Evidently, his only intention was to intimidate Bernie. And, while he was at it, humiliate her: Budge made an early exit, claiming to have another pressing engagement, leaving Bernie to take off her heels and walk back across the border
Bonus Takeaway
Suzanne reached out to Joe, calling him to set up a late-night meeting to confirm that, yes, Halsey probably did have something to do with the disappearance of Ernesto and George. Unfortunately, when Joe, Chee and other cops raided the chili farm the next day, they found the place mostly deserted save for Halsey, who sped away in his truck, and Suzanne, whom Joe found dazed and nearly deceased. “I’m sorry,” Joe whispered mournfully. Meanwhile, Chee discovered photos of police officers tacked onto a bulletin board Halsey and his confederates left behind. One of the pictures was a head shot of Bernie. Uh-oh.
