Following Leaphorn's (Zahn McClarnon) physically harrowing, nerve-fraying misadventures in the desert last week, the Lieutenant - and the audience - get to take a bit of a breather in the season's penultimate episode. Titled "Black Hole Sun," in reference to a lunar eclipse the Navajo people seem to both fear and respect, it's much more of a slow burn.
While episode 5 spends plenty of time exploring the aftermath of the killer's (Nicholas Logan) capture - and Joe's subsequent quest for answers regarding his involvement in the explosion that took Joe Jr.'s life, it also catches us up on the many side stories introduced throughout the season. Emma's (Deanna Allison) uneasy relationship with the L.A. Times reporter, Bernadette's (Jessica Matten) pending employment with Border Protection, and Chee's (Kiowa Gordon) private investigation into Rosemary Vines' (Jeri Ryan) shenanigans all get some screen-time.
Toss in a big reveal surrounding the assassin's childhood and - finally - an actual meeting of the fabled People of Darkness, and it's a pretty stacked 45 or so minutes. Let's get caught up on all that and more in this week's deep-diving recap!
A Frightening Flashback
This week's cold opening begins with a boy on a bike. The scene is primarily presented in eerie black and white, save for the boy's red jacket and all the blood. Yes, there's lots of blood, as the flashback is focused on a traumatic scene from the assassin's childhood. The boy arrives home to find his father and sister murdered - with the latter slumped over a piano, next to a ticking metronome, of course. In the parents' bedroom, the boy discovers his mother crying and clutching a pistol.
Flash forward to a close-up of the killer's face. He's staring into space from his jail cell, methodically tapping his finger. Close by, Joe Leaphorn sits at his desk, arm in a sling, also staring as if in a trance. Sheriff Sena (A. Martinez) pulls him from this state, informing him he's ready to transfer the prisoner - "I'll have him out of your hair and off to the chair." But Leaphorn wants more time with the blonde man to find out why he killed Tomas and Emerson Charley and get to the bottom of his involvement with the Drumco Oil explosion. Sena agrees to give him six more hours. Joe orders his deputies to search the killer's RV and find evidence connecting him to Drumco.
Bern Considers a Job Offer, Reconnects with Dean
Michael Moriatis/AMC
Following the opening credits, Joe's back home, where Emma is dressing his wound. They discuss their grief. Emma confesses she selfishly took in Sally (Elva Guerra) and her baby to help fill the void left by Joe Jr.'s death, while Joe concedes he won't be able to get any closure until he finds out who's pulling the blonde man's strings.
Back at the station, Bernadette's opening another letter from Border Protection - she's been offered the job she applied to earlier in the season. Jim Chee arrives wanting to get a good look at the man who shot him and then tried to finish the job at the hospital. He spies Bern's employment offer, but she's not sharing any details. Meanwhile, Joe's got the killer in the interrogation room, but the smug suspect isn't in the sharing mood either. Thankfully, among the blonde man's confiscated belongings, Bern discovers the name of the PI he was last working with.
They contact the investigator, one Deloyd Webster, who soon arrives for questioning. He tells Joe and Bern he was hired to find the murderer's mother, Linda Maddox, but had been sent on multiple goose chases by his mysterious client. Leaphorn enlists Webster to try and trick the assassin. He sends him into the interrogation room with a fake lead on the prisoner's missing mom and an offer that'll benefit them both.
Back at the Leaphorn residence, Emma's hosting the reservation's women for a community meeting. One of her co-workers arrives with the L.A. Times reporter doing the story on the Family Planning Services Act. Despite Emma's initial protests, the other women - including Sally - want her to stay. Emma complies, but only if the journalist agrees not to report on the meeting. The reporter, seemingly grateful and sincere, agrees to Emma's condition.
When we return to the station, Bern's reunited with Dean (Zakota Shade), the horse thief she caught in episode one. The young man's being brought in for an attempted car theft, but he explains to Bern he's intentionally trying to get arrested to avoid the draft. He doesn't want to fight in Vietnam for a country that doesn't even recognize him as an American. Bern - who served herself - tells him it is his duty to serve and kindly sends him home to take some time and discuss his concerns with his family.
Much later in the episode, Bern visits Dean at his home. He's all packed and being picked up along with other drafted men. Bernadette gifts him a necklace of protection. A tear runs down her face when Dean tells her he hopes to come back someday and help people on the reservation, just as she has. They hug, and Bern promises to look out for his grandmother and sister in his absence.
Connecting the Dots
Michael Moriatis/AMC
Inside the station, things are quieting down as Leaphorn sends everyone home to wait out the coming lunar eclipse. The sheep with the twisted horns - remember that weird story wrinkle? - remains locked up. The PI emerges from the interrogation room with new details from the assassin - he claims to have been hired by a man named Carl Lebeck. Immediately recognizing the name, Joe has Guy Atcitty - father of season one hotel murder victim/Joe Jr.'s former girlfriend — summoned.
We next get some quality time with Chee and Bern. The estranged sorta-couple are at the latter's trailer, taking temporary shelter from the eclipse. Chee isn't actually invited over, but he arrived with an apology gift, and Bern didn't want him staying outside when the sun's blotted out. We learn Bern once went on a date with Elvis Presley while stationed in Germany. She also opens up about her job offer, telling Jim - just as she expressed to Joe earlier in the season - that there's little room for a female officer to move up on the reservation. He asks what it would take to get her to stay, but she says it's more complicated than that.
At the station, Joe gets a call from Carl Lebeck's sister, who informs the Lieutenant her brother died three years ago. Soon after, with the eclipse over, Bern returns to the station with Guy Atcitty in tow. To everyone's surprise, he points to the killer and identifies him as Carl Lebeck. Joe quickly surmises the blonde man must have murdered Lebeck - a Drumco employee - and assumed his identity to access the oil well and sabotage it.
Joe takes the assassin back into the interrogation room and lays out these claims. But the blonde man is uncooperative. He taunts Joe and asks him why he's so concerned about the six Navajo men killed in the Drumco explosion. When he determines one of the victims was Joe Jr., Leaphorn nearly pounces on his prisoner and puts a knife to his scalp. Joe resists the urge to use the blade and instead slams the killer's head against the table. But the creep laughs while revealing he knows the PI didn't actually find his mother.
The People of Darkness Unmasked
Michael Moriatis/AMC
When we catch up with Chee, he's tailing Rosemary Vines, per her suspicious husband's request last week. He follows her to a small suburban home, where she appears to pick up a Navajo woman. The pair drive off, and Jim follows close behind. They arrive at a crowded parking area, where people are arriving and excitedly gathering. In a clearing up ahead, we discover B.J. Vines (John Diehl) is leading the large group in some sort of ceremony. He addresses them as the "People of Darkness," and they respond, chanting, "All hail the blessed dark."
Vines invites the group to partake in the "sacred medicine for enlightenment." Rosemary and the woman she arrived with are among the worshipers. She approaches her husband and asks to be healed. He's surprised to see her, but the crowd chants, "Heal her," so he agrees to do so. Meanwhile, the woman she arrived with skulks away and steals a bag from a nearby tent. Chee confronts her and says, "This is not Navajo. This is crazy white people eating peyote and playing Indian." The pair are approached by two men suspecting they're uninvited guests. Chee holds them off while the woman runs with the bag. He then attempts to go after Rosemary, but the men are now hunting him, guns drawn. Chee returns to the Navajo woman's last location, but she's gone, though the bag remains.
With Leaphorn's half-dozen extra hours with the killer expired, Sena arrives to transport the prisoner to the FBI. While his men escort him outside, the Sheriff presents the transfer paperwork to Joe. He also appears to be searching for his pen so Leaphorn can sign it, but he's unable to locate it - and we start imagining the assassin graphically leveraging the stolen writing implement to eliminate Sena's men outside. But instead of a brutal double-murder by pen, we get another flashback to the blonde man's childhood. He's back home with his hysterical, pistol-clutching mother. He takes the weapon from her and stares at it. He then glares at his mom. As the camera moves to an exterior shot of the home, we hear a single gunshot. Back in present day, the killer's being driven away by Sena while Leaphorn and his deputies look on.
Joe arrives back home to Emma, who asks, "Is it over?" "I don't know, the feds have got him now. It's out of my hands." he replies. And then the phone rings, as it often does just when we think an episode's about to conclude on a quiet note. Joe leaves in a hurry. He arrives at Sena's overturned truck. The Sheriff's hanging out of the passenger's side, barely conscious. With great effort, he manages to communicate to Joe, "He got away."
Leaphorn calls for backup and unholsters his pistol. He pauses when a persistent sound draws his attention to the ground. The metronome - also being transported among the evidence collected from the killer's RV - sits broken at his feet. But its relentless ticking persists. With the red, flashing taillights of the totaled police vehicle illuminating his face, Leaphorn stares helplessly, desperately into the dead of night.
Questions and Predictions
Michael Moriatis/AMC
- Prediction: Bernadette will remain on the reservation: Given that Bern's such an important part of the show, we've always assumed she wouldn't accept the position with Border Protection. But after her heartfelt conversation with Dean - who clearly admires her for her selfless commitment to her community - we're guessing she'll realize her calling is on the reservation.
- What's up with the sheep? One of episode 1's weirder mysteries involved the sheep with the twisted horns - a bizarre beast that also happened to be discovered near a crashed space capsule. Whether the animal is part of a deeper mystery or is simply symbolic, we'd appreciate some closure. At the very least, we'd love to see the poor creature freed from its cell.
- Prediction: Not all questions will be answered: With just one episode remaining, it's hard to imagine Dark Winds wrapping up all its season 2 mysteries. And if last season is any indication, the series likes to let some plot lines linger a bit and bleed into the succeeding season. All that said, we'd bet the ranch that the blonde man doesn't make it out of the finale alive.
- What is B.J. Vines' connection to, well, everything? B.J. Vines and his possible involvement in the Drumco explosion was one of those lingering plot lines from last year that continued into season 2. But his story has expanded and become more complex, touching everything from the Charley family and the assassin to the People of Darkness and Joe Jr.'s death. And that's not even considering his complex relationship with Mrs. Vines. Here's hoping the finale can fill in all the blanks.
