Diksha Sundriyal
The third season of AMC’s ‘Dark Winds’ takes its characters on wildly different rides, leading to the overlapping of two cases where a lot more is at stake than what appears initially. Bernadette Manuelito tries to single-handedly take down the drug operation of a locally powerful man, whose people are ready to do whatever it takes to prevent their secret from coming out. Because Bernadette creates so many problems for them, they try to remove her from the equation. At the beginning of this episode, she finds herself inside a car, which is thrown into a ditch as Budge starts pouring sand on it to bury her alive. This isn’t new for him, as we’ve already seen him do it to someone else before, and that person was never seen again.
For a moment, it seems that Bernadette is also doomed to this fate, but luck favours her as she finds a way to free herself and escapes the car before it is buried. Once out of the car, she attacks Budge, and it ends with her fatally stabbing him in the neck. Shortly after this, Ivan shows up. He is happy to find her alive, but she is still recovering from his betrayal. He convinces her he had little to no involvement in the department’s corruption and Spenser’s drug operation. Moreover, he promises to help her expose the corruption, so she decides to trust him, and they make their way to Spenser’s farm, where the drug is being moved.
Meanwhile, Doctor Reynolds is still recuperating from the bullet wound inflicted by Leaphorn during their fight in the desert. He ends up at Teddi’s place, but once she tries to reach the cops, he tries to stop her and ends up killing her. His next stop is the train station, where he knows he will find George Bowlegs, whom he blames for ruining everything for him. It takes him a while to realise that the cops are also there, and as the chase ensues, George, Reynolds, Jim Chee, and Leaphorn end up on the train. Leaphorn intends to save George, but also wants to arrest Reynolds alive. Unfortunately, one of those things doesn’t happen. SPOILERS AHEAD.
What Happens to Tom Spenser? Is He Arrested?
When Bernadette looks into the drug operation, she discovers it has to do with a wealthy local man, Tom Spenser. On paper, he runs an oil company, but in reality, he is peddling drugs and engaging in the business of drug trafficking. Before she can get to him, Bernadette has to go through his pawns. First, she has the corrupt people in her department, from the chief to the colleague she thought was her friend to the officer she thought she could fall in love with. Then she has Spenser’s people, like Budge, who are paid to keep his operation a secret at any cost. By the end of the episode, she takes care of both these hurdles. She kills Budge in self-defence and, with Ivan’s help, raids Spenser’s compound, where it is discovered that the oil tankers had been carrying drugs all along. With this, she also exposes the corrupt officers, all of whom are taken into custody.
She also rescues the woman and the girl from the beginning of the episode, who, she thought, had been deported to Mexico, but were living in captivity all along. The only person she cannot get her hands on is Tom Spenser. While all this stuff is happening in the background, he is by his wife’s bedside. She is extremely sick and has been so for a while. Spenser hasn’t left her side, especially now that her situation worsens. He has a meeting with the Chief, telling the guy to handle the problem and not let it worsen. But he never gets involved in it directly. Ultimately, when all his pawns are imprisoned, he is the only one still reveling in his freedom. As it turns out, he is not even in the country anymore. It is not clear when he left, but from the background, it is clear that he has been away for a while.
One could see it as very convenient for him to be out of the country when his entire operation is busted. But in reality, it seems that his move from the States may have something to do with his wife, and it just happened to be why he was not arrested when all the rest of his collaborators were. With this, ‘Dark Winds’ leaves this thread open, most likely for Bernadette’s future plotline where she crosses paths with the guy with whom she has unresolved business. It would be interesting to see how he factors into the future seasons, but for now, he remains out of the reach of the law, enjoying his freedom while he still can.
What does Agent Washington Give to Joe Leaphorn?
Agent Sylvia Washington comes to the Rez to find BJ Vines after his sudden and mysterious disappearance. While exploring all avenues, she realises the culprit is much closer to home. Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn turns out to be the person responsible for Vines’ death, but the problem is that she cannot prove it. The evidence and witness testimony from other people is insufficient, especially when he places his wife, Emma, as his alibi. Washington tries to get Emma to tell the truth, but eventually, the woman chooses to be loyal to her husband, even though it means that she can’t stand him anymore. With Emma’s testimony, any chance of having Leaphorn arrested for his crime fades away, and with the investigation coming to an official dead end, it becomes clear that nothing else can be done about the situation. So, she decides to leave. But before that, she meets Leaphorn to tell him his crime will not go unpunished.
When Ernesto’s case is solved and Doctor Reynolds is shot to death on the train by Chee, who did it to prevent the murderer from shooting Leaphorn, the cop is back at his house, fixing the fences that he should have done a long time ago. It had been a while since Emma left by this time, and he was trying to make up for her in a way. Agent Washington is not saddened when he appears at his door to bid him goodbye. He is not fazed even when she tells him she knows exactly what he has done and how he did it. So, she leaves him with an envelope to give him some sense of the damage he has done, courtesy of his actions. The yellow envelope turns out to be the recording of Emma’s interview, where she confirmed that her husband was with her the night Vines was driven out into the desert and left for dead.
However, apart from this confirmation, she also talks about the grief of losing her son, how it has affected her marriage, and how revenge has consumed her husband so much that he doesn’t seem to care about anything anymore. As Leaphorn listens to her words, he feels her pain, something that he had failed to take into account when he was trying to process his grief. Ultimately, he gets stuck on the part where Emma talks about hoping she could forgive her husband someday for abandoning her and choosing revenge over love. But she doesn’t reveal when that day will come, if at all. As Leaphorn repeatedly listens to that part, he feels the weight of his actions bearing him down. In chasing after Vines, it seems he forgot to pay attention to the person dearest to him, and now he has lost her. With this, Agent Washington has shown him that even though he may have escaped the law, the punishment has still been inflicted on him, and he must live with that heartbreak no matter what.
Does Bernadette Come Back Home?
When Bernadette left the Rez and applied for the position at Border Patrol, it was because she was done with the injustice around her. She felt powerless because the law seemed to be in the hands of rich, powerful men, and despite their crimes, they always seemed to escape punishment. She believed she could do better if she went outside and explored the world more. However, her job at Border Patrol shows her that corruption and evil are everywhere, and without the people she loves and trusts, it becomes even more difficult, if not impossible, to bring them to justice. Within a short time, she is betrayed by the people whom she thought she could trust, and is even buried alive. She survives due to sheer will and partly because of Ivan’s feelings. Though she succeeds in exposing the corruption of the officers, she also realises that she can do more good and be happier if she is home.
In the end, she drives to Chee’s place. They don’t share any words, but smile at each other, which confirms that they are reunited for good this time. While Bernadette might still be considering her next actions, she knows that whatever she does next will be in her hometown with the people she loves and those she can blindly trust to have her back. Her return also confirms the fact that she and Chee are finally going to be together. Their relationship had been bumpy for the past couple of seasons. First, there was Chee’s connection with the FBI. Then, when he and Bernadette confessed their feelings for each other, she decided to leave town, which left a lot of things unresolved between them. However, they will finally get to explore whatever is between them and take it forward.
