NOTE: this post contains spoilers Dark Winds season 2 episode 1, “Na'nilkaadii.”
Dark Winds is leaning into dark magic and mysteries involving some shadowy figures. With new mysteries to solve, Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) is going to need both Bernadette (Jessica Matten) and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon).
When season 2 begins, there's a short time jump from the Dark Winds season 1 finale. Things seem to have settled down on the reservation. Joe and Emma (Deanna Allison) have added horses and sheep to their growing farm. Sally (Elva Guerra) and the baby are still living with the
The trailer
Bernadette and Joe pull up to a mysterious trailer in an isolated part of the reservation. Lights in the trailer indicate the suspect they're seeking is inside. As they are figuring out a plan of attack the lights go out.
When they burst into the trailer they find no one. Their suspect has slipped outside. The trailer is filled with creepy dolls, clown art and wigs. From his truck, the suspect lights up the trailer with heavy automatic gunfire. Then he drives away as Joe returns fire from inside the trailer.
A murder in disguise
After that action-packed opening, the story doubles back to six days before the trailer raid. Emma is working at the Indian Health Center. A local stoner, Steve Begay, comes in missing two fingers, carrying them in a Cracker Jack box. He said he was attacked by a sheep. Emma drives him to the hospital to have the fingers reattached. In the parking lot she nearly runs over the suspect Joe and Bernie are hunting in the opening scene.
As Emma is waiting at the hospital, she sees Emerson Charley getting in his truck outside the hospital. She goes to the coffee machine. The truck explodes, shattering all the windows and knocking Emma down. When Joe arrives at the hospital he finds a piece of wiring in Emma's hair.
Local policeman Gordo Sena (A. Martinez) pulls Joe outside to discuss what happened. As they're looking over the wreckage of the truck Joe finds more evidence the truck was blown up on purpose. But it's a mystery why anyone would blow up the truck. Emerson Charley was at the hospital getting treated for terminal cancer. Joe tells Sena he will visit Emerson's son, Tomas Charley, to see if he can figure out why anyone would target his father.
At Tomas Charley's shop he runs into Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon). Chee is now working as a private investigator.
The mysterious box
Chee is looking for Tomas Charley because he was hired by B.J. Vines' wife to retrieve a box that was stolen from their safe. Her husband is on a trip and she wants the box back, no questions asked, before he gets home. Mrs. Vines (Jeri Ryan) believes that a mysterious sect of healers and magicians on the reservation called the People of Darkness are responsible for the theft.
Mrs. Vines tells Chee their maid saw the safe open in the middle of the night and Tomas Charley running away with the box under his arm. She tells Chee that her husband gave money to the People of Darkness for a period of time and she thinks the theft was retaliation because he stopped.
Tomas tells Chee that B.J. Vines is the witch and the head of People of Darkness. He stole the box because his father Emerson believed Vines had cursed him. Tomas was supposed to bring the box to a sacred spot and hopefully break the curse. He draws Chee a map to the secret site where Chee can retrieve the box.
Joe goes with Chee out to the sacred site to find the box. It's a site of worship where there are small statues and offerings. On their way there they see a truck pulled off to the side of the road. They don't see anyone near it. They didn't know it then but it's the mystery suspect's truck.
The buckle
As Joe and Chee examine the sacred site they see an assortment of personal items and mementos. Joe, to his shock, finds the belt buckle his son was wearing the day he died. It's inscribed with his name on the back. A dust devil whirs up and then a shot rings out. Chee is shot in the shoulder. It's the mysterious man Joe and Bernie were looking for in the opening scene. He pins them down with gunfire, then uses a Molotov cocktail to blow up Joe's truck. Joe fires back at the suspect, but the suspect drives off without any real damage.
The alien sheep
Joe tells Bernie to go with Begay to see where he was attacked. She finds a lot of snacks and an Air Force drone. Begay tells her that a sheep did attack him, one with twisted odd horns. As she's driving away Bernie sees a ram in the road with oddly twisted horns, including a horn growing from the center of its head. She brings it to the station and puts it in a holding cell. It makes everyone at the station nervous.
Already Dark Winds season 2 is intriguing. What do the mystery suspect, the People of Darkness and a mutated sheep have in common? Whatever it is, it's going to be interesting to see Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee working together to figure it out.
Watch Dark Winds season 2 on TV Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC. Episodes are also available to stream on AMC Plus.
