'Dark Winds' Season 2, Episode 2 Recap + Predictions: Leaphorn Doggedly Pursues Answers While the Assassin Continues His Rampage

Following Season 2's breakneck-paced premiere, Dark Winds' second episode pumps the brakes a bit, allowing viewers to catch their breath and fill in some blanks on the new characters and mysteries introduced last week. Leaphorn digs deeper into his investigation of the People of Darkness church/cult, while both Bernadette and Emma kick off promising new subplots.

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Of course, this isn't to say episode 2 - titled "Wonders of the Unknown" - doesn't pack its fair share of twists, turns, and heart-stopping surprises. On the contrary, brand new characters, the return of B.J. Vines, another bomb, and a huge reveal surrounding the death of Joe's son all pop up before the screen goes black. And that's not even accounting for the aftermath of Leaphorn and Chee's bullet-riddled run-in with the assassin (Nicholas Logan) last week. Needless to say, we've got a ton of ground to cover -- let's get started!

Jim barely survives, while the killer plots his next move

Speaking of Joe (Zahn McClarnon) and Jim's (Kiowa Gordon) encounter with the "tall, blond man," episode 2's cold open picks up several hours after the seemingly indomitable killer puts a bullet in Chee and flees the scene. Leaphorn's dragging Jim, who's dehydrated, bleeding out, and barely conscious, through the desert in the dead of night. Meanwhile, the assassin has made it back to his home base, where he's plucking shards of glass from his face - the bloody result of the few shots Joe got off as the killer sped away in his truck. The injury doesn't slow him down one bit, though, as he next begins crafting a bomb, placing it in a doll, then wrapping the hidden explosive in a yellow box with a pretty red bow.

When we cut back to Jim and Joe, the former's knocking at death's door just as they reach the road. Thankfully, a trucker -- barely flagged down by Joe -- is able to pick the pair up and get them back to civilization. The next morning, at the police station, Bernadette (Jessica Matten) arrives to find her other co-workers excited to later watch the launch of the Apollo 15 lunar rover. While we get a quick peek at the still-imprisoned creepy sheep Bern captured last week, she gets a phone call from Leaphorn. He gives her the lowdown on what's happened and asks her to head to the hospital to take Chee's statement.

Joe soon arrives home to a worried Emma (Deanna Allison), who's wondering where he's been and if he's okay. But the Lieutenant's withdrawn and retreats to the bathroom, where he again studies his son's belt buckle - mysteriously found last week presumably among the debris from B.J. Vines' (Snowfall's John Diehl) stolen box. Emma, still sporting a bandage from her brush with the car bomb explosion, informs her husband that a medicine man is on his way to perform the balance-bringing ceremony she feels the family needs. But clearly having bigger fish to fry, he tells her to reschedule.

Leaphorn's Long Quest for Answers

The first of those bigger fish is Mr. Vines, making his Season 2 debut with a new beard, ponytail, and an apparent affection for turtlenecks. Joe asks him why Joe Jr.'s buckle was among the stolen goods from Vine's box - which Vine's wife, Rosemary (Star Trek: Voyager's Jeri Ryan), hired Chee to find last week. But B.J. claims no knowledge of the mysterious find. He also points out the fact the actual box wasn't recovered, bringing into question whether the buckle was ever really inside it.

He's also quick to remind Joe his son died in the Drumco Oil explosion three years before Vines even purchased the property. He also calls Rosemary's (absent this episode) claims of the box being stolen by Tomas Charley - son of car bomb victim Emerson - a "conspiracy theory" and wonders why he'd want the box. He explains he was friends with Emerson's deceased brother Dillon Charley, leader of the "Indian church"/ People of Darkness. As Leaphorn leaves, frustrated by Vines' lack of help, he spies a pair of mysterious parallel tracks on the carpet.

Joe next meets with Sheriff Sena (A. Martinez,) the officer from last week's car bomb crime scene. They exchange notes on the investigation and, upon learning of the belt buckle and possible People of Darkness involvement, Sena suggests Leaphorn's gotten involved in some "Navajo witchy witch" stuff. He also warns Joe to keep talk of the PoD on the reservation, as it "scares white folks." Joe believes the missing Tomas Charley will connect the dots between the assassin, the car bombing, and the PoD, leading Sena to suggest Joe talk to his father, a former Tribal Police Lieutenant with knowledge of the cult.

When we catch back up with Bern, she's stopped at a trading post to pick up a protective medicine pouch for Chee. She strongly suggested he carry one back in Season 1, but he apparently didn't take her advice. She next heads to the hospital to take Chee's statement. Uncomfortable over their complicated history, she skips the pleasantries and gets right down to business. Chee calls her out on her no-nonsense demeanor, apologizes for his past mistakes, and softens her up, but just a bit. He gives his statement about the shooter and she gifts him the medicine pouch.

Taking Sena's advice, Joe reluctantly heads to his parents' house, where his mother lovingly greets him. His dad is less welcoming, criticizing his son for his career choices and even blaming Emma for keeping Joe on the reservation versus making a better life for himself in the city. The pair clearly have a dysfunctional history. But Joe weathers the criticism and passive-aggressive comments to get his dad's take on the PoD. Leaphorn senior refers to the church as "peyote freaks," as well as "criminals" that should have been dealt with long ago. He suggests his son speak with Margaret Cigaret, the blind medicine woman whose granddaughter/Joe Jr.s girlfriend was killed in the hotel room last season.

Cigaret indeed has intel on the mysterious church, informing Joe its leader, Dillon Charley, was both clever and dangerous. She claims he befriended white people with the goal of prevailing over them, and did so by allowing them to commercialize and abuse the church's sacred ceremonies and medicine for fun. She concludes by saying the church has been run by clueless people ever since Dillon's death.

With this new perspective on the PoD, Leaphorn continues to make the rounds, next visiting Chee in the hospital. He sneaks a cheeseburger and fries into the bedridden PI, before the two recount the facts of the case. The exchange also serves as a great refresher for fans who might be starting to feel a bit lost in the weeds. While watching Chee voraciously consume his fast food, we're reminded of the following:

• Rosemary Vines believes Tomas Charley - son of car bomb victim Emerson Charley, nephew of deceased former PoD leader Dillon Charley - stole her husband's lock box, an item that was previously given to B.J. By the PoD.

• Tomas believes B.J. is a PoD witch, who cursed Emerson with cancer.
• Cigaret thinks the PoD have "reshaped" themselves after Dillon's death and are still practicing.

New Paths - and Potential Problems - for Bernadette and Emma

With all that laid out, the episode takes a breather from the central story and introduces a couple of entirely new subplots. First up, Bernadette receives a mysterious piece of mail from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office. She eyes it a few times throughout the episode, but the audience isn't let in on the secret until a later meeting between Bern and Joe. While he's working on that motorcycle from last episode, she tells him she's been invited to interview for a job with Border Protection.

Joe bristles at the suggestion of her leaving the reservation, suggesting she instead consider furthering her career within the Tribal Police. But she argues that, as a Native woman, there's little room for her to grow within the force. Joe eventually comes around, apologizes, and even offers to write her a reference letter. 

We're also treated to a brief scene of Emma at work, where she's advising a Native pregnant patient to have her baby at home. She did the same thing in season one, telling Sally Growing Thunder (Reservation Dogs' Elva Guera) that delivering her baby at the hospital would result in her being involuntarily sterilized by white doctors, a terrible violation Emma suffered herself.

She's soon approached by an L.A. Times journalist doing a story on the "effect of the Family Planning Services Act on Indian women." The writer wants to interview Emma, insisting the "world needs to know what's going on" and promises to protect her identity. But Emma becomes emotional and defensive, suggesting the journalist's just looking for a juicy story that will exploit the Navajo people. She refuses to help the reporter.

The Bomber's Back...and Badder Than Ever

With those promising new narrative nuggets planted, we can now return to our regular scheduled programming of bomb-crafting assassins and creepy church cults. Leaphorn and Bern return to the ritual site, where Chee was shot and Joe Jr.'s belt buckle found. The pair uncover some burned Drumco paperwork, as well as the fabled box belonging to B.J. Vines. But those discoveries are nothing next to what they find beneath a cluster of circling vultures - the decomposing body of Tomas Charley.

The officers next head to the victim's home, where a young boy sits outside with a wrapped present. The lad is the same one Leaphorn visited last week (and one of the subjects of our previous recap's questions,) while the gift is the explosive-stuffed doll the assassin assembled earlier in this episode. Before the boy can tug the toy's pull string, Joe suspects something's amiss and takes it from him. As he examines it, he notices a tangle of blue wires similar to the one he found in Emma's hair post-car bomb detonation. 

Joe immediately tells Bern to take the child to the police station and summon Leaphorn's father to the crime scene. When Leaphorn's dad arrives, the pair pick up their bickering from earlier, but work together to diffuse the device. Meanwhile, we briefly return to the baddie responsible for the sabotaged doll. The killer's in a phone booth, dialing up the hospital. Posing as an FBI agent, he requests Chee's room number. 

As groups excitedly gather around the reservation to watch the lunar rover's launch on TV, we return to the police station, where they're also viewing the live broadcast. Bern tells Leaphorn the charred Drumco paperwork are documents the oil company had to file with the state, a fresh clue they'll follow up on in the morning. 

Joe and the boy watch the astronauts on television when the latter asks if he'll ever see his dad again. Leaphorn responds, "no," and attempts to comfort him by putting his hand on his back. Upon seeing a photo of a blond astronaut on TV, the kid tells Joe he saw one of them near his home. But the astronaut he saw had lighter hair, and the boy's grandfather, Emerson Charley, told him he was a bad man because he "blew up the well." 

As Leaphorn slowly absorbs the boy's statement, he sits down and struggles to respond when Bern asks him if he's okay. "It's the blond man. I think he murdered my son," he barely manages. The screen then cuts to the assassin, who's entering the hospital disguised as a doctor.

Questions and Predictions

• Prediction: Sally will get more to do. She has to, right? A promising character last season, the brand-new mom's mostly been reduced to the background or very brief scenes where she's struggling with the challenges of motherhood. We're begging for Sally Growing Thunder to live up to her name.
• Is Leaphorn learning from his past mistakes? Last season we learned Leaphorn didn't want his son to go to college because he selfishly wanted him to stay on the reservation. He has a similar reaction in this episode when Bern mentions the Border Protection job, but Joe soon comes around and wants what's best for her.
• Prediction: Emma will work with the journalist. Given more time to think on it, we believe Emma will help get the word out on what's happening to pregnant Native women, but it will be on her terms and in a way that has a positive effect on the reservation, her people, and potential future victims.
• Where is Devoted Dan? Last season's fan-favorite sleazy used car salesman hasn't surfaced yet, but we can't imagine the colorful character not weaseling his way into one of this season's storylines. We eagerly await his return, as Dan's occasional comic relief offers a welcome respite from all the violence, death, and darkness.

Dark Winds is currently airing new episodes every Sunday on AMC.

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