Give Joe Leaphorn credit for finding a way to get justice for his murdered son, J.J.
But he didn’t exactly go through proper channels to do so on Dark Winds Season 2 Episode 6.
Although he didn’t need to be told about the concepts, Joe was caught between white man’s justice and Indian justice.
Fortunately, he had his father, Henry, the former Navajo police chief, on hand to explain the situation to him.
Henry has been an enjoyable character addition in Dark Winds Season 2. He had Joe’s job before him, and he doesn’t hesitate to tell his son what he’s doing wrong. That trait was on display on Dark Winds Season 2 Episode 2.
Fortunately, in this episode we saw a different side of their relationship when Joe consulted Henry as the man who had previously been in his shoes.
Joe knew he had to swallow his substantial pride if he wanted the services of the best local explosives expert, who just happened to be his father.
Not that Henry cut him any slack, assigning him to search a tower at the Drumco site despite his broken arm. But Joe’s gambit paid off as they uncovered parts that matched Wolf’s bomb signature.
That tied Wolf to the bombing. But the complicated part was still to come: tying Wolf to B.J. Vines.
Here’s what’s hard to understand: Why did Wolf, who had been so cunning up until now, go straight to B.J.’s home?
Did he really think that B.J. would pay his one loose end to leave town? That was dumb.
Instead, B.J. shot him as he walked away and took back his cash and car key. And that was after Wolf had refused to give him up to Joe to save himself.
It was surprising that Jim wasn’t suspicious about why B.J. was climbing out of his truck with a rifle, a shovel, and dirty boots. B.J. isn’t a manual-labor kind of guy. But Jim was more concerned about Rosemary’s status at that point.
His pawing through Tomas Charley’s personal effects did yield the clue that tied his case to Joe’s case. It was an unprocessed roll of film that confirmed Rosemary and Tomas were having an affair.
More importantly, Tomas’s shot of the original geological survey of the site proved that B.J. had filed a falsified report stating there was uranium there. That and the bomb fragments gave Leaphorn the evidence he needed to get an arrest warrant for B.J.
It was great that Jim was back doing something worthwhile instead of his usual insignificant P.I. work. Too bad it was the last time he, Joe, and Bern would work together on a case.
Joe must have felt some satisfaction pulling B.J. out of his massage. But that was short-lived.
Even though he sounded like an old fart, Henry was correct in saying B.J. would never pay under white man’s justice and that he needed to face Indian justice.
As the young one in the room, Bern voiced her dissent. Joe wanted to think conditions had improved since his father’s time. But inside, he must have known better.
That sweet moment when Joe made Sally’s baby laugh was soon spoiled when he heard that B.J. had already been released on bail.
He bolted out of there as he’d already decided that B.J. would face some Indian justice.
Referencing the Long March, Leaphorn devised an inspired choice for B.J.’s punishment. After terrorizing him and overcoming his urge to shoot him, Joe drove away, leaving B.J. to find his way back, barefoot and in pajamas.
It worked that we never saw B.J.’s death, although his freezing to death sure looked likely. And no one asked too many questions, assuming B.J. had skipped bail and found some way to disappear.
A question that didn’t get answered was Rosemary’s role in B.J.’s arrest. Chee’s theory that she had her lover Tomas steal the lockbox for the geological survey inside made sense.
But did she want it to ruin B.J. or to protect him? Did she want to escape from her domineering husband?
Rosemary enjoyed her lifestyle. But she would have liked it much better if B.J. wasn’t there reminding her that he owned her.
The way things shook out, she decided to leave town for Acapulco. She even invited Jim to become her new young lover, but he declined.
Bern finally decided to leave for the Border Patrol, partly based on Harold’s passionate discussion of justice.
Joe must have seen it coming, as he had melted down his son’s belt buckle to mold a feather for his surrogate daughter.
At least we got that moment when Jim and Bern kissed each other goodbye. It felt like an opportunity missed, but hopefully, it won’t be their last time together.
The ceremony for Sally’s baby turned out to be a time of transition. Gordo announced his retirement after his near-miss with Wolf, but Joe turned down his suggestion that he run for Gordo’s sheriff job.
Then, after this pleasant time with her adoptive family, Sally took her baby and left, leaving only a note behind. Maybe she felt it was time to stand on her own two feet. She felt ready to be a mother.
There are plenty more Tony Hillerman books. So here’s hoping AMC will continue with Dark Winds so we can see more of these well-developed characters.
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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.