'Dark Winds' Season 4 Episode 7 recap: Why does Irene kidnap Joe Leaphorn?
Episode 7 of 'Dark Winds,' which aired on March 29, saw the protagonist, Joe Leaphorn ( Zahn McClarnon), become the target of a kidnapper himself as he continued his search for Billie Tsosie. Season 4's penultimate episode, titled 'Nániikai (We Came Back),' is directed by Chris Eyre from a script co-written by Shaandiin Tome and Shandton Williams II. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Season 4 of the Western noir thriller finds the Navajo tribal police officers Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernadette Manuelito on the hunt for the missing Navajo teen Tsosie, who gets involved with an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime.
In the latest episode of the crime thriller series, the runaway Tsosie reunites briefly with her mother before being kidnapped by Irene. The German contract killer was hired to hunt her down by the crime kingpin Dominic McNair. Furthermore, Irene's unhealthy obsession with the police lieutenant culminates in her taking Leaphorn hostage by the end of the episode. The fourth season has clearly established that Irene wants to live out some romantic fantasy with Leaphorn, as she tells her father earlier in the season that she will bring Leaphorn to their bunker for dinner. Additionally, Irene confronted Leaphorn's estranged wife, Emma, for leaving him in the last week's episode, proving that she will go to any lengths to fulfill her desires. With help from Philip Grayson, Irene knocks Leaphorn unconscious with chloroform and loads him into the trunk. Her final words before the credits roll, "You're mine now, Joe," signal trouble for the show's protagonist as the series heads into the finale.
After looking at the FBI's photograph of Leroy Gorman, Bernadette realizes that Gorman is the same Navajo man named Grayson that she and Jim Chee met at the start of the season. Gorman is a key witness in the crime boss McNair's trial, who is being charged with drug trafficking by the FBI. Another twist follows when it's revealed that Grayson is not the real Leroy Gorman. As it turns out, he and Irene killed Gorman before the events of 'Dark Winds' Season 4 so that Grayson could pretend to be Leroy and testify in favor of McNair's trial and set him free.
Furthermore, Episode 7 sheds light on Chee’s struggles with ghost sickness that affected him all season. He tells Manuelito that he has been ridden with guilt since his mother’s death, as he could not fulfill her dying wish of spending her last days at the reservation. His mother, who died from lung cancer, passed away in Los Angeles instead. Chee explains that he was reluctant to return to the reservation as the mother-son duo was driven out of there after his mother was branded a witch by the locals. Sharing his feelings helps him decide to arrange a ceremony at the reservation to heal his ghost sickness.
Moreover, Irene makes a final decision regarding her father, Gunthar, whose dementia has led him to believe that World War II is still ongoing. Gunthar constantly belittled his daughter for putting him in a retirement home. In this episode, Gunthar escapes from the bunker, adding to Irene's troubles. When she spots him roaming the back streets, she decides to run him over with her car and kill him. Tired of her father's incessant cruelty, Irene took the step to eliminate the source of her misery and live out the rest of her life in peace with Leaphorn. However, we'll have to see how that plays out in the finale. Tune in at 9 p.m. ET on April 5 to find out how Leaphorn escapes her clutches and saves Tsosie in the Season 4 finale of 'Dark Winds' on AMC or stream on AMC+.
