Episode 7 of Dark Winds finds Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee identifying Ernesto’s killer, while Bernadette seeks to expose Spenser’s criminal activity.

The penultimate episdoe opens with Jim Chee finding a weakened and crippled Joe Leaphorn in the empty desert. He wards off a trip to the hospital, insisting Chee chase the wounded suspect. Jim catches up to the mysterious figure and engages in a violent shootout. After an armed struggle with Chee’s shotgun, the suspect manages to escape.

Joe wakes up in the hospital to Sheriff Sena explaining he was shot with a dart full of ketamine. Cutting his rehab short, Joe realizes the man who killed Ernesto is not the same person who murdered Halsey. With both suspects free, Joe is determined to bring both to justice. He and Chee immediately recanvass George Bowleg’s campsite. They find a mysterious substance that Joe has seen before.

The white substance is a mold used to hold artifacts and other finds from archaeological dig sites. Piecing the fragments together, they formed a cube that held the artifact found in the murdered boy’s mouth. A trip back to the dig site confirms Joe’s suspicions. Dr. Reyonalds was seeding the ground with fake fossils, defrauding the science community, and exploiting Navajo land and history for his gain. Joe hypothesizes that Ernesto and George mistakenly discovered Reyonalds’ scheme. Reyonalds took care of one witness and intends on finishing the job by killing George.

As Joe and Jim return to the precint, Emma arrives. She has come to speak to Agent Sylvia Washington privately. Emma admits she harbored revenge in her heart for BJ Vines, and men like him, who abhorrently rob them of their culture, land, livelihood, and people. She insists she exorcised those feelings, but Agent Washington’s presence brought the trauma of losing her son back. Emma is aware her husband has allowed the trauma to consume him, and they now walk separate paths. But she insists Joe was with her the evening BJ Vines disappeared.

As she departs the precint, she informs Joe she is leaving to live with her sister. Tears fill her face as she drives away.

Bernadette and Ivan return from their secret excursion in Mexico. Disturbed by what she’s discovered about her partner, Bernadette confides in patrol agent Eleanda Garza that Ivan and Chief Ed Henry are on Spenser’s payroll. She tells her Spenser hides the cocaine in PIGs, or pipeline inspection gadgets. Garza promises to keep her secret and knows a judge who can provide a search warrant for Spenser’s site.

Upon arrival, Bernadette and Eleanda discover the business deserted. As Garza steps back to call for backup, Bernadette sees a padlocked door. After breaking inside, she finds the immigrant mother and daughter from weeks before, along with another Mexican man. Suddenly, Bernadette is finds Garza holding her at gunpoint as Budge wraps a sack over her head.

Episode 7 is stunning in subverting narrative expectations and delivering poignant, dramatic touchpoints. The reveal of Ernesto’s killer was a great callback to the events from earlier in the season. And while it was somewhat expected, the revelation about Henry’s staff was still chilling to unfold. Performance-wise, Deanna Allison is marvelous, evoking the complicated emotions her Emma carries.

Rating: 9/10