The first season of AMC’s Dark Winds came to an end with a tense and violent confrontation at the Buffalo Society’s hideout. As Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito converged on the thieves’ cave, they faced off against a surprising enemy. But episode 6 – titled “HózhóoNaashá” – did more than just wrap up the big mystery of the show’s first season and set the stage for season 2. It also featured several characters grappling with their complicated pasts. Some found a way to move forward, while others struggled with the weight of their painful history.  

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Dark Winds season 1 finale.]

Whitover was working with the armored car thieves all along 

The Dark Winds season finale opened with a major – though not entirely unexpected – revelation in a flashback. Agent Whitover (The Americans’ Noah Emmerich) was in on the armored car heist. After tracking down James Tso (Jeremiah Bitsui) following a bank robbery in Stockton, California, he forced the political activist to team up with him on his next job. Tso didn’t have much of a choice: It was either work with the corrupt and racist FBI agent or go to prison. 

Back in the present, Agent Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) has figured out his boss played a role in the robbery, but it’s too late to warn Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) in person. She and Whitover have already taken off in pursuit of Tso’s conflicted accomplice Frank Nakai (Eugene Brave Rock), who’s escaped from jail. Instead, he reaches her on the radio.

Whitover’s complete lack of interest in (and lack of respect for) Navajo culture has been clear since we met him in back episode 1. Here, it works to Chee and Manuelito’s advantage, since they’re able to communicate with each other in Diné as an uncomprehending Whitover listens in.

Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito face off against Whitover and the members of the Buffalo Society  

Manuelito, Chee, and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) all separately descend on the cave, where Tso and Nakai are holed up with the Mormon family they’ve taken hostage.

Leaphorn sneaks into the hideout but ends up trapped in a narrow passageway after Tso and Nakai discover him. Chee encounters Whitover, and the older agent quickly realizes that his former protégé has discovered what he’s up to and shoots him, though not fatally. Manuelito, who ditched Whitover as soon as they arrived, rescues the Mormons.  

Some quick thinking on Leaphorn’s part gets him out of a tight spot (literally). Meanwhile, Chee finds Manuelito. The pair’s burgeoning relationship hit the skids when she learned he was an FBI agent, but now, it takes just a few words to clear the air. “You didn’t have to come back,” she tells him. “I know, but you’re here,” he replies. 

A confrontation between Whitover, Leaphorn, Tso, and Nakai in the cave ends with Nakai fatally shot (or so it appears) and Leaphorn wounded and left for dead. Tso takes off on foot, while Whitover collects his half of the loot. 

Whitover meets his end

Whitover intends to blow up the hideout, which Tso and Nakai already wired with explosives. But Chee and Manuelito catch him in the act. She rescues Leaphorn, while Chee faces off against his former mentor. The FBI agent explains he’s set everything up so it will look like Chee is a political radical who committed the crimes on behalf of the Buffalo Society. He plays on Chee’s apparent desire to escape his past, telling him that if he looks the other way, he can get the promotion he’s always wanted, plus a share of the heist money. But Chee’s return to the place he grew up has changed his attitude. He tells Whitover he isn’t interested in his “blood money.”

“I had high hopes for you, but you threw it all away to solve the murder of some dying old Indian and some two-bit whore,” Whitover says. Those words end up sealing his fate, but not at Chee’s hands. Instead, it’s Guy (Ryan Begay) who fires the shot that kills the agent. By chance, he’s stumbled into the showdown at the cave and hears Whitover’s dismissive comments about his murdered daughter. 

With Whitover dead, Chee and Manuelito make a swift decision to cover up what really happened. They move his body to the cave and blow up the hideout, agreeing not to tell Leaphorn what they’ve done. 

Leaphorn tries to prevent a tragedy

As Chee and Manuelito deal with the mess at the cave, Leaphorn tracks Tso to his grandfather’s home. 

Tso gets the upper hand and holds Leaphorn at gunpoint. In a powerful scene, Joe tries to reason with the increasingly desperate and agitated man, who says that everything he’s done has been to help their people. Leaphorn says he understands his rage, and that he knows what happened to Tso during his time at an Indian boarding school. But the pain he feels doesn’t give him a right to hurt others. 

“We make our own future,” Leaphorn says as James prepares to kill himself. “That’s survival. That’s our strength.” But James is beyond hope. His ghosts have driven him “to fight for a righteous world.” And there’s “no message more righteous than a martyr,” he says. He lets Leaphorn go, then dies by suicide. 

Leaphorn gets closure, Chee makes a decision about his future

The Dark Winds finale ends with Leaphorn putting to rest some ghosts of his own. The police officer’s grief over the death of his only child in a mining accident several years ago was reawakened when his son’s girlfriend was murdered in episode one, and the loss of both young people has hovered over the entire season. In the end, their families, who’ve been at odds in the past, come together for an emotional ceremony where Joe and his wife Emma (Deanna Allison) burn their son’s letter jacket. 

Three months later, Chee, who’s quit the FBI, is back at his family’s former home. He initially returned to Arizona to advance his career. But his time on the reservation has caused him to reevaluate his life and reconnect with his roots. He meets up with Leaphorn, who tells him there’s a spot for him on the Navajo police force if he wants it. But he has some questions about what happened at the cave. He knows that Chee lied in his official report. But Nakai’s body was never found, nor was his share of the money he helped steal. The episode concludes with Chee beginning to apologize to Leaphorn. But Leaphorn stops him before he can get the words out. “I know,” he says, as he turns to go.   

With the core mystery wrapped up (except for the lingering question of Nakai’s whereabouts), the finale offers a satisfying conclusion to Dark Winds’ debut season, while also setting the stage for season 2. Chee appears to have returned home to the Navajo Nation for good, and he and Leaphorn have solidified their partnership. Plus, there’s plenty to explore when it comes to Chee and Manuelito’s relationship. With new episodes set to air sometime in 2023, fans have plenty to look forward to in the show’s next season. 

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