‘Dark Winds’ 3 Big Season 4 Questions Answered

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Dark Winds Season 3, Episode 8, “Béésh Lii (Iron Horse).”]

Dark Winds‘ Season 3 finale may have answered some questions, but it also raised several more as we wonder what’s next for Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten). Most importantly, it’s made us wonder, can Emma Leaphorn (Deanna Allison) ever forgive her husband for his lies?

That’s just one of the big questions looming as we look ahead to Season 4, which is currently in production in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Below, we’re breaking down some of the biggest questions we’d like to see answered and sharing insights the team behind the show has revealed about those plots so far.

Can Emma forgive Joe for his lies?

As viewers will recall, Emma left home to visit her sister after giving her testimony to Agent Sylvia Washington (Jenna Elfman) surrounding the disappearance and death of businessman BJ Vines (John Diehl). Emma lied and claimed that Joe was with her that night, protecting her husband from legal harm. But after he’d confessed he’d brought Vines out into the desert and left him for dead, Emma’s trust in Joe was broken. While Sylvia Washington knew Joe had committed the crime, she told him that she couldn’t prove it, and for that reason, she’d leave, but not before dropping off the tape with Emma’s testimony.

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On the tape, Emma reveals how the discovery of Vines’ body dredged up all of these bad memories from her son’s death (which Vines was responsible for), and in turn led to a fracture in her and Joe’s relationship. She noted that Joe’s obsession with their son’s death had poisoned his views, as she wished she could forgive him for his change in character. The Season 3 finale concludes with Joe listening to Emma’s words over and over again: “I hope one day I can forgive him.”

So, where does this leave the couple who had always been such a strong duo? “The single most important element to the show is the relationship between Joe and Emma and what happens to them because it’s the anchor for the community,” director and executive producer Chris Eyre tells TV Insider. “It’s the anchor for all the characters that orbit around them…. If Emma isn’t feeling good about the relationship, I don’t think there’s any Leaphorn. He is anchored by the matriarch of his family, which is Emma, and which is the lineage of women beyond that. And I think he’s smart enough to understand that he can’t be full unless he has that family unit.”

While things aren’t great between the couple right now, Eyre also points out, “I don’t think it’s a down note. I think it’s a note that we have further to go to see what happens to these two, and I’m completely optimistic that they’ll figure it out and we’ll get to see another sunset with them riding on the motorcycle.”

Are Bernadette and Chee finally official?

As viewers will recall, over the seasons, there’s been a will-they-won’t-they vibe between Chee and Bernadette, whose relationship was tested as she spent time with border patrol. And despite getting close to fellow officer Ivan Muños (Alex Meraz), Bernadette turned her back on the romance as soon as she discovered his level of involvement in illegal trafficking and other activities associated with rancher Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood).

“What I think is great about Bernadette this season is that she blows Ivan off at the end, she tells him to take the money and turn it in. We watch Ivan walk into the border patrol office, and we don’t know what happened, but we know that Bern’s moral compass… she’s a real singular person, she’s going to do better,” Eyre notes of Bernadette’s good intentions.

So, was it the moral compass that sent her heading back home, or was it Chee? “At the end of Season 2, she drives off to the border and she’s searching, and at the end of Season 3, she comes back and she’s starting at home anew and she is standing there and [Chee] smiles at her after feeding her horses… we have these beautiful shots of these two looking at each other. And I think that the time’s come that they’re finally going to consummate a relationship in Season 4, and we’re going to get to be there for it,” Eyre teases of Bernadette and Chee’s relationship.

Where will Season 4’s mystery take us?

While Season 4’s mystery or crime has yet to be revealed, production on the latest chapter began on March 24th, with writing on scripts being completed beforehand. When we caught up with showrunner John Wirth at the red carpet premiere for Season 3, he teased, “Part of the season takes place in LA.” He added, “It’s going to be a great season.” As previously reported, McClarnon will make his directorial debut with one of Season 4’s episodes.

Stay tuned for more on Dark Winds as Season 4 continues to take shape, and let us know what you hope to see when the series returns.

Dark Winds, Season 4 Premiere, TBA, AMC & AMC+