Dark Winds Season 2 has come to a close, with Sunday’s episode of the AMC series featuring quite a bit of closure. Maybe one of the most tense moments for fans of the show came with Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) facing a major crossroads. [Please Note: Dark Winds Season 2 Spoilers Below.]
After learning that eccentric businessman B.J. Vines (John Diehl) had been the force behind Colton Wolf’s (Nicholas Logan) violent crusade across Navajo Country — including the workplace “accident” that killed Leaphorn’s son — the angry and grieving policeman decides to give justice a nudge. Showing up to his home following Vines’ release from custody, Leaphorn drives the murderous conman out to the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night, and leaves him to find his way home. Suffice to say, Vines never makes it and, as fans, we are left grappling with the reality that Leaphorn, a man of strong character and a great moral compass, just made a fatal decision that we did not expect. Notably, the final episode of Dark Winds Season 2 also finds Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) returning to the force after having left to be a private investigator, while Sgt. Manuelito (Jessica Matten) leaves to take a new border patrol job.
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Speaking to PopCulture.com, Dark Winds executive producer Chris Eyre revealed that Leaphorn’s choice was something that McClarnon had very strong feelings about. “I’ll let you in on a secret, which is Zahn really put his foot down with how much vengeance Leaphorn’s able to do to Vines.” He added, “We were pushing the boundary of vengeance, and Zahn was the one who said, ‘Leaphorn wouldn’t do that.’” Eyre added, “I’m really glad that Zahn made that comment after a couple days that we sat with the script, because he sits in bed afterwards and he looks up at the sky or in the bedroom and you realize that this man who has this depth to him, this face to him, it comes from somewhere, which is, he’s had deep conflicts, he’s had deep internal challenges, and I don’t know what the other ones were in his life all the time.”
In addition to serving as an EP, Eyre is also a director on Dark Winds, helming the first two and the last episodes this season. Speaking about how he approached wrapping up the story after handing the middle portion over to filmmakers Billy Luther and Michael Nankin, Eyre said, “I’m learning all the time, and what Michael Nankin did in the middle, episode 203, 204, was awesome. What Billy Luther did, who’s Navajo director in 205 is awesome.”
“Then coming back and Zahn making choices about how his character would wrap up the season,” He continued. “Jessica having two goodbyes, one with Leaphorn and one with Chee, and then driving off with the Silver Feather. I come to the end of it and emotionally it’s a lot of great content. So basically, I’m a receptacle, which I’m learning about the show like everybody is, but we love it. We’re loving it and learning from it, and like I said, I think it still hasn’t hit its stride, and I think if we get more seasons, it’ll get even better.” All six episodes of Dark Winds Season 2 are now streaming on AMC+.
