At the end of “Dark Winds” Episode 4, Frank Nakai is captured by Joe. However, Jim’s disguise is revealed after Nakai recognizes him as an FBI agent, and he is told to submit his Navajo badge and gun. On the other hand, Pete approaches B. J. Vines and offers him information about the Buffalo Society. “Dark Winds” Episode 5 furthers the Buffalo Society racket and shows how it involves Devoted, Dan. Jim finds an interesting lead in the Atcitty-Tso murder case. Joe goes to see V.J. Mines, the owner of the oil rig. Bernadette faces Ada Growing Thunder.
Evidence and Doubts
Two weeks before the armored car heist, James Tso and Frank Nakai approached Devoted Dan at his car dealer shop and coerced him into laundering money for them. They also took his car while leaving.
Coming to the present, FBI agent Whitover has come to the Navajo hospital where Frank Nakai is admitted. He is there to take him to Flagstaff for questioning, but Emma denies him access to Nakai. Joe, who is also there, asks Whitover for a warrant before he can be allowed to see Nakai. Whitover tells Joe that he will be back with a warrant later. Jim arrives at Bernadette’s place to bid her goodbye before heading “out of town.” She is upset with him but doesn’t show it. Jim understands that and leaves quietly.
Later, at the lakelet near James Tso’s house, the FBI recovered pieces of the crashed helicopter, its pilot, as well as the body of Raymond Begay. Jim is there, along with Whitover and some other agents. Whitover is happy with the work Jim has done in bringing the robbery case to its imminent end and congratulates him on his new job in Washington, DC. Jim will have to leave soon.
Joe shifts Nakai from the hospital to a cell to interrogate him. But before that, Bernadette confronts Joe for telling her about Jim being the FBI. Joe tells her that he did so to protect her (from not getting too involved in the case that is turning more dangerous by the day). Bernadette is not happy about it and walks away. Joe heaves a regretful sigh and then goes to Nakai’s cell. He tells Nakai about how his friend James Tso killed his own grandfather and a girl, something Nakai didn’t know, apparently. When Nakai tempts Joe about his son, he pins Nakai against the metal bars of the cell and asks him about Joe Jr. It seems that the explosion at the oil rig that took Joe Jr.’s life was not an accident.
While driving out of town, Jim comes across a broken down car in the middle of the road amidst the desert and offers help to the owner. The guy tells Jim about Devoted Dan and his business. Jim harbors doubts about it and decides to visit Dan. Joe visits Guy (Anna Atcitty’s father) and asks him about the day of the explosion at the oil rig, in which Joe Jr. died, and why he didn’t go to work on that day. Guy tells him that a geologist named Lebeck told the workers to stay away from the oil rig since he and his team would be running some tests as they had found uranium in the well shafts. At the Navajo police station, where Nakai is held, Bernadette starts feeling uneasy. It is as if her head is spinning, and she finally loses consciousness on her table, but not before seeing Sally Growing Thunder enter the station, free Nakai, and escape.
At Devoted Dan’s shop, Dan tells Jim about two Indian guys who have been blackmailing him as well as an agent who came to him to talk about them. Dan reveals that one of them had a scar on their face, while the other wore gold glasses. He also gives Jim the agent’s card. It has the name “Leland Whitover” written in bold. Upon calling up the main office (Flagstaff), Jim finds out there is no file under the name “Devoted Dan” or “Dan DeMarco” (Dan’s full name). Neither do they have the Atcitty-Tso murder case file. This bugs Jim a lot. He also finds more than one look-alike cactus painting at Dan’s office. Joe visits B.J. Vines to talk to him about the oil rig (he has recently purchased it). Vines tells Joe about the Buffalo Society, which was recruiting Navajos to buy the surface land surrounding his mine. At this point, Joe asks him if any of the group’s members went by the name “Edwin Yazzie” (the trucker we saw in “Dark Winds” Episode 3).
A Rising Tide Amidst the Desert
Bernadette regains consciousness and immediately calls and tells Joe about Nakai’s escape. Joe rushes home (from Vines’ place) and tells Emma to take Sally and go to Guy’s house. Nakai escaped, and he will surely come to take Sally. Despite Emma telling him to not leave and stay with them, Joe apologizes to her and leaves with a gun. Meanwhile, Bernadette visits Margaret (“Dark Winds” Episode 1), who gives Bernadette some medicine before she can go and arrest Sally Growing Thunder. Back at the pub (where Whitover and Jim met earlier), Jim receives the Atcitty-Tso file from a friend of his from the FBI. According to this guy, Whitover told him to get rid of it, but he doesn’t know why. Upon opening the file, Jim finds a picture of James Tso. He immediately calls the Navajo police station, but no one picks up his call. Jim returns to Navajo.
Joe arrives at James Tso’s place, but there is no one inside or around. He decides to take a look around the place. Bernadette arrives at Sally Growing Thunder’s place to arrest her. She breaches in and finds different kinds of occult paraphernalia. At one such moment, Sally attacks her from the back. During their grapple, some burning candles fall off the shelves, and the fire spreads rapidly. Sally manages to drop a shelf on Sally, which gives her some time to regain control of herself. She then tries to pull Sally from under the shelf, but the fire is spreading fast. It catches on her right hand, and she rushes outside. She dips her hand in a bucket of water and radios for water trucks and an ambulance from her car. Meanwhile, Sally Growing Thunder’s house keeps burning.
Dark Winds’ Episode 5: Ending Explained- Where are James Tso and Frank Nakai?
Joe finds footprints near James Tso’s house and follows them. Bernadette returns to the station only to find out that Joe left half an hour ago, along with a “bunch of ammo.” She is about to call him, but instead, the phone rings, and she finds that it is Lester. His wife, Wanda, has come to her senses after the spider bite and has been talking about James Tso, and “she’s got a whole lot to say.” As Bernadette loads her gun, Whitover arrives with a warrant for Nakai. She takes Whitover with her and heads for James Tso’s place. Nakai meets James after his escape and isn’t happy with the way James ran away, leaving him in the middle of a gunfight with two policemen. He also tells James that he heard about him killing his own grandfather. But James denies it straightaway, telling him that the cops are saying it only to manipulate him. Jim arrives at the Navajo police station. Joe catches sight of Nakai sitting in front of a fire from behind a boulder. He lies down on top of it, waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger.
The next episode, which will be the season finale, will ultimately be a showdown. We will find out why James killed his grandfather as well as Anna Atcitty. Furthermore, the truth behind the oil rig explosion will also come to light. But there’s more to Whitover, and it waits to be seen whether Joe is able to bring the two criminals to justice for the murders or if Whitover takes them in instead for the robbery. “Dark Winds” Episode 6 will mark the end of Season 1 on “Dark Winds.” But can one really stop the wind from blowing?