In the fifth episode of Dark Winds Season 4, Joe wakes up tied up and being questioned by two men. They ask him why he’s in Los Angeles, and when they put pressure on him, he tells them more about the reservation and the person he’s following. After the questioning, they leave him on the side of the road and tell him to stop looking into things or else.
Joe is badly hurt and ends up in the hospital, where Emma takes care of him. While she is taking care of him, she says that living in the city makes her feel at peace and that she isn’t worried about his safety all the time for the first time in decades.
Chee is recovering from his earlier high and is waiting with Bern at the hospital. Joe tells the others that he thinks the men watching the party might be FBI agents. This makes the three go to the FBI office, where they meet Special Agents Frank Wells and Toby Shaw. Things get tense right away because these are the same men who attacked Joe the night before.
The agents say they are putting together a case against Sonny and his group. McNair is at the center of it all. He runs an import-export business that is thought to be doing illegal things. Two months ago, the FBI almost had enough evidence to arrest him. However, important witnesses have either died in strange ways or changed their stories, making the case weaker.
Joe quickly links this to Billie and Albert, two important witnesses. He tries to bargain with the agents, stressing how important it is to find Billie, but they won’t help him, which makes Chee angry.
Chee is determined to make progress, so he goes straight to Sonny. Their relationship is tense, especially when Sonny talks about Bern. Chee plays it off, but it’s not clear if Sonny believes him.
Agent Shaw comes to Joe and Bern with new information in another part of the world. He thinks that someone is systematically tying up loose ends, like a former coworker who officially died by suicide after his case fell apart. Shaw doesn’t agree with that version of events.
A green van that is connected to the killer, Irene, is a key lead. If Joe and Bern can link this van to their case, Shaw will help them find Billie. He drives them to the house of the dead agent, where Irene stole papers and killed him. They see red writing on the wall and a matchbox with the words “Katenta Trading Post” on it. This is a place connected to the reservation.
Outside, Joe finds a ration key close to where the van had been parked. It’s like the things he found on the reservation. This makes him more sure that the cases are linked.
Chee goes with Sonny to a late-night club called The Pink Carousel, on the other hand. A short talk about Bern makes things even worse before things go crazy. Sonny runs away after being shot to get away from an armed attacker.
Chee helps Sonny get away and takes him home to bandage his wound. Sonny won’t go to the hospital, so he asks Chee to help him. Chee takes advantage of the fact that Sonny passes out from the pain and alcohol to look through the house.
He finds a handwritten note and a phone book with Leroy’s contact information, with the name “Leroy” written in big letters. Chee goes to 2113 Normandy, Apartment 7, after leaving a message for Joe with the address. But things get dangerous fast when Sonny confronts him with a gun and demands answers.
Review of the Episode
This episode does a great job of continuing the season’s main mystery by switching between Billie’s disappearance and the larger criminal network that Sonny and McNair are a part of.
The story makes it more and more clear that McNair is using Irene to get rid of witnesses, which makes Billie a key part of the puzzle. If she lives, the whole operation could be exposed.
There are still a few episodes left, but the story is picking up speed, adding tension and mystery in a way that promises an intense and dramatic stretch ahead.