Meanwhile, Chee goes further undercover.

*Dark Winds *recap: Leaphorn and Manuelito team up with some unexpected allies

Meanwhile, Chee goes further undercover.

By Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman is a writer at **, mostly covering nostalgia. He has been writing about entertainment since 2007.

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March 15, 2026 10:07 p.m. ET

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Chee (Kiowa Gordon), Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) on 'Dark Winds'. Credit:

Michael Moriatis/AMC

- Our heroes from the Navajo Tribal Police cross paths with the FBI.

- After a rough start, the two groups start working together to save Billie and find Irene.

- Chee goes undercover again as "Mike Garcia" and gets into a bit of a mess with Sonny.

We're officially at the halfway mark of this season of *Dark Winds *with episode 5, "Atída'ahiilyaágíí (Those Who Harmed One Another)" — and the stakes couldn't be higher.

We left off last week with Jim Chee whacked out on some kind of drug that the bad guy Sonny gave him (why he couldn't just "cheek it," we can't say). He was freaking out in the underground club's bathroom, thinking his ghost sickness was causing his guts to explode. Though he certainly is feeling some bad effects from entering Albert Gorman's death hogan, it isn't quite as bad as he thinks it is.

As Bernadette escorted him out of the club, Billie met up with a gal slightly older than she who knew her cousin Leroy, but advised her to head back to the rez. Showing her a pistol, she told Billie Los Angeles was too dangerous of a place right now.

As if proving her point, Joe Leaphorn, keeping any eye on things from a nearby abandoned factory, got jumped by a mysterious someone — though *not *our German assassin Irene — and was knocked out.

The new episode begins with two goons waking him up, checking his wallet, (intentionally?) misreading his name as Leafhorn, and roughing him up some more. When Leaphorn tells them he's looking for his niece and nephew, Billie and Leroy, the men question why they'd be at "a McNair party." After some more violence, he admits to being from the Navajo Tribal Police, and hopes they can work together.

Oh! Maybe these guys are police? I didn't put that together. That's why I'm not Joe Leaphorn. Anyway, they tell him to go back to Arizona "before someone puts you in the ground."

After the credits, Joe is in need of some medical help, so he heads to the Indian Health Services, where he's met by his wife Emma. She wants to X-ray his busted ribs, but he says he'll be fine with ice. She chuckles that she's moved hundreds of miles away, but she's still patching him up. When he asks if she's happy in L.A. she says she is, but we can kinda tell that she's not being honest.

Meanwhile, Chee and Manuelito are in the waiting area. He's "coming down" from his psychedelic adventure. When she asks if they are "gonna get past this" — meaning their current relationship woes — he doesn't quite give a straight answer.

Leaphorn emerges and explains how he was attacked and had his gun taken by "white guys." He describes them to Chee, thinking they may have been FBI agents. Chee has a hunch as to who they might be.

Elsewhere, Billie and her new friend are in a motel, eating fried chicken. (Like, two giant boxes of fried chicken.) Turns out this young woman — and if we heard her name, I missed it — is a recent girlfriend of Leroy's. She says that they need to find him "before the German lady does."

Special Agent Toby Shaw (Luke Barnett) reunites with Chee (Kiowa Gordon) on 'Dark Winds'.

Michael Moriatis/AMC

Chee heads to the FBI offices and hugs an old chum named Shaw (Luke Barnett). It's one of the guys that beat the snot out of Leaphorn (he apologizes) and says that this is a big case, and everyone is on edge.

"What's a few cracked ribs between friends?" Joe asks before getting his gun back.

The FBI guys explain that McNair (who we met in the last episode, played by Titus Welliver) is an import-export guy, and two months ago they arrested him for illegal activity. (They are intentionally vague.) The case is headed to trial soon, but, unfortunately, a lot of the witnesses keep disappearing.

Leaphorn lets them know that if they have their hopes pinned to Albert Gorman, well, unfortunately, he was killed three days ago. (They were unaware, and they don't look too happy about it.) Chee urges the FBI to pool their info to help them find Billie.

"She's going to die if we don't find her," Manuelito says.

Still, no sale. Our NTP friends leave the meeting with the bilagáanas pretty steamed. Chee grimaces in pain from his ghost sickness wounds, and Manuelito notices. Leaphorn says Chee needs to go undercover as "Mike Garcia" again.

To the tune of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by early funk-soul group the Undisputed Truth, Chee as Garcia struts into a pawn shop, acting desperate for cash. Sonny is in there and seems happy to see him. (Though I bet he knows something is up.) Sonny says he has some work for "Mike."

They take a ride, where Sonny grills him about "that chick from the party" (meaning Bernadette). He pretends he was too messed up to remember any girl. Sonny then makes a homophobic remark, before asking more about "Mike's" background.

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Back at the motel, Agent Shaw shows up, and says he wants to talk to Leaphorn and Manuelito about "the German in the green van.”" They get in his car and he explains that a previous agent on this case was just found dead in his garage with the car still running. (The dude that Irene killed last episode was an FBI agent? Whoa!) The official story is that he was a drunk who fell apart because he couldn't crack this case, but Shaw doesn't buy it. What's more, a neighbor saw a green van. (Note to self: If you are an assassin dodging the FBI, maybe get more than one vehicle?) Anyway, Shaw wants to join forces with the NTP.

Cut to Irene at the Indian Center. When she asks the old battle-axe behind the desk if she's seen Billie, the woman says to check with "the Navajo Police" because "they were here yesterday." Arrrgh! This woman sucks! Totally blowing our guys' spot here!

Irene makes an evil smile and heads out as the music swells.

Sonny (Chaske Spencer) on 'Dark Winds'.

Michael Moriatis/AMC

Soon thereafter, Sonny and "Mike" head to some dude's dump of an apartment. He's got weapons, cash, fast food wrappers, stacks of newspaper, and other stuff all over the place. The new guy hands over a slip of paper and Sonny is stirred by what's written on it.

As they exit, an older Indian woman sees Chee and starts speaking Diné saying she knows him… and remembers what he and his mother did. Chee is disturbed.

At Leroy's gal pal's apartment, Billie starts looking through a shoebox of photos. She sees someone who she thinks is her mother, whom, she was told, died right after she was born. A very emotional finding for young Billie.

Shaw then takes Leaphorn and Manuelito to the dead agent's house. They see Irene's spray paint on the wall — "The Truth Dies With Me" — but Shaw says he doesn't know what it signifies. (I don't really buy that, but we'll find out, I guess.) They all start detective-ing really hard, opening drawers and looking for clues. Manuelito finds a matchbook from the Trading Post on the Diné rez. Leaphorn heads outside and finds a little twist off thingie just like he found on the rez when following Irene. He's pretty convinced they have a match.

And then guess what? Irene is perched not far away, watching them through binoculars. (She loves to do this!)

Irene Vaggan (Franka Potente) and her trusty binoculars on 'Dark Winds'.

Michael Moriatis/AMC

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Chee and Sonny then head into a strip club called the Pink Carousel (as Isaac Hayes' "Do Your Thing" plays). Sonny heads to the back, leaving Chee to the wolves (e.g. a woman trying to hustle him for a dance). He and the gal have a conversation, which inadvertently gets him to realize how much he's taking Bernadette for granted.

Suddenly, there's a shout from the back! Sonny races out and says, "We need to go now."

Then, a guy in sunglasses staggers out and shoots at them. Sonny is nicked in the arm, but they escape, bullets shattering the rear window of the car.

They get back to Sonny's place and Chee's nose starts bleeding as he goes to find first aid. (Sonny is hit harder than he realizes, but he refuses to see a doctor.) Chee stitches Sonny up. He bellows in pain, but is appreciative. When Sonny eventually passes out, Chee starts doing some snooping around. He finds an address book, then calls to leave a message for Leaphorn at the motel. He thinks he's found Leroy.

Chee heads to the place where Billie and her new pal have been hanging out. He enters and starts looking around, but then is hit with the ghost sickness! His skin looks all messed up and he's hunched over in pain, hearing noises. He heads to the back where he sees someone under a blanket, breathing heavily. It's a flashback to some traumatic event — in fact, we saw images of this in the death hogan. This has something to do with his mother, and when he first came to L.A. as a teen. As he reaches out to the body, suddenly he's snapped out of it.

Sonny (who's apparently all better now?) points a gun in Chee's face and asks, "Who the f--- are you!?!?”

- Is Chee going to somehow get Sonny back on his side, or is he going to end up captured by his criminal gang?

- Is Irene going to ambush Leaphorn, Manuelito, and Shaw, or just follow them around all day?

- Is this Leroy fella ever going to turn up?

- Will Udo Kier make another appearance? I'd like to see Manuelito get into a fight with him, wouldn't you? There are three more episodes left in this season of *Dark Winds*. Anything can happen.

New episodes of *Dark Winds* air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.

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Source: “EW TV”