While Dark Winds season 2’s ending was knotty and complicated, the bleak thriller series eventually shed some light on the conspiracy behind the explosion that killed Joe Leaphorn’s son years earlier. Based on the Leaphorn and Chee novels by author Tony Hillerman, Dark Winds is a neo-noir show that focuses on two Navajo police officers. The older Joe Leaphorn lost his son years before the series began, while the younger Jim Chee started as an undercover FBI agent working as Leaphorn’s deputy in the tribal police. Dark Winds season 2 adapted Hillerman’s 1980 novel People of Darkness.

Set in Navajo Country during the 1970s, Dark Winds season 2 tells the story of the men behind the death of Joe’s son. The time period that Dark Winds took place in meant its antiheroes couldn't rely on modern technology in their investigations, resulting in a grittier, more grounded police procedural. Leaphorn spent much of season 2 following the trail of Colton Wolf, a bomber who killed the terminal cancer patient Emerson outside a hospital. The bombing was made to look like an accidental gas pipeline leak, which caught Joe’s attention since his son died in a similar "accidental" explosion.

Did Joe Leaphorn Kill Vines In Dark Winds Season 2?

Joe Left Vines To Die

Although Colton Wolf was the one who bombed the hospital and killed Emerson, he wasn’t the true villain of Dark Winds season 2. The bomb-making assassin was following orders from a wealthy benefactor who remained unnamed until the final episodes. Eventually, this shadowy figure was revealed to be local businessman BJ Vines, who owned the drilling site where Joe’s son died years earlier. Vines had engineered all the season’s events to enrich himself, including the explosion that killed Joe’s son. However, since Wolf committed all the crimes involved, it was impossible to pin this on Vines.

This was a dark mirror of the way that Vines ordered Colton to bomb his drilling site, leading to the death of Joe’s son.

In Dark Winds season 2’s ending, Joe realizes that “White Justice” would let Vines go free thanks to his wealth and connections. Upon discovering that the rich oil baron was released on bail despite his crimes, Joe kidnapped Vines, took him to the wilderness, and drove off. Vines froze to death in the night, but Joe didn’t technically kill him. This was a dark mirror of the way that Vines ordered Colton to bomb his drilling site, leading to the death of Joe’s son. Although Vines couldn’t be charged with murder, Joe got justice outside the biased, corrupt legal system.

Dark Winds Season 2's Colton Mother Twist Explained

Colton's Search For His Mother Ended

Throughout Dark Winds season 2, Colton Wolf hired numerous private investigators to locate his estranged mother and killed each of them when they failed. As such, it was a big surprise when the finale revealed that Colton himself killed his mother when he was still just a child, shortly after she murdered his father and older sister.

Since his last words were his mother’s name, it is safe to assume that the unhinged Colton didn’t realize he had murdered his mother in self-defense and, as such, was seeking her out in a doomed attempt to fix his life of crime and return to some semblance of childhood innocence. Blocking out traumatic events is a psychological coping mechanism, so it's not hard to rationalize that.

BJ Vines Hired Colton Wolf In Dark Winds

The Audience Didn't See This Twist Coming

In a twist ending that is hard to recover from, Dark Winds season 2’s finale revealed that Wolf wasn’t acting alone or motivated by madness. Instead, it was the aforementioned BJ Vines who had hired him to bomb the drilling site, assassinate the dying Emerson, and later kill Emerson’s son.

As the drilling site's owner, Vines discovered that there was untapped uranium beneath the location and paid Colton to bomb it so that its value would decrease, and he could purchase the place for a steal. In the process, Vines indirectly killed numerous workers, including Joe’s son. When Emerson felt guilty about this, Vines re-hired Colton to kill him.

Why Did Colton Kill Emerson And His Sons?

He Was Hired To Kill Them

Emerson used to work with Vines. Upon receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, he decided to come clean about the bombing. His son stole a lock box containing the geographical survey that revealed the site’s uranium, so Vines hired Colton to assassinate them both. Colton succeeded in killing Emerson and one of his sons, but kept the lockbox containing the survey.

This lock box also contained a belt buckle owned by Joe’s son and, when Joe caught up with Colton, he pieced together the connection between the bombings. In an ending worthy of the best Western movies, Vines confronted Colton before Leaphorn confronted Vines.

Why Vines Killed Colton Wolf (Not Joe)

Vines Had To Tie Up Loose Ends

For much of Dark Winds season 2, it seemed as if Leaphorn would inevitably end up killing Colton. However, Colton was instead shot dead by BJ Vines to tie up loose ends. In a particularly cruel twist, Vines handed the criminal enough money to start a new life before sending him on his way, thus lulling Colton into a false sense of security.

Vines had seemingly assured his success, with the only living link between himself and the bombings now dead.

Once Colton’s back was turned, Vines shot him dead. This was the moment when Colton, as he lay dying, uttered the name of his mother. Vines had seemingly assured his success, with the only living link between himself and the bombings now dead.

The Meaning Behind Joe Turning The Belt Buckle Into A Feather

It's A Symbol Of Acceptance

While Leaphorn knew that the law wouldn’t help him, he could still take down Vines on his own. Thus, Leaphorn kidnapped the oil magnate and left him for dead, ensuring that justice was served. This indirectly led Bernadette Manuelito to leave the tribal police and pursue a career in the Border Patrol as she assumed Vines skipped town and therefore evaded justice. While Leaphorn didn’t tell Manuelito about the villain’s real fate, he did leave her with a parting gift. This gift of a metal feather was of major symbolic importance to both characters.

Joe was finally at peace with his son’s death and able to move on.

Joe melted his late son’s belt buckle and fashioned it into a metal feather as a present for Bernadette. This signified that Joe was at peace with his son’s death and able to move on, and proved that Joe saw himself as something of a father figure to the younger, more naive Bernadette. By letting go of the belt buckle after killing Vines, Joe accepted that his son wasn’t coming back. By giving the feather to Bernadette, he could still be a surrogate parent despite the trials he faced during his hard life.

How The Dark Winds Season 2 Ending Was Received

The Ending Was A Divisive One

Though Dark Winds season 2 as a whole was well received by fans and critics (it has a 100% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes), the events of the season finale itself were divisive. That is partly because they deviate from the book from which the story is inspired. There was also a feeling that having Colton killed so early in the finale was a bit of a letdown.

The consensus among fans and critics alike is that the season 2 ending of Dark Winds was a satisfying conclusion despite that. In the Reddit thread discussing the events of the finale, many fans agreed that the episode actually “felt like a series finale.” Speculation has been that because the show was in production right before the writers and actors strikes that setting the season 2 finale up as a series finale was done just in case the show couldn’t come back for a third season, but Dark Winds was renewed for a third season, as well as a fourth.

For some fans, whether Vines could potentially survive his time in the desert was a question that lingered following the ending of season two, heading into season three. According to executive producer Chris Eyre, the decision to leave Vines in the desert alive was not originally in the script (via TV Line). Instead, the idea was for him to be shot dead. Actor Zahn McClarnon is the one who pressed for his character to leave Vines to the elements. He explained:

Zahn was so brilliant in saying, ‘Well, Leaphorn wouldn’t do that.’ He couldn’t pull the trigger. So, Zahn saved us from ourselves, or at least he saved me from me. It was written that Leaphorn took vengeance, but he is the moral com of the story — the uncle, father, grandfather that you want, and it was so right that he didn’t go for it.

How The End Of Dark Winds Season 2 Sets Up Season 3

The Fallout Of Leaphorn's Decision & Bernadette's New Story

Dark Winds season 3 picks up six months after the ending of season 2, with Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee investigating the disappearance of two young boys with virtually no evidence to help them. Given where Joe Leaphorn's story left off, it seems likely that season 3 will explore the possible fallout of his decision to leave Vines in the desert to die, even if it was a cathartic act concerning his son's death, whose death continues to be explored in season 3.

Alongside the moral wrestling that Leaphorn will have to contend with, Jessica Matten's Bernadette remains a focus in season 3, as Dark Winds season 2 saw the character decide to leave the Navajo Tribe Police and take a job with the U.S. Border Patrol, a significant change for the character that will have lasting ramifications for the entire series. Dark Winds season 3 premiered on March 9, 2025, and the series has already been renewed for season 4.