Dark Winds – Season 2 Episode 4 “The March” Recap & Review

The March

Episode 4 of Dark Winds begins with the first sequence from Season 2’s opener. Neither of our two bravehearts is injured in Colton’s brutal assault on his trailer. Colton is able to escape Joe and Bern for a moment with their car. But he isn’t able to get far. He escapes the car with a rifle and a radio.

Joe and Bern are in close pursuit. The backup they called for would take at least 2 hours to show up. Since Colton is well versed in the area, he would disappear into thin air if he could make it to the highway.

Joe and Bern engage Colton in a firing match, with the blonde assassin having no idea that he only has eight rounds in the rifle. When he exhausts his ammo, he runs further up the hill and to a farm. Joe and Colton are engaged in a duel but the latter is eventually cornered by Joe and Bern near the edge of a canyon. Unexpectedly, Colton jumps down to escape. And even more surprisingly, Joe leaps after him, determined to avenge his son.

We discover the next morning that Joe has badly hurt himself and broken his hand. He is still at the foot of the canyon where he jumped having spent the entire night unconscious. Sena arrives with his men and together with Bern canvasses the area.

At the hospital, Sally’s disenchantment with his newborn grows. She sits outside the doctor’s room as Emma takes the newborn for a diagnosis. Sally gets emotional when Mary, the journalist, approaches her and asks about the baby.

Meanwhile, Joe finally finds Colton and knocks him unconscious. He ties him up and also places a noose around his neck. Joe holds the other part of the rope like a leash on a dog. He has no intention of killing him but rather to take Colton to jail.

Rosemary visits Chee in his motel room. She apologizes for putting him in harm’s way and accepts that she “stuck her nose into something that wasn’t her business.” Rosemary leaves in distress without giving Chee any answers. Right after she leaves, BJ walks into his room with a gun pointed at him. He thinks Chee is having an affair with Rosemary but Chee handles it well. BJ offers Chee a PI job to follow Rosemary with an insane amount of money. He still thinks she is having an affair and Chee accepts.

Joe and Colton continue their arduous strides through the harsh terrain of the desert. The latter points out that Joe will not survive the journey due to his severe wounds. He needs immediate medical attention and Colton isn’t wrong, as we see Joe stumbling around unable to catch his footing.

In conversation, we also get an answer to one of the unresolved tangents from episode 2. Colton did indeed murder the old Dine woman who gave him food and shelter and invited him into her house. Colton keeps trying to manipulate Joe psychologically and even tries to make a move on him. But Joe gets a handle on it and chokes Colton with the rope tied around his neck. He ultimately stops short of killing him.

Sally has an argument with Emma at home. The theme around her reluctance toward motherhood is manifested in a tense and emotional scene. Sally reprimands the world around her – including Emma – for dictating life terms for her. Sally didn’t want to have the baby because of how it was conceived – in brutality and terror. She feels trapped in her new reality. Sally expresses her concern about how the baby will grow up and how much she will resent him all her life.

Meanwhile, Colton is able to free himself from Joe’s grip and escapes beyond his sight. He slides himself from the rope tying his hands. Joe follows him in close pursuit but Colton pins him down by surprising him from behind. Joe ultimately gets the upper hand back as Bern finds them. Joe could easily kill him but chooses not to, establishing the ideological differences between the two men.

In a dinner conversation between Rosemary and BJ, it is revealed that he was married to her sister before she died. He inherited the money from her and bought the house with it. BJ gives her veiled threats not to interfere with his business and she quietly nods in acquiescence. To calm things, he pulls out a gift for Rosemary – an engraved necklace (reading “Fidelis,” meaning fidelity) and puts it around her neck.

Colton is locked up in jail. Joe finally takes a breather in his chair as he wins looks of approval and astonishment from the others at the station. The episode ends with an intense stare-off contest between Joe and Colton as the clock behind them ticks away.

The Episode Review

Zack McClarnon had no dearth of fans before Dark Winds was made. But his performance this season will leave the actor with a huge fanbase. His intensity was truly unmatched in episode 4, even in an intense showdown with Nicholas Logan’s Colton Wolf. Their time together was marked by stern silence, weariness, and many attempts at one-upmanship. Although some more dialogue to characterize “the march” wouldn’t have gone amiss, in its current shape, the showdown is as exciting to watch.

The underlying social commentary about the position of vulnerable Native women in the era continued strongly. Sally’s character has been kept on the sidelines until now. But she burst into life with an important contribution in the episode. This is why Dark Winds is not just a compensatory representation offering. It is so much more than that.

The ending was quite unlike what we have seen in the show. It harkened back to the golden era of Westerns and their ineffable cinematic brilliance. Another solid chapter added to this growingly impressive second season.