Dark Winds – Season 2 Episode 5 “Black Hole Sun” Recap & Review

Black Hole Sun

Episode 5 of Dark Winds begins with a flashback. Viewers have been desperate for some context to Colton’s story and they are finally given it.

The flashback is once again stylized in Better Call Saul’s palette mix of fading colours on a black and white canvas. It features a young Colton cycling to his house only to find his father and sister Janey have been shot. The perp? His mother, who sobs inconsolably with a revolver in her hand.

In the present day, Colton has yet another stare-off with Joe, who still hasn’t gone home or to the hospital.

Sherriff Sena wants to transfer Colton to the Scarborough County jail and put him “on the chair.” They have enough evidence to make sure Colton is meted a death sentence. But Joe has a twin objective. First, he wants to find out who Colton is working for. Secondly, Joe wants answers about the Drumco well explosion that took the life of his son. Sena reluctantly gives him six hours to interrogate Colton and find any more links.

While bandaging him at the house, Emma confesses to Joe that she has been selfish ever since Sally had a newborn. Emma lost sight of others around her and sought to fill the gaping hole in her life that Joe Jr.’s death left. She promises to process the grief with Joe, who is focused on Colton’s employer for now.

Meanwhile, Bern gets good news in regards to her job application with Borders and Customs. They have accepted her application and she has the job.

Elsewhere, Chee, who is working surveillance on Rosemary, briefly visits the prison to see Colton for himself. Joe sits down with Colton to learn more about the well and his employer. But Colton is far from forthcoming. Joe and Bern bring in Deloyd Webster, the investigator Colton had hired to find his mother, Linda. Shockingly, he identifies Rosemary as Linda from a slew of photos Joe shows him. But Deloyd doubts she is his mother because she is too old. Joe asks for a “favor” from Deloyd, who then proceeds to show Colton a photo of a woman, saying she is his mother. In exchange for a meeting, Colton must cooperate with the police.

In an interesting subplot, we see Dean, the young kid who got picked up at the start of the season by Bern, being brought to the station again. He explains to Bern that he got picked up intentionally as he has been drafted for the Vietnam War. Bern asks him to fulfil his duties but Dean is more concerned about his sister and grandmother, whom he looks after, rather than a country that “won’t even recognize him as a citizen.”

Webster tells Joe that Colton was hired by someone named Carl Lebeck. Joe goes through his notes and asks Natalie to bring in Guy Attcity as soon as the eclipse is over. The eclipse happened back in 1970. Side note: The next eclipse to take place in America will be in April 2024!

During the eclipse, we focus on a conversation between Bern and Chee. The latter had come to her trailer to deliver a pack of pinon seeds as an apology gesture. She ended up inviting him in. Bern’s revelation about dating Elvis Presley while being stationed in Germany is not the highlight of their chat, surprisingly. That title is taken by Bern’s indecisiveness about taking the job.

Joe gets a call from Lebeck’s sister saying that Carl is dead. But when Guy comes in, he points towards Colton and says that he is Lebeck. Joe deduces that Colton killed Lebeck and assumed his identity to gain access to the drill site. But why did he do it? Colton quickly figures out that one of the six men killed in the well explosion was Joe’s son. He makes nasty comments to get into Joe’s head.

When Bern informs Joe that the FBI is running out of patience, he asks her to bring BJ down to the station. Chee, who has been surveilling Rosemary’s movements, follows her to a meeting of the People of Darkness led by BJ himself. He describes the eclipse as the holiest of days for the church. 

Rosemary gets up on stage and asks BJ to “heal her.” Chee finds an Indian woman taking a bag out of the hut nearby when a couple of BJ’s men confront them. Chee beats them up and runs off with the woman. Colton’s custody is signed over to Sena after no breakthrough is reached. As he walks away, he notices the metronome in the evidence box and it is revealed that Colton killed his mother that day with the same gun. 

Dean has decided to go to Vietnam and asks Bern to keep checking in on his family. She gives him her protective necklace before he leaves. The next scene is quite interesting as we see the truck leave but disappear into thin air as if to suggest that the men never came back. 

The episode ends on a predictable note as Joe gets a call about the convoy transporting Colton being involved in an accident. When he reaches the spot, a hurt Sena tells him that Colton has gotten away. 

The Episode Review

I did not like the ending of this episode. It was way too predictable and certainly diminishes the one showdown Joe and Colton had out in the wild. For once, the creators and writers should have resolved more pressing issues like Joe and Emma’s grief, Bern’s arc, or the People of Darkness. One episode will not be enough to bring out the full picture as this would have been better delivered over multiple episodes.

Joe’s obsession with Colton, while understandable, has played spoilsport to some of these other character lines. McClarnon has enough pedigree to be compelling on the screen without resorting to action or shootouts. Overall, this episode did not bring us any closer to understanding what exactly is Colton’s underlying motive, who he is, and what he wants from the Rez.

Issues like these undo all the good work we have seen over this season. It is a little disappointing to see patterns being repeated, although establishing the episode’s plot in social commentary, especially Dean’s character, was a fitting touch.