Emma Leaphorn’s resistance to her husband, Joe Leaphorn, retiring in Dark Winds isn’t just about finances or routine — it’s rooted in the complicated history of their marriage and the grief that reshaped both of their lives.

Emma [ Deanna Allison], plays the wife of Joe, a Navajo Tribal Police lieutenant, played by Zahn McClarnon, in the AMC series, set in the 1970s American Southwest, which follows both Joe and fellow officer, Jim Chee, as they investigate a series of violent crimes on the reservation.

While she has long been portrayed as a compassionate healer and a deeply spiritual presence in the community, often serving as a moral counterbalance to Joe’s increasingly burdened worldview, Emma’s relationship with Joe has suffered, especially after the death of their son, Joe Jr., and Leaphorn’s insistence on making the man he believes responsible, pay for J.J.’s death. And though their relationship is layered, Emma understands better than anyone that Joe’s work isn’t just a job for him, it’s the one thing that keeps his grief and anger from consuming him.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Tatiana Hullender, Allison spoke about Emma’s reluctance to see Joe retire, and what that means for him, and their relationship moving forward.

Why Emma Doesn’t Want Joe To Retire And What She Sees For The Future Of Their Relationship

While the show does differ from the Tony Hillerman novels it is based on, Allison said she looked back to the “the old Emma in the books,” to get a better grasp on their relationship, and remember the love Joe has for Emma in “his heart.”

Deanna Allison: Well, Emma’s never said she ever wanted him to retire, ever. In all the seasons, she’s always supported him for doing exactly the work he does, because he’s a Navajo Nation cop… She always appreciated the work that he does, because she’s a nurse herself. As we know, those are very needed in the Navajo community, still to this day — same with Navajo Nation cops — but it’s a big service to our community of the Navajo Nation, which is the size of West Virginia. So just like anything, we need good leaders, we need good people on the floor for us. And she knows her husband’s top-notch. She knows he’s fierce. She knows that he has all the flair. She knows, that’s why she married him. So, I think it’s just him, and probably what he figures out about how he needs to spend his time.

Allison doesn’t believe it’s time for Emma to retire either, telling ScreenRant that for a Navajo woman, “there’s always work to be done.”

Deanna Allison: You never retire. And even as an artist, there’s no retirement. That’s kind of how a Navajo woman is. There is no retirement, because even into old age, we appreciate it. Everyone else is like, “Oh gosh, I’m getting old.” We call that enlightenment. You’re only looking forward, and you’re hoping you’re doing the work to get there.

Touching back on Joe’s retirement, Allison reiterated that Emma “never, never, ever” told her husband he had to retire, but rather thinks it’s something he’s “always been contemplating himself.” And though her support for him has been unwavering, her trust in him was fractured after he went after BJ Vines for his supposed role in the mining accident that left their son dead, forcing her to lie to the FBI to protect him.

Deanna Allison: She’s always supported him for exactly who he was, until he murdered [BJ] and made her lie. And then [J.J.] got murdered. There were a lot of traumatic things that were constantly — I think in their later years — that were being thrown at them, that really kind of transitioned this idea of retirement.

While Allison said she believes Emma supports Leaphorn, “100% in whatever he wants to do,” she also sees his potential, and wants him to do what makes him happy, just “like anybody else who wants the best for anybody that they love and care for deeply.”

Allison also spoke about the pair’s separation — and their season 4 reunion — in terms of what it means for their relationship moving forward. While she believes Leaphorn misses his wife, she reminded viewers that she also made the choice to leave and go to work in Los Angeles.

Deanna Allison: I think he does miss her. And clearly, like you said, grabbing the hands, and she’s just like, “Oh.” She’s kind of like, “Wow, okay.” Because she did make that choice to leave though too, which is a very bold choice, especially for a woman who loves deeply and cares so deeply. But when I look at where Emma is emotionally, she has to protect her energy because she still has to keep working, and living, and surviving, and paying her bills, and all of those things. So that’s where I take it for Emma emotionally, really.

What Emma’s L.A. Move Means For Her On The Show

A respected nurse and caregiver in their community, Emma moves to L.A. amid her separation from Joe, where she not only discovers a different side to her, but opens up new possibilities she hadn’t imagined in both her career and personal life. And while she briefly reunited with Joe, there’s also no guarantee that Emma is going to leave L.A., especially now that she’s found fulfillment in her work there, leaving their future, and Emma’s, slightly uncertain.

ScreenRant: Did you have any headcanons for yourself, or did you talk with Joe Worth at all about what Emma has been up to, aside from working in the hospital?

Deanna Allison: No, that’s one nice thing: once we get our information, it’s up to us how we want to create, mold, and build these internal backstories and energy. But of course, when I got the script, I just took it and started relating it to how I could connect with Emma through this situation.

ScreenRant: Is there any book that you’re most excited to see adapted, or any other aspect that you want to bring out of this story as Emma?

Deanna Allison: The Ghost Way — I really like where we’re going with this, being in L.A. I really find that Emma found a different side of her. Clearly, she’s college-educated. They’re both college-educated, but she’s one of the Navajo women who went off, got college-educated, and also came back to the res, her and Leaphorn. But then, she went away and returned to this world that’s progressing so fast, which is the world we live in now. I feel like something opened up about her, that she opened up a new crack into a river she didn’t know was possible. So I like that part of Ghost Way, where they placed her in L.A. I really like that.

ScreenRant: Assuming you stay in L.A., I hope we’ll still be seeing you in future seasons in L.A.

Deanna Allison: Yeah, whatever it might be. I just really love all the Hillerman books, and they’ve done such a great job adapting Emma, because a lot of these characters appear in different books. But with this adaptation, as we make it into a television series, we’re really exploring the complexity of the loss of their child, which I feel was a major breaking point in their marriage, pulling them apart, especially with Joe Leaphorn, emotionally. So that’s part of the adaptation that I feel we’re really trying to explore.

Check out more of our Dark Winds coverage here:

Release Date

June 12, 2022

Showrunner

John Wirth, Vince Calandra

Directors

Michael Nankin

Writers

John Wirth, Steven Judd, Max Hurwitz, Rhiana Yazzie, Thomas Brady, DezBaa’