Jim Chee’s ghost sickness is only getting worse in Dark Winds season 4, and this week’s episode confronted him with a confusing ghost from his past. Dark Winds season 4, episode 5 kept the main cast of Dark Winds in Los Angeles and also saw them collaborating with the FBI. As the search for Billie Tsosie continues, Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito are getting embroiled in a massive criminal conspiracy that could be very dangerous for them.

There were a few big developments this week that don’t need much explanation. Billie, for example, saw a photo of Leroy and a woman she identified as her mother, and deduced that Leroy was probably hiding out at her house. Unfortunately for the officers of the NTP, they don’t currently know what Billie knows. They also have their own problems to attend to, especially Chee, and those problems need to be looked at a bit closer.

What Chee Saw At Leroy’s Apartment In Dark Winds Season 4, Episode 5

At the end of Dark Winds season 4, episode 5, Jim Chee had another bout of ghost sickness, but this time was the most severe so far. While he was searching through Leroy Gorman’s apartment, Chee got another bloody nose and the wound on his chest looked incredibly infected. The worst part, however, was what seemed to be a body wrapped in blankets that was wheezing.

The blankets Chee saw were actually a vision of his dead mother. As he mentioned earlier in the episode while talking with Sonny Bear Heart, Chee’s mother died of lung cancer. The body’s wheezing, coupled with the brief flashbacks to his childhood that Chee saw when he encountered the bundle of blankets, made it clear that his mother was the body under the blanket.

Clearly, Chee is still haunted by his mother’s death. The ghost sickness is forcing him to relive the traumatic memory of finding his mother dead, though the visions are only in his mind. Regardless, Chee still has a lot of emotional baggage to work through, and the only way to do that is by getting in touch with his Navajo culture spiritually. Whether he’s willing to do that or not, however, remains to be seen.

How Sonny Found Chee & Was He Really Asleep?

After Chee had his vision of his mother’s dead body, his search through Leroy Gorman’s apartment was interrupted by Sonny Bear Heart. Chee had found the location of Gorman’s apartment by going through Sonny’s files after he fell asleep, as he was drunk from having his bullet wound tended to. The only way Sonny could know that Chee was at Gorman’s apartment was if he was faking being asleep and had seen Chee go through his files.

Chee probably aroused Sonny’s suspicions when the Navajo woman recognized him. As Sonny said, that woman had never spoken to him any other time he’d been at the apartment complex. Once he had that suspicion that a woman in Los Angeles knew Chee, his entire cover story probably started to fall apart. Chee had been posing as Mike, a man from Arizona, so the fact that a Navajo woman recognized him implies that he was lying about his backstory.

Sonny was honestly very competent in that moment, and it’s a surprise that he was able to get the drop on Chee. Chee’s ghost sickness certainly didn’t help, but he’s now in a very delicate situation. Luckily, before Chee left, he gave a message to Leaphorn to have him meet at Gorman’s apartment. Thus, Leaphorn and Bernadette will likely be coming to Chee’s rescue in Dark Winds season 4, episode 6.

Leaphorn Discovered That Irene Killed An FBI Agent

This week’s episode also revisited the man Irene killed in Dark Winds season 4, episode 4. At the start of that episode, Irene broke into a man’s house and killed him, then staged the death as a suicide. We learned this week that Irene’s victim was Ken Upchurch, an FBI agent who was the chief investigator on Dominic McNair’s case. Obviously, Irene killed him to sabotage the FBI’s investigation into her employer.

After learning that Irene’s green van was spotted outside Upchurch’s house, Leaphorn managed to piece together that Upchurch hadn’t died by suicide. He found a piece of tin used to open German food rations and connected it to Irene. That discovery ingratiated Leaphorn and Bernadette to the FBI, which should help them get support in finding Billie Tsosie, but Irene also saw that Leaphorn hadn’t left his investigation alone despite her threats.

Titus Welliver’s Dominic McNair In Dark Winds Season 4 Explained

Michael Moriatis/AMC

Titus Welliver joined the cast of Dark Winds season 4, and this week’s episode finally revealed the true extent of his character. As we learned from the FBI, Welliver is playing Dominic McNair, a businessman who does imports and exports. His company, McNair Factoring, runs out of San Pedro, Los Angeles, and is being investigated by the FBI for unspecified illegal activity. It’s safe to assume McNair is trafficking something, likely drugs, across the border.

We also learned why Irene is in McNair’s employ. The FBI arrested McNair for something, but the prosecuting attorney on the case no longer believes they can charge him because the witnesses the case relied on are going missing or withdrawing their testimonies. Clearly, McNair hired Irene to kill or intimidate all the witnesses testifying against him. That also means Leroy Gorman ties into McNair’s ongoing case in some way.

For now, that’s all we know about Dominic McNair. He’s clearly a powerful man with a serious lack of moral scruples, and he’s willing to kill anyone who gets in his way via Irene. McNair is a dangerous enemy who seems very reminiscent of the ultra-wealthy characters BJ Vines and Tom Spenser from previous seasons of Dark Winds. Leaphorn, Chee, and Manuelito will have to be very careful not to anger him too much.

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’