‘Dark Winds’ Recap: ‘Hooghandi’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Dark Winds’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Manifest Destiny. Those are a pair of words that we are taught in school to be the driving force of the American Dream. For they guided our forefathers to create a nation that was destined to be great and that in turn influenced the pioneers and the soldiers of the burgeoning United States Army to fight with every ounce of gusto to claim this land from sea to shining sea in the name of the red, white, and blue. For the United States of America was always meant to be and there was no cost too high in bringing this nation to life, and well… this is a lesson that becomes quite sour once we reach adulthood and really ponder upon what it took to form this country. 
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For in order to bring the good ol’ Stars and Stripes to life, so many had to die. For the Native Americans that called this land home, first, were slaughtered in a wanton manner and left to their own devices before simply being handed slivers of land as part of an apology for the force in which their way of life was ruined. Not to mention, recent wars and other shocking events in modern American history have taught us that such imperialism can backfire and force people to militarize and fight against us because of our might and desire to bend others to their will and oddly enough, that particular aspect of ‘Manifest Destiny’ is top of mind today, simply because it was explored in a fascinating manner during last night’s episode of Dark Winds.

For ‘Hooghandi’ is a story that took the time to explore how and why Father Benjamin Tso became involved with the gang that adopted violence and thievery as its modus operandi and as it turned out… it was because he simply had enough. For he was wounded in seeing the Navajo people suffer under the thumb of the American Government, and how they were only important when deemed necessary. Which in turn, motivated him to gather up a gang and coin themselves to be the ‘Buffalo Society’. A group of militants that would do whatever they had to in order to fight back against imperialism and retake the land that was robbed from them. And one step in that process, was the robbery, so they could use that money to scoop up land that outsiders were trying to buy, putting the reservation on a path toward independence.

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But of course, as is oft the problem with revolutionaries and radicalized concepts, things went horribly wrong and the wanton murder that Benjamin was concerned with, be it outsiders or people in the community… is what made any nobility behind this idea a joke. For killing is killing, and it doesn’t matter what ideal one puts it behind, it’s still wrong. Which is why Joe and Jim worked overtime in this tale to expose the truth about who was behind this mess, so they could finally bring someone to justice for the robbery and the murders on the reservation and well, it turned out that when their powers are combined, this pair are quite the incredible investigative duo. Since they caught Benjamin in a series of lies, the kind that exposed him to not only NOT be a man of cloth, but to be someone else entirely.
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For it turned out that Benjamin Tso wasn’t the person in religious garb on the reservation, it was instead Benjamin’s twin brother James that Joe and Jim were dealing with, and he was quite dangerous. For he had dark plans in place in the event he was discovered, such as killing anyone that got in his way, and that included Joe and Jim and that led to a powerful finale. Wherein gunfire was traded, and lives were put on the line and had it not been for Bernadette checking out another lead on the graveyard that was now growing in the Tso’s family lake, Jim might have been another statistic. But thankfully, she saved the day and helped to arrest James’ henchman, leading to… an ending.

Because this firefight exposed the truth about Jim Chee and his desire to make the collar federal, led to bad blood between he and Joe, leaving this victory in a sour place, and this case might end as such matters often do for Indigenous Americans… with ignorance regarding the fallen. But while we wait to see if Anna and Hosteen will find justice, we can bask in the wonder of a brilliant tale. For this was bold and dynamic and truly put American Imperialism on display in a digestible and fascinating manner and most important of all, it set the stage for so much. For dark clouds and dark winds are gathering on the horizon since outsiders want a piece of the land and a cancer within is tearing the place apart… and it is going to take some monumental work on Joe’s part to keep the peace during this precarious and troubling time. Until next time.   

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