Joe Leaphorn fights his toughest battle in Dark Winds exclusive clip

Strap in for the AMC show's finest and most grim outing yet, airing on April 13.

By Saloni Gajjar | April 11, 2025 | 10:00am

Dark Winds (Photo: Michael Moriartis/AMC)

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Joe Leaphorn fights his toughest battle in Dark Winds exclusive clip

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Dark Winds has been firing on all cylinders in its third season so far. Each episode has thrust detective Joe Leaphorn (ace performer Zahn McClarnon) further into despair. He’s still being haunted by the crime he committed at the end of season two: Killing the man responsible for his son’s death. We also mean haunted in the literal sense because Joe, unable to sleep lest he get nightmares, keeps seeing visions of the monster Ye’iitsoh, a powerful and bloodthirsty figure in the Navajo culture. He suffers this while also digging into the case of a missing teen and a drug smuggling ring, and avoiding the FBI agent (Jenna Elfman) who is onto him. Not to mention that Joe’s wife, Emma (Deanna Allison), has been distant ever since he confessed his crime to her.

Yeah, Dark Winds is not sparing Joe from any pain this time. As seen in The A.V. Club‘s exclusive clip (below) from the upcoming sixth episode, though, the man is now forced to deal with his troubles head-on. The hour seems to pick up after episode five’s cliffhanger, in which Joe was stranded in the desert at night after finding the missing George Bowlegs (Bodhi Linton). However, another vision of Ye’iitsoh stopped him in his tracks. As he braces to fight the monster—whether human or not—Joe has various visions in episode six. In the clip below, he wakes up in his precinct, only for the bullpen to turn into a mini-church.

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Joe then comes face-to-face with a priest, played by Robert Knepper, and is surprised to see him alive. “You’re dead,” Joe claims in wonder. It’s true because the pastor then shows him a newspaper clipping and photo of his dead body, telling Joe he can only get out of this hallucination, or whatever it may be, once Joe can solve the priest’s murder. Damn, even in a non-lucid state, Dark Winds is making sure detective Leaphorn is on the case.

The sixth episode, titled “Ábidoo’niidęę (What He Had Been Told),” lets McClarnon have center stage as his character finally faces his demons. In the process, Dark Winds delivers one of its more emotionally devastating 45 minutes, so brace yourselves for revelations about Joe’s dark past and memories. Erica Tremblay directs the episode, with Max Hurwitz and Billy Luther as co-writers. Created by Graham Roland, the cast also includes Kiowa Gordon, Jessica Matten, Bruce Greenwood, Christopher Heyerdahl, Casimere Jollette, and Raoul Max Trujillo.

“Ábidoo’niidęę (What He Had Been Told)” will stream on AMC+ at 3:01 a.m. ET and air on AMC at 9 p.m. on April 13. Season three’s finale is set for April 27, and the show has been renewed for season four.