S03.E01: Ye'iitsoh (Big Monster)

[AnimeMania]

Leaphorn and Chee search for a missing boy; Manuelito makes a sinister discovery on the border.

Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sgt. Jim Chee investigate the disappearance of a Navajo boy. Manuelito makes a sinister discovery while adjusting to life on the border patrol. An FBI agent comes to solve a case linked to Leaphorn's recent past.

Premiere Date: March 9, 2025    AMC/AMC+    9pm   

[nachomama]

Haven't watched it yet but I'm excited!

[Zaffy]

Not quite sure yet what are they setting as this season's arc(s), but I really like this show, the acting, the directing, the mood. Welcome back Dark Winds!

[possibilities]

It seems to me that they are setting up the fallout from Leaphorn's dispatch of last season's villain as his main story.

Manuelita's time with ICE seems to be her story. Was it still called INS back then? What year are we in? Maybe they are just calling it "Border Control". I figure she eventually comes back home because she left for reasons that Border Control will never satisfy.

Not sure what Chee's story will be. He was mostly just leaning back in his sunglasses and being at Leaphorn's side so far, though that tidbit from his childhood gave him a juicy moment. 

I hope Emma gets something to do besides be Leaphorn's wife. 

Oh... and the guy whose name I don't remember, who went into the tunnel with Leaphorn and said he was only coming out of retirement temporarily-- that seemed to me to imply that they need someone to fill his role, so whoever that is will probably be a bit of an arc. 

And of course, the issue of what happened to the missing kid, and dealing with the corpse-with-arrowhead-in-the-mouth will be a crime they are investigating in the present.

It seems like they are going to do more internal focus than in the past-- what's happening psychologically and spiritually for Leaphorn, at least-- instead of only doing the external, mundane events. Should be interesting.

It is a relief to have this show back. It made it really clear just how bad some of the other shows that are airing really are, by contrast. 

Edited March 11 by possibilities

[Rickster]

Personally, I was tickled by the Redford/Martin cameos.

[Ms Lark]

Theoretically it's 1970-71ish. Sexism and harassment plus racism and everything else were still all the rage back then.  Just seems modern given the current turn...well, nevermind.

I have a feeling Leaphorn will come out ok in the end. 🤞🏻 I think the arrowhead is the missing link the anthropologist is looking for.

I love this series. I'm even putting up with Jenna Elfman (usually a deal-breaker for me) because she just don't count here. Maybe they'll kill her off.

Edited March 11 by Ms Lark

[Zaffy]

9 hours ago, Rickster said:

Personally, I was tickled by the Redford/Martin cameos.

Omg it was Redford!!! I wasn't sure!

[abbyzenn]

This show takes place in the 70's - so it's the Border Patrol which was part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.  Border Patrol works the land borders between Ports of Entry (where you legally enter the US). At the time of this show, at the Ports of Entry there were Customs Officers (who were concerned with what you were bringing in) and Immigration Officers (who were concerned with whether you were eligible to come into the US).  So while at airports you went through both Immigration (first) and then Customs at the land Ports of Entry the booths were manned by either an Immigration or Customs officer who did both functions.  Since Border Patrol works between Ports of Entry they're dealing with people avoiding legally entering the US.   When Border Patrol Officers went to school they had to learn Spanish (even if not working the southern border).  Yes I am retired from Customs and Border Protection but when I began working there it was just the US Customs Service.

To get back to the show.  I found this a bit hard to follow at times - separating the dreams/mysticisms and sometimes the screen is so dark.   Chee was pretty much a jerk this episode.    I also can't remember what happened to BJ Vines.  But the show does hold my interest.  It will be interesting to see how they connect Manuelita's story with Leaphorn/Chee.

[nachomama]

I don't really think Leaphorn had to hide what he did, essentially self defense or case could be made for self defense. But it was the early 1970's and if Hines was as well connected as they say nobody gonna believe Leaphorn. Legal? no. Absolutely the right thing to do? bingo

so the dead guy in the tunnel is neither the missing boy nor the professor dig man, right?

[Nashville]

3 hours ago, Zaffy said:

Omg it was Redford!!! I wasn't sure!

Yup, and the “George” Redford is playing chess with is George R. R. Martin - writer of the Game Of Thrones books, and (along with Redford) one of the show’s executive producers.

Edited March 11 by Nashville
Clarification

[possibilities]

I recognized Redford, but not Martin. On some shows, a big guest star is the plot's most pivotal person. But on this show, I could believe they show up just because they want to be seen with the show.

[KittyQ]

13 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

I also can't remember what happened to BJ Vines.

My recollection is that Leaphorn made him leave his house in his pajamas (with robe and slippers) and took him to a remote area and left him there. I think it was winter (or near winter) and the end of the show seemed to indicate that he froze to death out there. Apparently no one found his body (maybe not too surprising in that area), and there's no mention of his wife, who seemed very sketchy too, if I remember correctly. But maybe she just collected their joint cash and skedaddled.

[Nashville]

4 hours ago, KittyQ said:

My recollection is that Leaphorn made him leave his house in his pajamas (with robe and slippers) and took him to a remote area and left him there. I think it was winter (or near winter) and the end of the show seemed to indicate that he froze to death out there. Apparently no one found his body (maybe not too surprising in that area), and there's no mention of his wife, who seemed very sketchy too, if I remember correctly. But maybe she just collected their joint cash and skedaddled.

Pretty accurate RE Vines.  One of the recurring themes throughout the season was Vines’s affinity for casual cultural appropriation from the American Indian tribes in the region (Navajo, Hopi, Apache, etc., all equally) and jumbling them up into a confused white man mishmash of different customs and beliefs - so I had absolutely zero problem with Joe giving Vines a little taste of some real cultural pain like the Long Walk.

And to be clear: Joe did NOT kill Vines; Joe sent Vines out into the desert and let it decide what to do with him.

[cardigirl]

Did no one check to make sure Jenna Elfman's character is really FBI?  

Sometimes the gaps left in storytelling in this show disappoint me. I love the atmosphere, the actors, but this episode was suspenseful music going on for ages to get a couple of jump scares out of me. Once or twice is good.

I liked Joe's way with the younger brother of one of the missing boys, talking to him about ant farms and his own son. That's the part of this show I love.

I get confused easily. At the beginning of the show, Joe's wife is doing his hair for him and he's cooking breakfast while they get ready to head to work, and then, same day I think, she asks him what's going on, he's been off lately. Huh?  When did they show that? I saw a man watching a hummingbird outside his window while his wife slept next to him. It seemed peaceful.

For all my complaints, I'll watch the show. I love the scenery, the characters, and I hope the storytelling is more connected this season.

[KittyQ]

16 hours ago, Nashville said:

And to be clear: Joe did NOT kill Vines; Joe sent Vines out into the desert and let it decide what to do with him.

I think that Joe figured that was a loophole, but sometime later, he's feeling responsible - more of a sin of omission than one of commission. He knows that if he hadn't taken Vines out to the desert, Vines would still be alive, because he had no means of keeping warm or finding shelter. Vines was a bad guy, and willing to use people for his own ends, and covering up why Joe's son died, but this was extrajudicial action on Joe's part.

[possibilities]

It said explicitly in the voice over that Leaphorn knows he killed Vines. "When you kill a man, his spirit stays with you forever". My take is that it was worth it to him, and it's difficult, but he knew what he was getting into and he's just living with the consequences. He doesn't want prison. He can live with the haunting, but he doesn't want white "justice". 

[rina9294]

On 3/10/2025 at 9:47 PM, Rickster said:

Personally, I was tickled by the Redford/Martin cameos.

I laughed at Redford telling Martin 'just finish it'. Talk about meta!

[Nashville]

6 hours ago, rina9294 said:

I laughed at Redford telling Martin 'just finish it'. Talk about meta!

SO glad someone else besides me caught that.  🤣🤣🤣

[Dowel Jones]

Nothing says clueless quite like driving up to a building with big letters that say Police Station and asking, "Where's the police station?"  My guess is that she will be the obligatory cultural foil for Leaphorn and Chee.

Manuelita's has that sixth sense about the women being trafficked, but to be honest, it could just as easily have been a smuggler who bailed as soon as she started chasing them and then drove off in the van.  What puzzles me is that she had a pistol on her.  Rather uncommon, I think, for a couple of poor migrants.

[Nashville]

23 hours ago, KittyQ said:

I think that Joe figured that was a loophole, but sometime later, he's feeling responsible - more of a sin of omission than one of commission. He knows that if he hadn't taken Vines out to the desert, Vines would still be alive, because he had no means of keeping warm or finding shelter. Vines was a bad guy, and willing to use people for his own ends, and covering up why Joe's son died, but this was extrajudicial action on Joe's part.

 

19 hours ago, possibilities said:

It said explicitly in the voice over that Leaphorn knows he killed Vines. "When you kill a man, his spirit stays with you forever". My take is that it was worth it to him, and it's difficult, but he knew what he was getting into and he's just living with the consequences. He doesn't want prison. He can live with the haunting, but he doesn't want white "justice". 

I think what we’re seeing here is Joe being used by the writers as a vehicle to demonstrate the cultural dissonance between the respective cultures of the Navajo and the whites.

The Dine’s creation story and associated ethos is (unsurprisingly) deeply rooted in nature, and giving Burns over to the wind spirits and other entities inhabiting the desert night for their judgment would not be out of place; if the desert deemed Vines innocent of his crimes then nothing would hurt him - not too much, anyway - but by the same token, nothing would save him if deemed guilty.  Either verdict, though, would be judgment by the land - not by Leaphorn, who would simply have delivered Vines to the opportunity for judgment.

Thing is though, Joe’s personal ethical framework is no longer purely Navajo; between his education in white college and subsequent employment enforcing white man’s law on the reservation, a significant portion of Joe's life has been - and is now - subsumed in white culture and white law, both of which would consider Joe’s dealings with Vines to step over the line of legality into the realm of manslaughter at least.

I’m really hoping TPTB use this as an opportunity for some REAL examination and comparison of the two worlds, as well as illustration of the difficulty in reconciling the two - but on the other hand, past experience has taught me the fraught peril intrinsically associated with that “hope” word.  😐

The only thing substantially bothering me, however, are the “upcoming” teaser trailers which seem to suggest Joe’s wife Emma is having a substantial issue with Joe’s actions; her reactions in the trailers seem radically out of character for Emma, both culturally and personally.

Edited March 13 by Nashville
Typo

[Ms Lark]

Little something I remembered from growing up  in the area a million years ago: Border Patrol were called "smokies" due to the "Smokey Bear" hats they wore. Probably still do.