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Joe and Emma Leaphorn seem destined for a separation and divorce in Dark Winds season 3, but episode 7 made me think that perhaps not all hope is lost – though it still doesn’t look good for them. Through three seasons of AMC’s crime thriller, Joe Leaphorn has been an excellent cop and steward of the Navajo Nation, but a mediocre to negligent husband. As much as he loves his wife, Emma, his own damage and stubbornness have led to their separation in Dark Winds season 3.
Right now, with Emma driving away at the end of Dark Winds season 3, episode 7, it doesn’t seem as though they have any chance of repairing their marriage. It’s disappointing, because Emma and Joe’s relationship has often been Dark Winds‘ best character dynamic and one of the strongest parts of the show. The most recent episode showed once again, however, why Emma is such a great character and a good counterbalance for her husband – as well as hinting that the door for them to reunite may not yet be closed, or at least not closed forever.
The Door Is Still Open For Emma & Joe To Reconcile In Dark Winds
Emma Is Never Without Hope
The scene in Dark Winds season 3, episode 7 where Emma vouched for Joe and lied to Agent Washington about his whereabouts on the night of B.J. Vines’ disappearance was a pivotal one in the season. For starters, it destroyed the only potential evidence Washington had to incriminate Joe. But more than that, we finally got a glimpse of how alone and isolated Emma has felt thanks to Joe’s inability to cope with his grief or prioritize his marriage over his work. Even so, it injected a small thread of hope that Emma and Joe may one day reconcile and repair their marriage.
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The relationship between Emma and Joe is the best part of Dark Winds and their love story the beating heart of the show, which season 3 threatens.
As she speaks to Agent Washington, Emma confesses the grief she has over losing their son, but also her husband. “The trauma of my son’s death has consumed my husband,” she says through tears. “It’s taken all the room in his heart for me. And the memory of our son and our life together. It’s left me alone. I blame him for that. For his weakness. I hope one day I can forgive him. But until that day, I walk alone.” It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking speech that shows just how badly Joe has failed his wife and his marriage.
“The trauma of my son’s death has consumed my husband. It’s taken all the room in his heart for me. And the memory of our son and our life together. It’s left me alone. I blame him for that. For his weakness. I hope one day I can forgive him. But until that day, I walk alone.“
At the very least, though, Emma’s hope that she can one day forgive him is a small step forward from where she was a few episodes ago, when she told Joe that she just doesn’t think she can get past his betrayal or go on living with what he’s done. Her conversation with Agent Washington in no way indicates that she’s forgiven her husband, or even that she can. But it shows that she’s open and willing to let that feeling of forgiveness come to her if it does, and, considering Emma’s compassionate and spiritual nature, it’s not out of the question to think that one day, she might find it in her own broken heart to forgive Joe.
Their Reconciliation Likely Won’t Happen Until Dark Winds Season 4 (& May Not At All)
It’s All Up To Joe To Evolve & Repair Things
Still, forgiveness doesn’t necessarily lead to reconciliation. Before the whole mess in Dark Winds with B.J. Vines, Joe’s inability to cope with the trauma and grief of his son’s death was already an acid eating away at the foundation of his marriage to Emma. Even before J.J.’s death, Joe had been married to his job, but before their devastating loss, he managed to balance his dedication to his job and the Navajo people with his duties as a husband and father. With J.J.’s death cutting one of Joe’s grounding tethers, he was lost to his grief and rage, pulling even further away from Emma.
The truth is, their marriage has slowly been falling apart for years, not because of Emma, but because of Joe. Like any foundation, a marriage needs constant upkeep to maintain, and Joe long stopped the work of maintaining his relationship with Emma. That means any reconciliation on their part will depend as much on Joe as Emma, if not even more. Right now, Joe doesn’t appear to be a man who is anywhere close to processing his grief, trauma, and guilt in a healthy way. If anything, his conversation with Gordo at the beginning of the episode hints that he’s already given up on his marriage.
“It’s what I deserve. You know, there are things that I’ve lost in life that were taken from me, and there are things that I’ve lost because of the choices I made. I made mine. She made hers. Can’t go back and undo anything, Gordo.“
When he tells Gordo that Emma kicked him out, he says, “It’s what I deserve. You know, there are things that I’ve lost in life that were taken from me, and there are things that I’ve lost because of the choices I made. I made mine. She made hers. Can’t go back and undo anything, Gordo.” It’s nonsense, of course, and the look on Gordo’s face reveals as much. But it’s how Joe feels at the moment – right now, he feels that the loss of his son has been so big, and the mess he’s made of his marriage so great, that he can never repair it. It’s hard to see how that will change with just one more episode to go in Dark Winds season 3.
It’s What Joe Has Been Doing All Season In Dark Winds
His Stoicism Is His Survival Mechanism
Joe’s speech is frustrating because he hasn’t even tried to fix things with Emma, and he’s already waving the white flag and pulling a “woe is me” attitude under the guise of pragmatism. But, as with so many of Joe’s actions in Dark Winds season 3, it’s his self-preservation at work, telling himself he’s fine and that there’s nothing he can do. Joe’s stoicism is his survival mechanism, and if he were to drop it, it’s hard to say how bad his emotional crash would be. Emma has done what she can to repair herself in her grief, and also hold their marriage together; it’s Joe who hasn’t kept up his end of the nuptial bargain.
At this point, it looks like Joe may yet slip out of Agent Washington’s grasp and escape from being arrested and charged with B.J. Vines’ kidnapping. If that’s the case, getting a second chance like that may be what Joe needs to reassess his life and spur him to make some changes, starting with trying to repair things with Emma in Dark Winds season 4. Joe’s heading for a reckoning, and this time, Emma won’t be there to pick up the pieces. If it makes him realize how much he needs her, then there’s still hope their marriage can be salvaged.
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