Dark Winds Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Antigonish

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Dark Winds Season 2 Episode 3, “Antigonish,” — written by Steven P. Judd and directed by Michael Nankin — continues to draw connections between Joe Jr.’s death, the Vines, and the blonde killer. 

Connecting the Dots

The most significant revelation on “Angigonish” connects all three ongoing mysteries of the season. Or, at least, it connects the players involved.

We learn that Dillon Charley, the founder of the People of Darkness and the brother of the blonde man’s first victim, worked for the company that sold the land where Joe Jr. died to BJ Vine. 

We, of course, already knew that these three things are connected. More specifically, Joe already knew this. Now, however, we have a concrete paper trail that begins to give shape and focus to those connections. 

The picture is far from clear, but Joe has tangible evidence connecting both the blonde man and BJ Vine to his son’s death. That’s perhaps not a game-changing revelation, but it is a big one nonetheless.

Mommy Issues

The blonde man is still mostly a big question mark. We do, however, get the answer to a question from Dark Winds Season 2 Episode 1, “Na’niłkaadii.”

We find out that the woman the blonde man is looking for is his mother. At least, that’s who he claims she is. He might not be the most reliable narrator after all. It’s fair to take that claim with suspicion for now.

That information — assuming it’s true — brings up a whole new crop of unknowns. Why is he looking for her? Did she disappear voluntarily? Why did he lie about her cooking for him every Sunday? Does she want to be found?

Whatever the answers to those questions are, they almost certainly don’t bode well for his mother’s fate either as part of his past or should he find her in the future.  

Emma’s Moment to Shine

In an interesting shift from past episodes, it’s Emma that has the most character development on “Antigonish.” Until now, we haven’t gotten a lot of development for Emma, at least not on her own terms. She has primarily served as an extension of Joe’s story. 

That’s still true for some of her scenes on “Antigonish.” For example, on Dark Winds Season 1 Episode 2, “Wonders of the Unknown,” Joe shuts Emma out, signaling some difficult times ahead for the couple. 

On “Antigonish,” it seems like the distance between them on “Wonders of the Unknown” was just a blip. 

Finding out that the blonde man murdered his son serves as a clarifying moment for Joe. Instead of continuing to keep Emma at arm’s length, he immediately goes home and tells her what’s going on.

He pulls her in instead of pushing her away and looks to be getting their relationship back on track.

While all that is as much about Joe as it is about Emma, on “Antigonish,” viewers also get a rare look into how she is coping with her son’s death separate from Joe.

Watching Emma breakdown into tears in her truck after delivering a baby is one of the episode’s two most emotionally potent moments (the other being the scene mentioned above of Joe telling Emma about the blonde man, which I discuss more fully below).

Emma’s breakdown tells us so much about her inner world and emotional state, all without a single word being uttered.

After such a rich scene and a glimpse of the depths that could be explored with this character, viewers can only hope to see more moments like this in the future.

Visual Storytelling

One thing that stands out about “Antigonish” is the striking visual style of the first part of the episode. 

It starts by returning to the black and white style with flairs of color that we first saw on “Na’niłkaadii,” signifying a time jump. On “Antigonish,” instead of a flash-forward, the style is used during a flashback to right before the final scene of “Wonders of the Unknown. 

I love how they use flashes of color to draw your attention to the details of the scene. Details that are both narratively important, like the doll on “Na’niłkaadii,” and thematically important, like the metronome’s constant ticking. 

It is an efficient and incredibly effective way to use all the different tools TV offers as a medium to tell a story. 

Another great moment of visual storytelling is the scene of Joe telling Emma that the blonde man killed their son.

Focusing the camera on the wall with Joe Jr.’s growth chart and having Joe and Emma’s conversation out of focus bring what would have otherwise been subtext to the forefront.

It expresses all the grief and anguish that permeate their calmly spoken words. The weight and depth of their pain hang heavy throughout the scene as each yearly measurement invokes everything that has been ripped away from them.

It is both a beautiful and heartbreaking expression of love and loss that stays with you throughout the episode. Maybe even beyond it.

Seeing Red

As much as I love the growth chart scene, not all the stylistic choices are winners on “Antigonish.” In particular, I am thinking of the confrontation at the hospital with the flashing red lights.

Narratively, it makes sense why the lights flash for the whole sequence, and folks should probably take my critique here with a grain of salt. That flashing light style gives me a headache, so part of my distaste for the sequence is likely more specific to me. 

Still, even without my natural inclination not to like that kind of lighting, the sequence is distracting and goes on way too long.

If the sequence were shorter, this would be a minor quibble. However, since it makes up almost a third of the episode, it detracts significantly from the whole thing. 

In addition to the issues with the visual style, there are also some narrative issues with the sequences.

First, the whole red-shirt stuff with the young security guard is unnecessary and feels forced. It is maybe the first time I’ve ever physically rolled my eyes watching Dark Winds.

There is also Chee leaving the phone off the hook while Bernadette is on the line. A mistake warns the killer that he has been spotted and feels entirely out of character for Chee.

There is no way Chee would be that careless. He is smarter and better under pressure than that. Plot holes I can forgive, but character inconsistencies like that irk me.  

Overall Impression

There are some truly remarkable moments on “Antigonish,” but it doesn’t quite meet the bar set by the first two episodes of Season 2. Some of that is because the hospital standoff takes up too much of the episode and overshadows the much better moments before and after. 

However, even beyond that, the episode isn’t quite as enthralling as it could be. The sum of its excellent parts don’t come together as completely as they do on “Na’niłkaadii” or “Wonders of the Unkown.” 

The result is an unquestionably good episode, just not a great one. 

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What did you think of this episode of Dark Winds? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dark Winds airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC, with early access for AMC+ subscribers on Thursdays.

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