Warning: Spoilers for Dark Winds season 3, episode 4
Dark Windsseason 3, episode 4, saw Bernadette making a decision near the end that really disappointed me, mostly because her character deserved far better. Of the three mainDark Windscharacters– Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee, and Bernadette Manuelito – we arguably know the least about Bernadette and her backstory.Dark Winds' story has pivoted around Joe for the past three seasons, and Jim Chee’s past was explored in season 1 and revisited inDark Windsseason 3 with the Shorty Bowlegs subplot. We don’t know much about Bernadette, however, save for the fact she’s known Joe her entire life on the reservation.
What we do know, however, is that she’s smart, sharp, and not afraid to speak her mind, even when it puts her at odds with others, which we’re seeing play out inDark Windsseason 3’s story. She’s certainly not someone who has ever indicated she’d let a man, romantic interest or not, dictate her actions. It’s why her rash decision at theend ofDark Windsseason 3, episode 4rankles so much - it seemed less like something that she’d actually do, and more like something that was just there to manufacture drama.
Bernadette’s Decision To Sleep With Ivan After Seeing Chee In Dark Winds Seemed Out Of Character
What bothered me most aboutBernadette turning to her potential newDark Windsromance, Ivan, after Chee leaves her house is that it just seems so out of character for her. Bernadette has always been strong and sure of herself in the series. Certainly, she hasn’t seemed like a woman who would let a man, especially one she’s never even so much as gone on a date with, rattle her so much that she runs into another man’s arms. No matter how you cut it, it is a rash decision on her part, and it feels like it comes out of left field.
There are only so many ways to interpret Bernadette’s decision, few of them flattering. One is that she’s angry at Chee for actually trying to share his feelings with her now that she’s started to move on, so she sleeps with Ivan in order to get back at Chee, even if Chee never knows about it. The other is that Chee’s words scare her because she knows he’s right, and she still has feelings for him. So, rather than admit those feelings to herself, she tries to convince herself that she doesn’t have them by sleeping with Ivan. A third, albeit less likely option, is that Chee’s speech makes her realize just how much she cares about Ivan and that it’s time for her to stop putting so many walls up.
There are only so many ways to interpret Bernadette’s decision, few of them flattering.
Considering how hesitant she’s been about letting Ivan in – she’d only just agreed to go on a date with him, after all – the third option seems highly unlikely. Also, the way the scene unfolds, with her showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, is played a little desperately, so it really seems it’s more one or both of the first two reasons. If that’s the case, it’s not fair to any of them, and they all deserve better, especially Bernadette herself.
The Dark Winds Scene Is An Outdated Trope That Befalls Too Many Female Characters
On another level, Bernadette’s decision was disappointing because it’s an annoying and played-out trope that plays out again and again in the arcs of female characters: She sleeps with a man she’s not that interested in, either to get back at or forget the one she actually is interested in. It’s childish, it’s immature, it’s petty, and it’s hurtful. It perpetuates the tired and ugly stereotype that a woman’s first response to being upset is to emotionally manipulate men, which I’m frankly tired of seeing.
Chee & Manuelito’s Relationship Chances Don’t Look Good In Dark Winds Season 3, But I Still Have Hope
Chee and Manuelito had a disappointing development in their relationship in Dark Winds season 3, but I’m still convinced they’ll end up together.
It’s also a really frustrating decision on the part of theDark Windswriters, who, to this point, have done a really good job of making each character’s decisions feel in-character and earned.Dark Windshas certainly utilized some well-worn tropes – most genre shows do, andDark Windsis firmly a Western noir crime thriller, with the trademark elements of each. But to this point, it’s steered away from embracing toxic tropes.
Even when characters haven’t made the smartest or most morally sound decisions, they at least have felt perfectly in line with where the character is at at that moment, and they haven’t been beneath the character. This is the first decision that feels like it’s beneath a character, certainly beneath Bernadette, who either has no idea how to navigate her own emotions, or is simply using Ivan. It’s not great.
