Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 3, episode 5.Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) are all still dealing with the fallout of last week's episode of Dark Winds season 3, episode 4. Joe had to deal with Halsey's mysterious murder and juggle FBI Agent Sylvia Washington's (Jenna Elfman) raiding his home. Meanwhile, Chee had a bad reaction to Bernadette's new relationship with Ivan Muños (Alex Meraz) and ended up getting very drunk with his former enemy, Shorty Bowlegs (Derek Hinkey).

Those developments, important as they are, were fairly straightforward, and there were much more confusing parts of Dark Winds season 3, episode 5. For example, Bernadette's investigation into Budge de Baca (Raoul Max Trujillo) had some surprising twists, and it wasn't really clear why she was so stunned by Ivan's wallet. Likewise, Leaphorn got some spiritual guidance before seeing the Ye'iitsoh again, and their next encounter could prove deadly. Dark Winds season 3, episode 5 certainly had some parts that need a bit of explanation.

What Is The Pollen Path & How Can Joe Get Back Onto It In Dark Winds Season 3?

The Pollen Path Is A Way To Conceptualize Living A Balanced Life, But Joe Is Way Off Balance

After Margaret Cigaret (Betty Ann Tsosie) cleansed the Navajo Tribal Police station, Leaphorn drove her home. When they arrived, Joe finally opened up about how he'd been seeing the Ye'iitsoh and the guilt he was feeling over killing BJ Vines. Margaret told Joe that he was seeing monsters like the Ye'iitsoh because he had strayed from the Pollen Path, and the only way to get rid of them was to return to it. Non-Navajo viewers may have been a bit confused about what the Pollen Path is and how Joe can return to it.

The Pollen Path, in incomplete and simplified , is a way the Navajo people conceptualize life. The path is the trajectory of a person's life: staying on it symbolizes living a balanced life in harmony with nature, others, and oneself. Straying from the Pollen Path means being out of balance in some way, and Joe is very clearly off balance in Dark Winds season 3. He's consumed by guilt and haunted - both metaphorically and literally - by BJ Vines' spirit, and he can't get rid of the Ye'iitsoh until he balances his life and returns to the Pollen Path.

Why Budge Didn't Send Anyone To Look For Bernadette & Ivan

Budge Likely Staged That Murder To Scare Bernadette Away With Ivan's Help

Towards the end of Dark Winds season 3, episode 5, Bernadette and Ivan were scoping out Budge de Baca's likely illegal operation in Mexico. They were quickly spotted, and Budge and his men gave chase. Bernadette and Ivan, however, were able to hide underneath an outcrop, where they witnessed Budge murder his former chief of security. The confusing part of that scene is the fact that Budge gave up the search for Bernadette and Ivan even though they were literally under his nose. Budge had lost them, but he likely knew they couldn't have gotten far, and he would have found them if he looked just a bit longer.

After all, there were no tire tracks anywhere near the outcrop, and Budge and his men weren't far behind Bernadette and Ivan. Because of those facts, it seems like Budge let Bernadette and Ivan escape. It's possible that Budge knew how close he was to the couple, and that he killed his chief of security specifically so that Bernadette would see and be scared off. There was another detail later on in Dark Winds that seems to that idea, and the idea that Budge was working with Ivan to intimidate Bernadette into backing off.

Why Did Bernadette Freak Out About Ivan's Wallet?

The Rubber Band On Ivan's Wallet Is The Same As The One On Budge's Money

After they returned to their hotel room, Bernadette and Ivan began frantically packing and discussing the implications of their findings. They agreed that this was a huge find that implicated the entire New Mexico Border Patrol, but Ivan wanted to keep things quiet for fear of being killed. Just as he mentioned dropping the case, Bernadette noticed Ivan's wallet and began to freak out. It wasn't entirely clear, but wrapped around Ivan's wallet was the same type of green rubber band that Budge had wrapped around his cash when he took Bernadette to dinner in Dark Winds season 3, episode 3.

The green rubber band from an unidentified fruit company was a very subtle hint, but Bernadette was able to piece them together. The fact that both Ivan and Budge were using rubber bands from the same obscure fruit company is no coincidence: Ivan is almost certainly in on Spenser's trafficking ring. It seems like Ivan was meant to convince Bernadette to stop investigating Budge and Spenser, and he very smartly gained her trust by helping her investigate and then tried to scare her off instead of doing it in a more suspicious way. If it hadn't been for the rubber band, Ivan might even have succeeded.

Is Joe Really Seeing Monsters Or Is The Ye'iitsoh A Person In Dark Winds Season 3?

The Ye'iitsoh Was Present Even When Joe Wasn't Looking, Which Could Indicate It's A Person Using Navajo Folklore As Psychological Warfare

The last big question of Dark Winds season 3, episode 5 came at the very end of the episode. After revisiting his files, Leaphorn was able to figure out that George Bowlegs had stolen Shorty's tools so he could pawn them off and buy age to Reno to live with his mother. After figuring out that George had coal dust on his fingers, Leaphorn was able to determine where George was camping out. When he got there, however, Joe had another encounter with the Ye'iitsoh, but this time it wasn't clear if it was another hallucination or a real person.

The murderer may also be using the Ye'iitsoh's appearance as a psychological weapon against Leaphorn.

While Joe was looking for George, Dark Winds revealed that the Ye'iitsoh was watching Leaphorn from a nearby ridge, and he was present even when Joe wasn't looking at him. That seems to indicate that the Ye'iitsoh isn't purely a figment of Joe's imagination, it could be a real person posing as the Navajo monster. The arrowhead in Ernesto Cata's mouth already suggested that someone who was familiar with Navajo culture enough to torment Joe was involved in the case, and the murderer may also be using the Ye'iitsoh's appearance as a psychological weapon against him.

Yet more evidence that the Ye'iitsoh is real is the opening scene of Dark Winds season 3. As the premiere showed, Leaphorn will be attacked by the Ye'iitsoh shortly after he arrives, and he'll be shot with an arrow in the neck. A figment of his imagination certainly couldn't do that. There's still a chance that Joe is hallucinating, and that he's imagining George Bowlegs as the Ye'iitsoh, but it seems more likely that this is the killer he's been searching for. Only the rest of Dark Winds season 3 will be able to tell for sure, though.