In Emma Leaphorn's story has regressed in Dark Winds season 3, with her barely being in the first handful of episodes and then unwittingly becoming an accomplice to Joe's crime.

But Dark Winds cast member Deanna Allison, and the layered performance explains exactly why she lied for Joe to the FBI agent.

Emma Feels The Same As Joe About White Justice Deep Down

She Knows Agent Washington Is Just More Of The Same

In one of Dark Winds season 3's most poignant scenes, Emma Leaphorn confirmed that she's not quite as okay with B.J. Vines getting away with murdering their son as she might have seemed to this point, and that she's just as aware of the way white people take and have taken from her people. What's more, they take from the Navajo in ways that are brutal, callous, and often illegal – or, at least, they are when their crimes are perpetuated against other white people. But when they're perpetuated against the Navajo, justice turns a blind eye. Just because she doesn't practice it doesn't mean that Emma isn't aware that sometimes, "Indian justice" is the only way for her people to get true justice in the world.

What's more, her attitude toward Agent Washington reveals she doesn't particularly care for the FBI agent. After being sweet and even inviting the agent to dinner, Emma's attitude changes when Agent Washington starts poking into their lives. Emma realizes Agent Washington isn't there to help them, but to help herself and advance her career. Like so many white people before her, Washington is only there on their reservation temporarily to take something for their own gain while leaving wreckage in its wake, even if that wreckage is technically the law.

Emma Finally Showed Why She's A Great Character In Dark Winds Season 3

Her Gentleness Shouldn't Be Mistaken For Naivete

The interrogation scene of Dark Winds season 3, episode 7 is brilliant in so many ways. All season long, it's seemed impossible that Joe would possibly escape Washington's investigation, but Emma lying while vouching for Joe and saying he was with her all night squashes Washington's case. The scene shows why Emma is such a complex and underestimated character in Dark Winds. In an even deeper way than her spiraling husband, Emma read Agent Washington and played her like a fiddle, revealing both her cunning and her inner strength.

For starters, she knew that her potential testimony was the only thing Agent Washington really had to incriminate Joe and without it, she had nothing. Emma also knew that Washington had been interrogating other of their community, and they clearly hadn't given Joe up, so the agent was getting desperate. She astutely read the situation, inferring that there was a reason Washington had been sent all the way out to Navajo Nation to investigate a crime no one else in D.C. cared about. It was either because the federal agent needed to redeem herself or because no one took her seriously.

It turns out, Emma hadn't been the mark - she was.

Washington wasn't there because she truly cared. Nor did she actually feel bad for putting Emma through the wringer, or that she was ripping apart a couple grieving the loss and murder of their son. Emma and Joe were just pawns to advance her career and Emma knew it. The moment she dropped the pretense of being sweet and naive and called Agent Washington out for her ambition and being just like the other white people who had come before was masterful. The way Washington's face changed revealed that she had been wrong to think Emma would be easy to crack. It turns out, Emma hadn't been the mark - she was. Emma may be gentle, but she's not stupid, and she wasn't about to let some white woman push her around.

Deep Down, Emma Still Loves Joe In Dark Winds

She Hopes She Can Forgive Him One Day

Beyond all of that, there's the simple explanation that Emma still loves Joe. Of course she does. Joe and Emma Leaphorn have a deep love, and while that love has been fracturing for a long time, it doesn't mean it's gone. She even hinted as much to Agent Washington during the interrogation scene, saying that one day, Joe may find his way out of the darkness and she may forgive him, but for now, she walked her path alone. Telling Agent Washington exactly where her husband had been on the night of B.J. Vines' disappearance would have shut the door to their reconciliation forever. It's unclear what their future will hold, but Emma just proved why she's one of Dark Winds' most underrated characters.