‘Dark Winds’: Zahn McClarnon on Leaphorn’s Cathartic Revelation & Dream Dance With Jenna Elfman

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Dark Winds Season 3, Episode 6, “Abidoo’niidee (What He Had Been Told).”]

Dark Winds delivered one of its best episodes to date with Season 3’s entry, “Abidoo’niidee,” which saw Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) finally face his past in a dream-like state after he’s hit in the neck with a poisoned dart while he’d tried helping George (Bodhi Okuma Linton) escape the “Ye’iitsoh.”

As Leaphorn came in and out of his dreamlike state, a stageplay tale served as a framing device as it paralleled the man’s own journey to uncover and reckon with past demons. Leaphorn found himself transported to his old house, alongside George, who mirrored a younger version of himself (a fun little nod as Linton played the younger version of McClarnon’s Big in Reservation Dogs).

While the dream world continued to confound Leaphorn, viewers learned that a priest from his childhood had abused him, and although Joe believed he was the one to kill the man, his dad, Henry (Joseph Runningfox), who was also present in this dream world, informed Joe that he killed the priest. Apparently, the community figure went missing after Henry failed to bring the pedophile to justice, and so he took matters into his own hands.

Michael Moriatis / AMC

Not dissimilar to Joe’s experience with businessman B.J. Vines (John Diehl), who was responsible for his son’s death, this breakthrough allowed Joe to understand he isn’t the first Navajo to act in the best interest of his community. As his father puts it, sometimes good people have to do bad things to stop bad people.

As Joe tried to understand the dream world he found himself in, Agent Sylvia Washington’s (Jenna Elfman) presence put into perspective the similarities between the priest’s case and Vines’ as she told Joe that the FBI doesn’t investigate good men like priests and businessmen. Most of their conversation unfolded amid a dance, which added to the dreamlike quality of the situation.

“I think his growth this season is definitely more about self-understanding, some healing, reconciling some of his traumatic past,” McClarnon tells TV Insider about Leaphorn’s realization that he was a victim of child abuse at the hands of this priest, and had his father not interfered, his life may have been different. He adds that this season “[is about] the choices he’s made and how they’ve affected his loved ones around him.”

Michael Moriatis / AMC

“I think as humans, we all go through painful experiences, loss, tragedy, joy, et cetera. And as an actor, I just try to lean into and draw from those lived experiences. I find it cathartic.”

As for the dance sequence, McClarnon jokes, “I made [Jenna] wear flats [Laughs].” While he clarifies that wasn’t the case, McClarnon commends his scene partner, saying, “Jenna’s just amazing. She studied dance. All she had to do was lead me. And Joe was supposed to be clumsy anyway in the sequence because he doesn’t know how to dance.”

“I was a professional dancer before I started acting,” Elfman confirms, adding, “We had dance rehearsal and Zahn was like, ‘Well, my character doesn’t know how to dance and he’s spaced out, he doesn’t even know what’s happening.’ So Zahn really leaned into not learning the choreography,” Elfman reveals, exposing her costar. “He was like, ‘You lead, you’re the one driving the scene.’ So I had to remember both sides of our choreography. And so I was always teasing him about how he was getting off [easy], not having to learn any of it.”

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“We had so much fun shooting that scene, and again, she’s just such a great actress that she just nails it every time,” McClarnon notes. “It was intimidating for sure, because I just do not know how to dance at all. But she carried me,” he says before adding,  “Literally, she carried me.”

One fun little piece of behind-the-scenes trivia Elfman shares is that her red dress and hair were inspired by her own grandmother, who “was a dancer in Vadeville and a model in the 1930s.” Elfman reveals that she asked the hair and makeup team to recreate one of her grandmother’s looks as an homage. “We had the photo of her on the mirror in the hair trailer,” she says.

What did you think of the dream sequence and Leaphorn’s traumatic revelation about his own childhood? Sound off in the comments section below, and stay tuned to see what’s next after Leaphorn uncovered the truth about the “Ye’iitsoh” who is “just a man,” as Season 3 continues.

Dark Winds, Season 3, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+