I Really Hope Dark Winds Season 3’s Best Character Returns For Season 4, But It Doesn’t Look Good According To The Books

While he’s been a supporting character in all three seasons, Sheriff Gordo Sena has quietly been the best character in Dark Winds season 3, and I’m hoping he returns for season 4, though the chances don’t look good. This season has had the most sprawling case yet, with Dark Winds season 3 finally connecting Joe and Chee’s case with Bernadette’s case. This season has also introduced some new characters to Dark Winds, and they’ve each had a big impact on the plot.

But it’s the characters who have been in previous seasons of the show who are still the most pivotal, and it’s been great to see Dark Winds season 3 bring Sheriff Gordo Sena more fully into the story. As Gordo, A Martinez did an excellent job of bringing life to the taciturn sheriff last season, giving depth to the story and becoming a perfect foil for Joe Leaphorn. Though his story should have wrapped with the ending of Dark Winds season 2, Gordo was a surprising addition to Dark Winds season 3 and it’s made the show better.

Sheriff Gordo Has Been The Best Character In Dark Winds Season 3

He’s A Levelheaded, Ride-Or-Die Friend

So far, Sheriff Gordo has been the MVP of the season. While he was a presence in season 2 and grew closer to Joe through the season, he still didn’t get much development. In Dark Winds season 3, however, he’s gotten more screen time and shown just how great a character he’s become. He’s been the voice of reason for Joe, seeing that his colleague and friend has been slowly spiraling since Agent Sylvia Washington came to the reservation to investigate B.J. Vines’ murder. He’s been the cooler head all along, covertly but pointedly reminding Joe to play it cool.

But he’s also proven to be a ride-or-die friend, the kind who has – quite literally, as it turns out – helped Joe bury a body. It wasn’t always clear just how much Gordo knew about what Joe did to B.J. Vines at the end of Dark Winds season 2, but the conversation they had in last season’s finale strongly hinted that he knew Joe had something to do with Vines’ disappearance after the criminal made bail. This season confirms that Gordo knows Joe kidnapped and left Vines in the desert to die, and he doesn’t judge him for it. He may not have been in on Joe’s kidnapping plot, but he certainly hasn’t turned his friend in, and, in fact, he’s done everything he can to keep Joe from incriminating himself.

Gordo Has Been Planning To Retire Since The End Of Dark Winds Season 2

He Doesn’t Have It In Him To Be A Cop Anymore

Unfortunately, despite Gordo being Dark Winds season 3’s breakout character, the chances of him returning for season 4 are uncertain. During the same conversation where it was implied that he knew what Joe had done, he also told Joe that he was retiring. The first episode of season 3 confirmed that retirement is still in the plans. Joe sees Gordo at the crime scene and jokes, “So when you un-retire, they make you give that watch back?” to which Gordo replies, “No, they know I’m just short-timing it till they bring in the new guy.“

It’s a convenient way to explain why Gordo is still around in season 3 after his retirement announcement last season, but it’s unlikely to be the case moving forward. The Dark Winds writers won’t be able to use that excuse of his return only being temporary unless the next season follows a case that happens immediately after this season’s timeline. Even then, it would risk repetition. Gordo has also made a few comments that reveal why he’s retiring, disillusioned as he’s become with law enforcement and watching so many people escape justice because of their money or connections, not to mention the brutality and horror of the things he’s seen.

However, this season’s storyline may push Gordo to finalize his retirement sooner. Joe’s decision with B.J. Vines, and now the fact he can’t keep it together, is threatening not just his freedom, but also that of Gordo and Emma. Even though Gordo has never outright said he knows what Joe did – as a cop, he knows about plausible deniability, after all – it’s clear he does, and if Agent Washington widens the scope of her focus, she could very well take Gordo down, too. Even if he doesn’t get tangled up in Joe’s mess, legally or criminally, the stress may just reaffirm his decision to retire and put law enforcement completely behind him.

Gordo Sena Is A Very Minor Character In The Tony Hillerman Books, But The Show Has Expanded His Role

It Also Gave Joe Gordo’s Backstory From The Books

It’s a testament to just how great A Martinez has been in the role of Sheriff Gordo that his role has been hugely expanded from what it was in the books and even from the arc he had in the first season of the show. In Tony Hillerman’s series, Gordo has only appeared in 1980’s People of Darkness, the fourth book in Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee series and the book that season 2 adapted. In that novel, Lawrence “Gordo” Sena is the sheriff of Valencia County in New Mexico and has been in law enforcement for decades, similar to the TV show, but that’s about where the similarities end.

Interestingly, Sheriff Sena’s story in People of Darkness is the one that was loosely adapted and then given to Joe Leaphorn as his backstory. In that book, the tragic accident that happens is an oil field explosion, not a mining explosion, and it’s Sena’s brother who is killed, not Joe Leaphorn’s son. It’s still B.J. Vines behind it all, and for largely the same reasons as in the show, but it’s interesting that Gordo’s backstory has become Joe’s in the show. It’s possible that the writers never expected A Martinez to be so good in the role, which is exactly why he needs to come back for season 4.

Sheriff Gordo Can & Should Return In Dark Winds Season 4

Even If It’s In A Consultant Role

Despite it being unlikely, there’s still, of course, a chance for Sheriff Gordo to return in Dark Winds season 4. The writers can do what they want, and if there isn’t a place for A Martinez in next season’s cast, they should make one. Even if Gordo does officially retire once the new guy takes over, he could step into a consulting role on one of Joe’s cases. Or, as we’ve seen, he could even simply become Joe’s now-civilian friend and confidante. If there’s a way to keep him around in the story, they should, as he adds a unique dynamic to the show that Joe doesn’t have with any other character, and it would be a real shame if that were to go away. Dark Winds would be a duller show without it.