Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 3, episode 7.Sheriff Gordo Sena (A Martinez) has had Joe Leaphorn's (Zahn McClarnon) back for the entirety of Gordo found out that Joe killed Vines at some point, and he kept his friend's secret for him.

It's clear that Gordo and Joe are very good friends, but that still doesn't explain why Gordo has been covering for Joe so fiercely in Dark Winds season 3. Gordo is, after all, a respected sheriff who has a duty to uphold the law, and he was supposed to help solve the disappearance of BJ Vines. His duty to the law presents a big contradiction with his duty to his friend, and it wasn't entirely clear why Gordo chose Joe over legal justice. Luckily, Dark Winds season 3, episode 7 helped explain why Gordo made the choice he made.

Gordo Understands That The Law Doesn't Always Deliver Justice In Dark Winds

Gordo Is Tired Of Seeing Guilty People Walk Free, & He Agrees With Joe's Decision To Kill BJ Vines

One of the main reasons Gordo has been helping Joe cover up his involvement in BJ Vines' death is because he agreed with Joe. As Joe has mentioned before, he killed BJ Vines to deliver "Indian Justice" after the "white man's justice" let Vines go free. Gordo even mentioned that one of the reasons he decided to retire as sheriff was because he was sick of seeing guilty men walk free. Gordo knows better than most just how often the U.S. legal system fails to deliver true justice, and he agreed with Joe's desire to make sure it was delivered to BJ Vines.

Gordo outright says that he s Joe in Dark Winds season 3, episode 7. After Joe mentioned that he "deserved" to be shunned by Emma Leaphorn (Deanna Allison), Gordo quickly corrected him and said that Joe "ain't done nothing wrong." In Gordo's view, Joe's extrajudicial killing of Vines was the only way Vines was ever going to be punished for murdering Joe Jr. and five other men in the Drumco explosion. From that point of view, Gordo's decision was easy: side with BJ Vines and the legal system that so often failed, or side with Joe and his deliverance of real justice.

Gordo Fully s Joe In Every Way As A Colleague And Friend

Gordo Doesn't Just Understand Joe's Decision - He Helps Him Deal With The Guilt Of Killing A Man

Gordo doesn't just help Joe by keeping his secret, however, he also helps Joe as a friend. Throughout Dark Winds season 3, Gordo has been acting as a confidant and er for Joe. He's been a shoulder to lean on and one of the only people Joe can talk to about BJ Vines' death and the growing pressure from Sylvia Washington's (Jenna Elfman) investigation. Without Gordo's , Joe's mental health in Dark Winds season 3 would probably be even worse than it was. Gordo and Joe aren't just colleagues who often have cases that overlap. They're friends, and Gordo is a very loyal friend.

Dark Winds' Gordo Has Also Seen White Man's Justice At Work

Gordo's Hispanic Heritage Means He's Certainly Seen How The Legal System Fails Nonwhite People

Another important thing about Gordo that relates to his treatment of Joe Leaphorn is his own heritage. Gordo is a U.S. sheriff and sworn to uphold the law, but he's also a Hispanic man. Since Dark Winds season 3 takes place in 1972, and he's been working in law enforcement since at least the 1950s, Gordo has certainly seen how the legal system fails nonwhite people like himself. Many Hispanic people, especially in the Southwest, face the same legal oppression Navajo people do, so Gordo can almost definitely empathize with Joe's desire to protect his people.

There's also a lot of evidence to suggest that if the roles were reversed, Gordo would have made the same decision to kill BJ Vines that Joe did. If Vines was preying upon the Hispanic community in Scarborough County and the only way to make him pay was by killing him, Gordo probably would have gone even further than Joe did. Joe's actions may seem rash to others, but to a fellow protector like Gordo, they make perfect sense. Because of that, Gordo basically had to Joe in Dark Winds season 3.