Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 3.Two new characters have been added to Dark Winds season 4, such as the fact that Joe (Zahn McClarnon) and Emma Leaphorn (Deanna Allison) still need to get back together, but the season ended in a very good place. There was, however, one storyline that didn't get a satisfying resolution, and it likely won't have a chance to be revisited in Dark Winds season 4.

Though it's still a long way away, we already know a good deal about Dark Winds season 4. For example, Joe Leaphorn's "ghost sickness." We also know that Leaphorn, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) will be searching for a Navajo girl who ran away from her boarding school. There's also other casting news surrounding the season that could hint that Dark Winds will get a chance to redo one storyline that didn't work as well as it could have in season 3.

Luke Barnett's FBI Character In Dark Winds Season 4 Can Fix The Underwhelming Conflict With Agent Washington

Barnett's New Dark Winds Character Can Really Put The Pressure On Joe Leaphorn

Dark Winds recently cast Luke Barnett as FBI Special Agent Toby Shaw alongside Isabel DeRoy-Olson as Billie Tsosie. Barnett's Agent Shaw will give Dark Winds season 4 a chance to fix the mistakes season 3 made with Jenna Elfman's Agent Sylvia Washington. Washington was investigating Leaphorn for his involvement in the murder of BJ Vines, and her entire subplot was meant to put pressure on Joe throughout Dark Winds season 3. While she did raise the stakes, Washington's story ended anticlimactically when she informed Joe that she simply didn't have enough evidence to arrest him.

Agent Washington's Dark Winds story was a bit lackluster, but Agent Shaw's could be a lot better. Shaw has already been described as "in deep" with Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernadette. Shaw's assignment could give Dark Winds season 4 the tense law enforcement presence that Washington couldn't bring to season 4. If Shaw is investigating Leaphorn or his deputies, there could be a massive conflict between the Tribal Police and the FBI. Dark Winds could finally have an FBI character who lends the show some real stakes. Leaphorn may even have to face legal repercussions for killing BJ Vines, which is where Washington's story should have gone.

Dark Winds Season 3's FBI Storyline Didn't Work As Well As It Could Have With Jenna Elfman's Casting

Elfman Could Have Played A Great Thorn In Leaphorn's Side, But Washington's Story Just Fizzled Out

One of the most disappointing parts of Agent Washington's story in Dark Winds season 3 - and one of the reasons I hope Barnett's Agent Shaw gets a chance to revisit the story - is Jenna Elfman. Elfman was such an inspired casting for an FBI Agent investigating Leaphorn. Her history of starring in sitcoms and romantic comedies made her seem like the perfect agent to break Leaphorn down. She could play dumb, lure Joe into a false sense of security, and strike when she had him right where she wanted. Even the audience would have been surprised to see Elfman play coy so well.

But Dark Winds didn't use Elfman that way, and her character was almost entirely ineffectual. Elfman helped drive Emma away from Joe, but that would have happened as soon as BJ Vines' body was found anyway. Agent Washington had so much potential, especially with Jenna Elfman playing her, but she just turned out to be a weak subplot for Dark Winds season 3. She wasn't even particularly good at putting pressure on Joe before she revealed she had no evidence, as she always let him off the hook just as she was getting under his skin.

Barnett's Agent Shaw could be what Elfman's Agent Washington was supposed to be from the start.

I really hope Dark Winds season 4 can learn from its mistakes with Agent Washington and apply some changes to whatever story it has set up for Agent Shaw. Shaw should feel like an oppressive shadow hanging over Leaphorn's head, like his past is catching up with him, just like the Ye'iitsoh did for most of Dark Winds season 3. No matter what, his story and whatever he's doing with the Tribal Police has to have a bigger climax than Washington's story did. If Dark Winds can find a way to do that, Barnett's Agent Shaw could be what Elfman's Agent Washington was supposed to be from the start.