A Peace Offering Or Warning? Why Budge Returns Bernadette’s Gun In Dark Winds Season 3

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 3, episode 3.Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) lost her gun in Dark Winds season 3, only for Budge de Baca (Raoul Max Trujillo) to give it back to her. Armed with the pig drawing in Dark Winds, Bernadette has been investigating Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood) and his ties to human trafficking. While she hasn’t realized it yet, viewers know that Bernadette is on the right track because Spenser employs a man named Budge de Baca, whom Dark Winds has already shown murdering a man.

Almost inevitably, Bernadette’s and Budge’s paths crossed in Dark Winds season 3, episode 3. Bernadette went looking for more information on Spenser and his ranch, and while she was there, she arranged a strange meeting with Budge. Bernadette also realized that Budge had returned the revolver she lost, but she was just as confused about why he would do so as we, the viewers, were. Luckily, there are a few hints about what Budge was up to in Dark Winds season 3.

Budge Returned Bernadette’s Gun That Was Stolen At The Border In Dark Winds Season 3’s Premiere

Budge Took Bernadette’s Gun From The Man He Buried Alive & Returned It To Her

At the start of Dark Winds season 3, episode 3, Bernadette discovered that her service revolver had been returned to her and was sitting in the passenger seat of her car. Bernadette lost the revolver in the premiere of Dark Winds season 3, while she was chasing down the Mixtec mother and daughter who were trying to flee over the border. Bernadette also rightly suspected that Budge was the one who returned her gun, as he admitted later in the episode. He has had it ever since killing Wade by burying him alive in episode 2.

What Was Budge’s Motive In Returning Bernadette’s Gun & Taking Her To Dinner?

Budge Was Likely Threatening Bernadette & Trying To Get Her To Leave Spenser Alone

While it is clear that Budge returned Bernadette’s gun, it’s not clear why he did so, or why he took her out to dinner in Mexico. Budge wanted Bernadette to stop investigating him and Tom Spenser, which was the goal of giving the gun back and their conversation in Mexico. There’s some evidence to support the idea that Budge was trying to extend a peace offering to Bernadette, but it seems more likely that he was trying to threaten her into backing off. Budge wanted Bernadette to know that she was stepping into a world that she had no notion of and that he controlled.

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Through the lens of their meeting being a threat, a lot of Budge’s actions make more sense. He left the gun in Bernadette’s car not only to get rid of it, but also to show her that he knows where she lives and can reach her without her even knowing. Budge also brought Bernadette to Mexico to show her that if he wants to kill her, no one is going to stop him. Plus, the restaurant he took Bernadette to was filled with his people, as shown by the fact that he called two men to come with him when he left.

Everything about Budge and Bernadette’s interactions in Dark Winds season 3 seemed like a power play. From the money Budge flashed at the restaurant to making her walk back across the border, Budge was trying to show Bernadette that continuing to investigate Spenser would end in her death. Whether Bernadette actually listens to that threat, or whether she finds enough evidence to put Budge and Spenser away in Dark Winds season 3, remains to be seen.

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Release Date

June 12, 2022