Dark Winds Season 4 Abandoning OG Premise For Chee Has Tragic Consequences, Teases Star

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Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Dark Winds season 4, episode 4Dark Winds star Kiowa Gordon reveals how the show’s separation from its original premise will impact Chee. AMC’s hit crime thriller Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn & Chee novels by Tony Hillerman, recently returned for season 4. In the premiere episode, Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) begins to contemplate retirement. He faces skepticism, though he promises that he is serious about his intentions this time. He adds that he is not considering Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) as his replacement. In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Tatiana Hullender for Dark Winds season 4, Gordon was asked about Chee’s own challenges in Dark Winds season 4, episode 4, fittingly titled “Ni’ Ániidí (The New World)”, during his move to Los Angeles. In particular, the actor is asked about the fact that episode 4 is the first one that’s properly Los Angeles-focused, in a separation from the original setting. Also, discussing Chee’s flashbacks, including moments from his childhood and with his mother, Gordon responds that Chee’s story is rooted in the trauma of leaving home after his mother is abused and being removed from the community that should provide safety and support. He also relates it partly to his own experiences growing up and reflects on how Chee is placed in a system where constant movement means no stability and difficulty forming friendships.

ScreenRant: Episode 4 is our first one that’s properly in Los Angeles and that’s also given Chee some flashbacks, we’re seeing some of his past, his childhood, his mother. Can you tease how that’s going to evolve and grow over the course of the season, and affect you in this storyline? Kiowa Gordon: It’s that unresolved trauma of leaving your home after your mother has been abused, and you basically are cast out of where you’re supposed to be safe and protected, and have a community to be around and to grow with, because it takes a village. So when you take somebody away from that, and put them in the system that isn’t built for us, I think that was just really difficult. I mean, because I moved around a lot growing up, and there’s never stability, and you never could make lifelong friends really, because you’d meet ’em, and you’re gone the next day, so it just felt like you’re just so isolated and alone. And I think that’s just what Jim felt. And then losing that matriarch in his family and that protector—that was… She was supposed to protect him. And then, in the end, it feels like he was the one that was supposed to protect her, and he didn’t do that too. So it’s like, we both failed each other, and he takes that on himself, and it really is just hurting him. To be back in a place like that, where the wound can fester, mentally and physically, I guess, in that case, and then the way he’s just acting around Bernadette and Joe about it — it doesn’t help things, just creates a lot of tension. And I think that works great for the show, but then he’s having these visions of the first body he discovered when he was 15 or 16, or something like that. And when it’s the death of someone that is very important to you, your whole world comes crashing down. And then I think he switched, and was like, “This part of me is dead.”

Gordon concludes by talking about how Chee planned to fully commit to the surrounding opportunities, get a scholarship, go to college, join the FBI, and achieve the American dream. However, things turned out differently. Ultimately, the Dark Winds character is trying to come to terms with the gap between his expectations and reality and reconcile where he stands:

Kiowa Gordon: I’m going to give it my all for this society that I’m in, now and I’m going to get a scholarship and go to college, and go to the FBI, and live in that world and just have the American dream all sewn up. And it all came out differently than that. So he’s just trying to reconcile with all that.

Dark Winds season 4, episode 4, which is directed by Jim Chory, with showrunner John Wirth & Steven P. Judd penning the script, ends in a notable place. It concludes with Leaphorn being attacked by two unidentified assailants. He had been watching the outside of Sonny Bear Heart’s club while Chee and Bernadette (Jessica Matten) were inside. The duo noticed a long-range camera and binoculars in a nearby building, leaving Leaphorn to be attacked when they went to investigate.

Dark Winds Season 4 Trailer

The identity of the attackers is still not yet known. This is in addition to Chee’s ghost sickness. The character was pressured into taking drugs. He vomited, also, apparently, coughing up blood. However, when Bernadette checked, there was no blood, only vomit. It’s an extension of an area where the AMC showhas always played. Dark Winds has questioned what is real before, including Leaphorn being haunted by monsters. In this case, with Chee’s sickness, it could very well point to something deeper and more serious that needs solving. Dark Winds season 4 drops new episodes on Sundays at 9 PM ET on AMC and AMC+

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Dark Winds

Specifications

Release Date
2022-06-12
Rating
TV-MA
Genres
Crime (Genre), Drama (Genre), Mystery (Genre), Thriller (Genre)
Network
AMC (Network)
Showrunner
John Wirth (Person), Vince Calandra (wm-79056584 | Person)
Cast
Zahn McClarnon (Person), Kiowa Gordon (Person), Jessica Matten (wm-73436095 | Person), Deanna Allison (Person), Natalie Benally (Person), Andersen Kee (Person), Wade Adakai (Person), Elva Guerra (wm-710452329 | Person), A Martinez (wm-7199 | Person), Bruce Greenwood (Person), David Midthunder (wm-7206810 | Person), Jeremiah Bitsui (Person), John Diehl (wm-7466145 | Person), Noah Emmerich (Person), Robert Knepper (wm-7809705 | Person), Robert Redford (Person), Alex Meraz (Person), Sarah Luther (wm-73841839 | Person), Casimere Jollette (wm-75151363 | Person), Daniel Serrano (wm-79471090 | Person), Jade Brennan (wm-79880086 | Person), Nicholas Logan (wm-79246640 | Person), Eugene Brave Rock (wm-79247575 | Person), Ryan Jason Cook (wm-73823590 | Person), Ryan de Quintal (wm-72820968 | Person), Sheypan Draus (wm-710728160 | Person), John Paul Comanche (wm-710801675 | Person), Harrison Lowe (wm-7359564 | Person)
Directors
Michael Nankin (wm-7663989 | Person)
Creator(s)
Graham Roland (Person)
Writers
John Wirth (Person), Steven Judd (wm-7890998 | Person), Max Hurwitz (wm-72638904 | Person), Rhiana Yazzie (wm-75786988 | Person), Thomas Brady (wm-710619626 | Person), DezBaa’ (wm-77858059 | Person)

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2026-03-09 23:09