As Dark Winds gears up for its third season, we are elated to return to the 1970s Navajo Nation to reunite with Lt. Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Sgt. Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), and Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) as they solve mysteries beyond our comprehension. Based on Tony Hillerman’s iconic Leaphorn & Chee mystery novels, the show was recently renewed for a fourth season, which is great news for fans of the neo-Western/detective noir thriller. Before Season 3 premieres, Collider spoke with Kiowa Gordon about his time on Dark Winds and the more personal aspects that go with playing a character like Jim Chee.
Jim Chee Is On an Important Journey Throughout ‘Dark Winds’

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MICHAEL JOHN PETTY: I was so happy to hear that Dark Winds has been renewed for a fourth season ahead of Season 3’s premiere date. What a blessing for you guys. Were you surprised to hear this news so early?
KIOWA GORDON: Yeah, I think it’s always great when we can have that collective held breath. We can exhale and just be like, “Okay, we’re doing another one.” And, you know, it’s great ’cause we’ll be shooting while [Season 3 is] coming out, so it’ll be even that much more fun, I think, to be a part of it on set.
Well, as much as I’d love to talk more about the potential for Season 4, I’m very excited to dive into Season 3. This year, you’re back in Navajoland on the Tribal Police force. How is Jim Chee different this season from his private detective days in Season 2 or his time undercover back in Season 1?
GORDON: Oh man, there’s been so much going on. The evolution from [Season] 1 to 3 right now has been pretty big for him, ’cause he kind of had this illusion that he was doing right and that he had picked the right system to back. And then he got screwed over by [Noah Emmerich’s FBI Agent Leland] Whitover, and so he had to do a little bit more soul-searching.
Season 2 just brought him to a crossroads where he’s getting work here and there as a P.I., but he’s still trying to find himself for real. Getting into Season 3, he’s leaped back into the role of deputy to Leaphorn — he’s a sergeant now that Mauelito has left to take on the border. So, I think it’s a lot on him to be like, “Hey, you know what, I’m gonna give back to the Navajo community. I’m gonna be a police officer and look out for my own people now, just on the reservation, and whatever happens, I’m gonna be ready. And I’m gonna listen and be a full community member.” That’s where he’s at.
‘Dark Winds’ Season 3 Forces Chee To Deal With His Messy Past

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One of the things I loved most about his arc so far is that he’s getting back in touch with those roots. He’s spending time reexamining his life on the Rez. What, if anything, were you able to pull from your own upbringing when exploring Chee’s backstory and history this season?
GORDON: When I was growing up on the Hualapai Reservation — which is just one Rez over from the Navajo, and we are stewards of the Grand Canyon, the west end — and just thinking back, Chee’s been through a lot. He lived up on the Rez. He had this “desert-dweller” lifestyle, and then all hell broke loose when he and his mom had to leave town. And she eventually went on and passed away, and he went on to Berkley and went down to the FBI. I think it’s about this man returning home, and it kind of feels that way, ’cause I’m getting more in touch with the culture that left when I was eight. Going out to Phoenix from the reservation, and just kind of piecing things together there and not really fitting in anywhere. And that’s where I find Jim. It’s like he’s trying to find his place in the world, and so am I. It’s been great to be on parallel lines with him this season.
I hope that we can even delve further into his spirituality, maybe by the end of this season or maybe even into Season 4, because there’s a lot [that] goes on in this season, as you know. He’s gotta fight with what he’s done this season as well, and really look at why he places so much value on being this Navajo man who’s out there being a cop and also has grudges on old adversaries that he can’t seem to quite get over logically. So, it’s fun to see his journey become moreso like… He’s not in it for himself anymore, and I find that that’s where I am too.
You mentioned those old grudges, and one of the things I really liked about Season 3 is the fractured relationship between Chee and Shorty (Derek Hinkley). Shorty represents a time in Chee’s life that he ran away from for so long, but now he’s confronting it.
GORDON: Exactly!
After three seasons, why is now the right moment for Chee to make amends with his past?
GORDON: It’s the only way to move forward. You have to confront your past, you have to confront your trauma and your demons and those who were bullies to you or who were seen as an oppressor. You’ve gotta somehow get out of that, and if you can’t do that by force, you have to do it through either love [or] charity. You have to find a different way, ’cause the hate is only gonna drag you down more and create more hate. And at this point, I think Chee recognizes that.
You can see probably in Episode 2 [“Náá’tsoh (Big Eyes)”] if you’ve seen it… [Laughs] He almost loses it and kind of becomes a bad cop as well as bad community member. And so, I think, having Leaphorn kind of rein him in and really think about what he’s done…. going outside of his job description just because he has an old vendetta against this guy who he hasn’t confronted ever. It’s a lot to reconcile with, and I think Chee is finally embracing the past and coming to acceptance.

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Chee’s Spirituality and Romance with Bernadette Factor Into ‘Dark Winds’ Season 3

Image by AMC

You also mentioned Chee’s progressing spirituality. Last season, he became more open to the supernatural and the Navajo traditions that he’d long dismissed, even carrying a medicine bag of his own by the end. How does that development factor into the way you approach the character going into Season 3?
GORDON: Well, for myself, I feel like it was a reawakening for me, ’cause I find myself to be a very spiritual person, and for this season, it’s helped me kind of hold Chee’s hand a little more, and be a little more non-judgmental of things we can’t explain right away, things we can’t see. I’ve struggled with that my whole life. I grew up Mormon. That was my indoctrination, and I have to kind of completely find a whole new way to find my soul, you know? So, I’ve been trying to infect little pieces here and there with Chee, and not just… He’s not just a guy who’s trying to wear snazzy suits and have cool hair. So, I think it’s going a little deeper than that now. It’s just very, very subtle changes now, but it’s a show, so we have to really build that arc.
After being apart for much of Season 2, Leaphorn and Chee are finally working together again this season — although, this time, Joe is the one with the secret, not Chee, which is a pretty fun shift, I’d say, from Season 1.
GORDON: I know, right? [Laughs]
How did it feel to be on the other end of that unspoken conflict, and does Chee at all suspect Joe’s involvement in B.J. Vines’ (John Diehl) disappearance?
GORDON: I think he has his suspicions, but after finding out that his suspicions can be wrong, I think Chee realizes when Joe is ready, he will talk about it. Because, how do I have the authority at all from Leaphorn to have that? He is allowed to keep his secrets. I kept my secret in Season 1, and he obviously found out super-quick, but it’s kind of like “you reap what you sow.” And I kinda gotta eat crow and I can’t really push on it because I have no right to.
Season 2 also ended with a kiss between Chee and Bernadette…
GORDON: [Laughs]
But Season 3, which picks up months later, largely keeps these two apart. Obviously, fans of the Tony Hillerman books know that these characters eventually get married, but it seems like we may still be a long way off from that here. What hope can Dark Winds fans hold onto regarding their future going into this third season?
GORDON: I mean, hat’s just good TV. You have two characters pining over each other, the “will-they/won’t-they,” so, I think it’s good to stretch it, to really massage the elements of these characters. Their work comes first, and their love lives come second. Sometimes they intertwine, and it’s hard to put one down for the other because we have a job to do — and I think that’s what we’re meant to do in this world.
They can’t really drop everything for this romance, and it’s really hard for them because there’s something inside of them that wants them to. And I think they have their duty to uphold, and what they believe in. So, she has to see this out at the border. Chee’s dealing with Leaphorn and these boys who are lost — or, just one, because [Alonso Rappa’s Ernesto] Cata was found. But, I think fans will be pleasantly surprised by the end of Season 3. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there could be a reunion in the future…
Kiowa Gordon Was Passed the Jim Chee Torch Long Before Being Cast in ‘Dark Winds’

What do you love most about Jim Lee—err, I’m sorry, Jim Chee as a character, and were you familiar with him prior to landing the role on Dark Winds?
GORDON: Yeah — I love Bruce Lee, so that’s funny you said Jim Lee. He’s a super-fan of Bruce Lee, but we don’t get to see it on the show. [Laughs]
Confirmed!
GORDON: But anyways… Yeah, I used to… I would read the books. My dad had a shelf full of Hillerman in our library growing up. These are places that he wrote about just down the way from us on the Hopi and the Navajo, and sometimes crossing over to Route 66 where my reservation is in Peach Springs, Arizona. So, it’s pretty close and I find it interesting…
I first met Chris Eyre, who directed the old PBS TV movies they did with Robert Redford. Adam Beach was playing Chee, and obviously, Joe Leaphorn [was] portrayed by West Studi. Amazing, amazing stuff. And I was like ten or eleven, I went out to set with my mom because she was doing background work on there, and I met Adam Beach and Chris Eyre and, you know… Me and Adam were playing Xbox, Halo, for a few hours when he had some downtime. So, it’s just funny to see it come full circle, like twenty years later, where I am now donning Jim Chee’s mantle. It’s really, really neat to see that, and I just feel so blessed and eternally grateful to have this in my life now. To look back and see where my life was and where I’m at now, it’s just wild to me.
I’ve just got to thank my mom for that, and thanks to Chris Eyre for coming to me and telling me to go out for Jim Chee when the time came, when he was working on it during the pandemic. So, yeah, I know a little bit about him. I love that he’s not a quick-draw guy, he doesn’t like using his gun much. He likes using his noggin a little more, so I really enjoy that part of him.
Without spoiling anything, do you have a favorite moment from Season 3 that you can tease us with until Dark Winds returns?
GORDON: [Laughs] Dang! Favorite moment… You know, I really like what Bernadette’s getting into there at the border. All of it — and her little side-piece that she’s trying to get over Jim Chee with. I’m excited to see how that unfolds.
Dark Winds Season 3 premieres March 9 on AMC and AMC+.