Kicking off with an elaborate helicopter-getaway bank heist and a mysterious double murder in a hotel room, Dark Winds' first season packed its fair share of twists and turns. But in terms of secrets and surprises, those criminal activities couldn't hold a candle to Jim Chee's increasingly unexpected character arc.
Played by the talented Kiowa Gordon, the undercover FBI agent's story was stuffed with enough lies, betrayals, and crime-scene cover-ups to support its own series. Toss in his complicated relationship with potential love interest/law enforcement colleague Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and it's no wonder the season closed without answering all questions surrounding the El Camino-driving Chee.
Thankfully, Wide Open Country recently caught up with Gordon (prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike), who was more than happy to elaborate on his character's complex journey and where it will take Chee, Bernadette - and the audience - in the highly-anticipated second season of the acclaimed neo-Western.
Wide Open Country: Jim's character arc, both personally and professionally, was a bit of a roller coaster last season. Where is he at the start of Season 2, especially in regard to his relationships with Leaphorn and Bernadette?
Kiowa Gordon: Yeah, all those connected relationships, professional and personal, I think it kind of rocked him. And he's in between, where he is now and where he wants to be. He's still trying to learn and unlearn from past mistakes. And to learn from those and to right some wrongs, and to give back to the community.
He's trying to find a way to navigate all that again and come back to it, even though it's ripping open old wounds and finding peace with that. Hopefully, after working on himself and working a few cases, getting some money, he can get back into good graces with Bernadette and maybe even the Leaphorns.
He's longing for that acceptance and understanding. And you know, we're all human, so I think he wants to have those relationships that he can foster into something that actually mean something to him. And I think this season, they're going into a good place.
Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC
Wide Open Country: The first season's finale leaves it pretty open-ended as to whether Jim will work with Leaphorn and Bernadette again, but Season 2 clearly sees them collaborating. So what gets the band back together, so to speak?
Kiowa Gordon: Yeah, I think he needed to really work on himself first. And he needed the freedom to live in a little motel room, solving little cases here and there for the communities surrounding his motel. And then, you know, episode 1, we get thrust into this new story, this new case, and these new characters that join us. It's just a very awesome way that we come back together because we hadn't seen each other for a while. It's a fun ride this season.
Wide Open Country: Can you share some details on what that fun ride entails and where it will take fans?
Kiowa Gordon: So there's a lot more going on. There's an assassin on the loose, blowing up people, killing people. And I'm on the case with the lovely Jeri Ryan's character, Rosemary Vines. And she's not all she appears to be. And I can smell that, and I'm a little skeptical, but also curious.
And then that case gets intertwined with Joe Leaphorn's case and what he's going through dealing with the aftermath of finally putting his son's memory...and what he's lost with him and his wife...to rest.
Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC
Wide Open Country: Sounds like a lot, and that's without even digging into what's happening with Jim and Bernadette's rocky relationship.
Kiowa Gordon: Yeah, there's a lot of resentment that Bernadette has for Chee because he was under false pretenses with her the whole time in Season 1. So I think they're trying to get back to a place where they can actually communicate. But it's been hard for him because he's never had to do this before...he's never had to go back and apologize to someone and try to win them over.
Wide Open Country: Is repairing that relationship sort of a season-long journey or can fans expect an early "happily ever after" for Jim and Bernadette?
There's a lot of push-back at first, but, full spoiler disclosure, I get shot at the end of episode 1, Season 2. And I start thinking, like, "I could have died. I'm mortal here. This sucks." And I'm just thinking about Bernadette and what I screwed up there. And she's probably like, "Oh, could I live without this dude? Should I reach out?"
But she ends up just coming in and talking to me to get a police statement because she's doing her job. And I'm just trying to apologize, trying to get back into good graces with her. But it's gonna be a long road. It's not gonna be easy, and it's not gonna happen fast. There's a lot I have to atone for.
Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC
Wide Open Country: Jim's obviously a bit of a flawed character, but what do you think his strengths are? Anything you're particularly proud of?
Kiowa Gordon: He's a resilient guy. He's also determined, and he can't let his guard down much, especially in front of the people he interacts with. But there's a lot happening to him that we don't see off-screen, so there's lots of subtext. So I think it's a strength of his to kind of...not in a toxic way...but to have that machismo at that time, in the '70s.
And I think it's a strength of his because he's trained in the arts of going undercover, being an FBI agent. He's training for things, and he has a certain set of skills that only he can possess for himself. And he's a smart guy; he goes a little deeper case by case. In Season 2, he's just always thinking. He's the long thinker...that's his war name.
Wide Open Country: On the subject of strengths, what do you think allows the series to stand out from all the westerns we've seen pop up since Yellowstone's success?
Kiowa Gordon: I mean, right off the bat, it's a wholly Native-led cast and a Navajo story focused on the Navajo. And it's in 1971. There's a huge aesthetic there, a huge part of culture and history in that time going on. The Vietnam War is going on, the moon landing... the lunar module...they take the first car on the moon, and we put that into this season, which is a nice little touch.
And the clothes, the hair, the styles. I think it just popped, especially this season. Last season, it's kind of like, "Oh, this is the '70s?" But I think you see it more so this season. And this season, it's winter time, there's snow on the ground, and it's cold. It was just a fun little shoot.
Wide Open Country: As a fan, is there anything you particularly appreciate about the show's approach to the genre?
Kiowa Gordon: I like the whole film noir aspect of it. I love stuff like that. And you know, I'm just a student of cinema and old Hollywood and all that stuff. And I just love being immersed in that world. There's turmoil between characters; there's drama between cops and bad guys, murderers and mystery. And it's just an intriguing show to me. And hopefully, it resonates with the audience.
