{"id":286322,"date":"2026-02-16T06:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/286322\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:09:08","slug":"dark-winds-season-4-premieres-with-linda-hamilton-cameo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/286322\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dark Winds’ Season 4 Premieres With Linda Hamilton Cameo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains spoilers from the Dark Winds<\/a> season four premiere, \u201cKo\u2019Tsiit\u00e1\u00e1 \u00c1ln\u00e9\u00e9h\u201d (Baptism by Fire).]<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you weren\u2019t sure how Dark Winds could possibly top the emotionally devastating events of season three<\/a> \u2014 which saw Joe Leaphorn confront past trauma and face his wife\u2019s decision to leave him, as Bernadette was betrayed while working for the Border Patrol and killed a man in self-defense \u2014 you were not alone.<\/p>\n

\n\tKiowa Gordon<\/a>, who plays Jim Chee, tells The Hollywood Reporter that\u2019s right where he was: \u201cIt was really nice when I got the first couple of scripts for season four, because after season three, I was like, \u2018What do we do after this? What are the writers going to cook up next?\u2019 But it\u2019s just been a joy to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdds Jessica Matten<\/a>, who plays Bernadette: \u201cThat\u2019s all due to the writers room, where they come up with these brilliant emotional moments that each character has, exploring different layers of their personalities. I get excited when I see the scripts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTHR caught up with Gordon and Matten, as well as showrunner John Wirth, star Zahn McClarnon <\/a>(Leaphorn) and new cast addition Franka Potente to talk about those fascinating character revelations and the high-stakes case that the Navajo Tribal Police are tasked with solving before it\u2019s too late in season four.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first episode, which aired Sunday night, also ends with a title card paying tribute to Robert Redford<\/a>, who executive produced and was a driving force behind the series<\/a>. Redford died in September at the age of 89. His final role was making a surprise cameo<\/a> in the third season alongside fellow executive producer George R.R. Martin<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new season wastes no time in introducing the newest threat to safety on the Navajo reservation. In the opening scene, a Native teen named Billie (Isabel DeRoy-Olson) sits with a young man in a diner, finishing her milkshake. They get into an argument, and meanwhile, a van drives up in the darkness. A blond woman enters the diner with a gun. A shootout quickly ensues, and Billie and her companion just barely make it to their car \u2014 but not before the man is shot.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe menacing blond shooter, who we know little about at this point, is played by German actress Potente (best known for the Bourne Identity franchise and the 1998 film Run Lola Run). Wirth explains that in Tony Hillerman\u2019s novel The Ghostway, on which the season is based, \u201cthe character of Vaggan [Potente\u2019s character] is very much like Colton Wolf, [the villain from] season two, played beautifully by Nick Logan. So my first thought was, \u2018This character should be a woman.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor her part, Potente says that although she wasn\u2019t previously familiar with Dark Winds, her interest was immediately piqued when Wirth approached her about playing the season\u2019s villain. \u201cI always pay attention when I hear that. It\u2019s always fun; it\u2019s so liberating. I was like, \u2018I need this liberation right now.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrank Potente as Irene Vaggan in Dark Winds.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Moriatis\/AMC<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJohn was so awesome and sweet,\u201d she continues. \u201cIn our first conversation, it was clear he was going to give me a lot to work with, but he was also open and collaborative and, of course, then I started watching the show and I was like, \u2018Oh yeah, I want to be part of this.\u2019 It\u2019s such a cohesive world, set [in the 1970s] in this Navajo reservation context that was kind of new to me. I just didn\u2019t know much about it, and one of the many awesome things about our job is that we get to immerse ourselves in worlds we don\u2019t know anything about.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMatt Damon used to say to me, \u2018It\u2019s so funny, as actors we know a lot about everything. We always get to play this character who has this specific task, and then we learn it just enough so that we can fake it,\u2019\u201d Potente adds. \u201cSo, to be for a couple of months immersed in this world that was already solid and established in such a detailed, awesome way, that\u2019s a gift, always. You don\u2019t say no to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom the shooting at the diner, the episode time-jumps backward 15 hours, as Joe Leaphorn is going about his daily life after his wife, Emma (Deanna Allison), left him at the end of season three. Soon it\u2019s revealed that he has decided to retire.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s had a lot of issues [from the trauma he faced in previous seasons] and coming into this season, his marriage has imploded,\u201d says Wirth. \u201cIt kind of makes sense for him to think, \u2018Maybe it\u2019s time to hang up my spurs and work on healing myself and reconnecting with the Navajo man inside me, and reconnecting with the landscape and my culture and my wife, who\u2019s a very traditional woman. Maybe there\u2019s hope for us if I can find my way back to myself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Leaphorn bumps into a couple he knows well: recently retired Scarborough Police Chief Gordo Sena (A. Martinez) and his wife, played in a surprise cameo by Linda Hamilton <\/a>(fresh off her run in the final season of Stranger Things).<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes McClarnon, \u201cI worked with Linda in the early \u201890s on a film called Silent Fall with Richard Dreyfuss. She played Richard\u2019s wife.\u201d He adds with a touch of awe, \u201cShe was in The Terminator, and to be around her was a big thrill. And to see her again, 30 years later, to work with her again, and she still has that amazing spirit, I was just so happy that John and AMC, we were able to get her onto the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt soon becomes clear that Mrs. Sena is struggling with dementia, as she mistakes Joe for his father. Joe offers some words of encouragement to his disheartened friend Gordo, telling him not to give up on his wife when she needs him, in a sign of how much reflecting Joe has been doing lately.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKiowa Gordon as Jim Chee and Jessica Matten as Bernadette Manuelito in Dark Winds season four, episode four.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Moriatis\/AMC<\/p>\n

\n\tElsewhere in the episode, Chee and Bernadette enjoy some much-deserved domestic happiness after they coupled up at the end of season three. Says Wirth, \u201cI enjoyed working on those scenes in the premiere where they\u2019re in the trailer having dinner, and she\u2019s like, \u2018Aren\u2019t you worried about how it\u2019s going to be if we\u2019re working together?\u2019 and he says, \u2018Tell me what to be worried about and I\u2019ll worry about it.\u2019 It\u2019s so real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMatten admits that things aren\u2019t quite perfect for the new couple, as Bernadette struggles with the decision of whether to return to the police force. \u201cBernadette literally just cold-blooded murdered someone,\u201d she notes. \u201cWe were talking a lot about, how do you transition from that to a loving relationship and being present for that?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn my personal life, I used to work at a lot of high-risk Indigenous group homes, and I worked with people who are incarcerated and who have experienced murder, and you\u2019re not in a lovey-dovey place,\u201d she adds. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to deal with your trauma. We were trying to find a way within the show to incorporate that, and I think the writers did a brilliant job of showing how someone wants to be present and yet at the same time you\u2019re dealing with so much inner turmoil. And like in any relationship dynamic, how a partner\u2019s trying to be there for you to the best of their ability, without understanding what\u2019s emotionally going through your head. So, you see that dynamic play out at the top, and you get to see Bernadette in a vulnerable position for once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Chee and Bernadette are adjusting to their new relationship dynamic, Leaphorn stops by and tells Bernadette that not only is he retiring, but he wants her to take his place as the leader in the department. Despite her ambitions, Bernadette feels like this is a lot of responsibility, and it puts her in a difficult situation because Chee is also qualified to take the top job.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis being in the \u201870s, there\u2019s still not a lot of female leadership that\u2019s out there in society,\u201d Matten notes, \u201cso [there are different] dynamics of her winning a position of leadership over a man, and how that could potentially interfere with or disrupt their relationship dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUltimately, she decides to come back to work at the Navajo Tribal Police and quickly starts helping Leaphorn and Chee on the case of the runaway girl, Billie. After visiting Billie\u2019s boarding school \u2014 which Bernadette also attended \u2014 she gets a lead, which brings the episode full-circle to the diner, where they confirm Billie is currently eating with her cousin, Albert Gorman.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnfortunately, the heroes arrive too late to prevent the murder of the cook and waitress who worked there. They search the abandoned diner as distorted music emanates from a shot-up jukebox, but there\u2019s no sign of Billie.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill they find her? We\u2019ll have to wait for the answer to that question. <\/p>\n

\n\tDark Winds airs on AMC and streams on AMC+, with new episodes airing weekly on Sundays. Check back with THR for more insights from the show\u2019s team as the season progresses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains spoilers from the Dark Winds season four premiere, \u201cKo\u2019Tsiit\u00e1\u00e1 \u00c1ln\u00e9\u00e9h\u201d (Baptism by Fire).] If you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[84722,156,54799,84735,84734,115869,111,139,69,26287,437,84733],"class_list":{"0":"post-286322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-dark-winds","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-george-r-r-martin","11":"tag-jessica-matten","12":"tag-kiowa-gordon","13":"tag-linda-hamilton","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz","17":"tag-robert-redford","18":"tag-tv","19":"tag-zahn-mcclarnon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}