Zahn McClarnon will be back as Lt. Joe Leaphorn when the popular AMC series kicks off Season 4.
“I had this badge for four years before I saw my first murder. Now it just feels like every day. It’s hard having to hold it all.”
Those are the words of Lt. Joe Leaphorn, spoken by C&I reader favorite Zahn McClarnon with equal measures of weary resignation and plaintive melancholy, and heard during the opening seconds of the first teaser trailer for Season 4 of Dark Winds.
AMC released the trailer this week by way of announcing that the addictively enthralling series, based on the novels of Tony Hillerman, will return for an eight-episode run next February 15. We can hardly wait, because it certainly looks, and sounds, like we’re in for another round of riveting neo-noir, neo-western drama.
In addition to McClarnon, other returning series regulars include Kiowa Gordon (The Red Road, The Twilight Saga) as Jim Chee, Jessica Matten (Rez Ball, Tribal) as Bernadette Manuelito, Deanna Allison (Accused, Edge of America) as Emma Leaphorn, and A Martinez (Longmire, Far Haven) as Scarborough Police Department Acting Chief Gordo Sena.
This time, however, there will be a striking change of scenery.
According to AMC: “The series’ gripping fourth season focuses on the search for a missing Navajo girl, which takes Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito from the safety of Navajo Nation to the gritty terrain of 1970s Los Angeles in a race against the clock to save her from an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime.”
Yikes!
Chief among the new cast members: Isabel DeRoy-Olson (Fancy Dance) as Billie Tsosie, a resourceful Navajo teenager who wants to connect with her people outside of her boarding school, but quickly finds herself in over her head; Chaske Spencer (Wild Indian, The English) as Sonny, a recruiter for a Los Angeles crime ring who uses his charm and menace to lure young Native American men recently relocated to the city into a life of crime; and Luke Barnett (911: Lone Star, For All Mankind) as FBI Special Agent Toby Shaw, who arrives in L.A. searching for answers to a mystery involving one of his friends.
Also on board for Season 4: Titus Welliver (Bosch, Deadwood) as Dominic McNair, a ruthless crime boss who imports and exports drugs and stolen luxury goods into and out of Los Angeles; and Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, The Bourne Supremacy) as Irene Vaggan, a character not yet described in detail by AMC publicists.
Just in case you want to catch up with the earlier chapters of Dark Winds: Netflix, which already streams Season 1 and 2 episodes, will add Season 3 to its lineup starting Monday, October 27. All three seasons also are available on AMC+.
Meanwhile, we’re still wondering: Joe and Emma are going to get back together, right? Right!?!?!
