Jessica Matten Explains That Shock Episode 4 Ending

[This story contains major spoilers from Dark Winds season three, episode four, “Chahalheel” (Darkness Falls).]

The latest episode of Dark Winds, “Chahalheel” (Darkness Falls), ended with a particularly gruesome — and mystifying — death. After admitting to wife Emma (Deanna Allison) his culpability in B.J. Vines’ death and facing her devastating reaction, Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) returns to the police station and tells the on-duty officer that he’ll take over the night watch.

Once Joe left alone — with Halsey (Phil Burke), the suspect, in lockup — the lights flicker out. Joe goes outside to check the fuse box, only to hear strange noises, followed by Halsey’s screams. He rushes back inside, where he finds the prisoner bleeding from the mouth before he dies an agonizing death in Joe’s arms.

Part of the reason Joe is alone in the first place is that Chee (Kiowa Gordon) is a few hundred miles away, having gone to the border to warn Bernadette (Jessica Matten) that she’s fallen in the sights of a criminal organization. While he’s there, he meets her new Border Patrol co-worker and love interest, Ivan (Alex Meraz). Later, realizing it was a mistake to let her leave the Navajo reservation in the first place, Chee asks Bernadette to return home to be with him. Instead, she tells him she’s building a new life for herself and that she’s moved on. When he leaves, she heads to Ivan’s house, where they cement their new relationship.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Matten to ask about her character’s journey this season, her role in the show’s mini Twilight reunion via Gordon and Meraz, and how she feels about being a Canadian in the U.S. during this fraught political moment. (“I’m charging my friends a 25 percent tariff,” she jokes.) She also offers some consolation for viewers who think Bernadette and Chee are meant to be together.

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The big change for Bernadette this season is her decision to leave the Navajo Tribal Police and the reservation to take a job almost 500 miles away at the U.S. Border Patrol. Why do you think she feels so strongly about making her own life away from home?

First of all, following the novels (laughs), but also following internally what Bernadette was going through, I think it’s very relevant to being a woman walking this Earth today and historically, in a “man’s world,” you’re trying to prove your worth, not only to the people around you, but perhaps to yourself as well and show what you’re capable of. I feel that Bernadette has been in a place, coming off season two, of wanting to prove her worth to herself and wanting to grow. The only way to grow, of course, is to painfully break out of the familiar. I think that’s internally first and foremost where she’s coming from.

There’s another aspect I wanted to play a little bit, but not too much, which is her being resentful of being a woman and not being able to climb the ladder, so to speak. It wasn’t necessarily to make her super resentful, because she’s dealing with people who essentially are like family to her: Joe Leaphorn pretty much saved her as a child and took her under his wing. So I wanted to make sure Bernadette wasn’t resentful in that regard, because no matter what, she still is grateful and this man saved her life in a lot of ways. It was about finding that balance, and that balance is playing out in season three in the way of, “I have to go and build a life on my own,” and, “Yes, I miss my family terribly, I miss my community terribly, but I have to be bold and courageous and try this for myself.”

In this episode, Bernadette and Chee reunite for the first time this season. She clearly has some feelings for Chee, but it looks like for now at least, her choice is Ivan. Why did she have the change of heart? Is it related to that resentment you mentioned?

That is something else — I was really excited that Alex Meraz was coming on board to play Ivan, because as you probably know, Kiowa and Alex have a history of acting together. They both started out as the Twilight wolves [Gordon played Embry and Meraz played Paul in the film franchise], so I was talking to Zahn and [showrunner] John Wirth about hiring Alex, because I thought, “Wouldn’t this be the coolest reunion?”

It was funny timing because I had a friend in Paris who took photos of them when they were doing a Twilight convention together a couple of years ago. She captured this yin and yang between Alex and Kiowa in their souls, and I showed that photograph to John Wirth and said, “Look, they are the yin and yang with each other, so I think they would potentially be a very, very good fit for Bernadette to have to struggle between these two men and what they represent.”

Going to why Bernadette pushes Chee away, essentially, I think it’s very typical of human nature that sometimes the things we want, we push away, due to our own trauma. It’s very true you can be with someone, but your sense of home belongs with someone else. I thought it was very interesting as an actor to explore with why Bernadette was doing that and not choosing Chee when all she wants deep down is to still be with Chee. As an actor, I think about the psychology behind why we do the things we do and try to be a scientist of our own lives. It was an opportunity for me to try to dissect that and be like, “Why is she doing that, why isn’t she choosing Chee?” That’s the story I made up in my mind for Bernadette, of why she is essentially choosing Ivan throughout all of this. I also think, to simplify it, us girls sometimes go for the bad buy, we’re attracted to the bad guy, right? (Laughs)

On the professional front, Bernadette is working at the Border Patrol, and she has suspicions about a local businessman, Tom Spenser (Bruce Greenwood). Her boss tells her to stand down, but of course that’s not Bernadette’s way. Is she always going to go with her gut on these kinds of things?

I think being the bold and courageous person that Bernadette is, she always will. I think that’s what makes Bernadette Bernadette. I think that’s why she’s gotten so far with her career to begin with, is that she doesn’t take no for an answer.

I also thought it was cool this season how, as a Native actor, I’m exploring a character’s sexuality. That’s something historically — I’ve been in the business now for 15 years — we were always a little concerned about playing the Pocahontas-type character and being oversexualized. It’s interesting how our presence within the media has changed, and it’s also changed my mindset of being able to tell love stories and show this very human side that, you know, Native people make love, Native people have sex, Native people kiss, and be able to feel empowered to showcase these roles. It’s definitely brought a new kind of empowerment within me as an actor to break out of getting stuck in our own way and being afraid to explore other parts of being human, not basing it on culture or religion and just delving in and doing it and being human.

I feel like we’ve come a long way with all these other shows like Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls and all the Native shows I did back in Canada. We’ve hit a point where it’s OK now, people get it, so it’s OK to show all these other sides like any other culture does, and do it in a still very respectful manner. But just have fun, at the end of the day.

Going back to Bernadette’s investigation, it reminded me of season two, when Joe Leaphorn wasn’t afraid to investigate B.J. Vines even though he was this rich and powerful white man. Since Leaphorn is her mentor, is that drive and fearlessness something she picked up from him?

I think Bernadette feels OK to be in those spaces by observing what Joe Leaphorn has done historically and going on all of these side quests, these journeys with him. Yes, absolutely, she learns from the best and everything she knows in the business is because of Joe Leaphorn, this father figure, of how to navigate as a tribal officer.

I also found it fun to play with Bruce Greenwood in these scenes in his gigantic estate. Ignorance is bliss, and she’s not used to being in these gigantic homes, so I had a great time sitting on a gigantic sofa for the first time in her life, and just feeling with her senses, “What is this?” It is very foreign, so I had a lot of fun on set playing that up, just exploring something as simple as a gigantic couch that she’s never seen in her life, but doing it again with a sense of, “I belong here,” unapologetically.

There’s a point where she says she keeps stepping on a rake, and in episode three, probably against her better judgment, she decided to get into the car with Budge de Baca (Raoul Max Trujillo), and ultimately, he left her stranded on her own in Mexico. As powerful and intelligent as she is, is she outmatched by de Baca?

Absolutely, regardless of how courageous Bernadette is, she’s still a fish out of water. I think ending up on the border like that is a great example of sometimes acting before she’s really thought things through, just the ego that Bernadette has. Very much, if someone is confrontational, she would be the first to swing, and that’s why she ends up in these circumstances. That gets her in trouble. I think that’s her ego at play.

Bernadette isn’t in this storyline, but the end of the episode shows the gruesome death of Halsey, a suspect who’s in the jail under Leaphorn’s watch. It looks like the Ye’iitsoh monster might be behind it. We know from past seasons that Bernadette believes in things of a spiritual or supernatural nature, so what do you think she would make of that?

Bernadette and I are very similar in that regard, where we are both superstitious — we can’t help it, we were raised to be superstitious. It’s like, there’s a part of your brain that is realistic, she has this realistic, rational part of her brain, but at the same time she’s extremely superstitious and spiritual and traditional.

I think she would acknowledge what kind of shit Joe was in and literally just try to be in support of him, if she were there. Culturally, go see your elders, get some knowledge from your elders on what to do at this point, because I think it would be beyond what she knows, when it’s something that severe. I’m just grabbing how I would I act if it was Zahn and I in that situation: “This is above my pay grade, you need to go see your elder right away. You need to see your medicine man or medicine woman, because I don’t know what to do at this point.” I’d be scared shitless.

Right, it’s terrifying! And since there’s a possibility her case is related to Leaphorn and Chee’s, might a trip home be in Bernadette’s future?

I guess you just gotta wait until episode eight!

Zooming out, how are things for you right now?

I just landed in Santa Fe again last night [where the show films]. I’m happy and grateful, given what’s going on in Hollywood, I just wake up every single day and I’m so grateful that we have a season four, and that we’ve built this great team together. Everyone is so kind, really, the cast and crew, and to be able to just have security as an actor, to be able to say, “I have a salary for the year, this is incredible,” and also to be an Indigenous show that’s doing what we’re doing right now, I can’t express how much it means to me to be able to do this. Especially right now, I’ve got acknowledge the fires that happened in L.A. I was there too, and it just makes me feel even more gratitude. I’m full of gratitude.

Were you personally affected at all by the fires?

Out of confidentiality, I’ll just say for people close to me, they lost their homes. I didn’t lose my home, I was grateful, but definitely I was getting all the smoke and it was bad. I had to evacuate with some friends, as well, just hoping things would die down. My heart goes out to everyone, for sure.

I have faith that Hollywood and L.A. will build up again. What else can we do? We all have to keep moving forward to the best of our ability, and that’s kind of the mentality we take with the show as well: We can play a part in keeping people employed and move forward together.

You mentioned earlier having worked in Canada, did you grow up there?

Yeah, I’m Canadian and we have a Native network that’s been a staple in Canada for over 25 years called APTN, which is the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and I think it crossed over to the States [APTN content is available via the ANN streaming network in the U.S.]. There was a TV show that I was a part of called Blackstone, and that did quite well. It was after North of 60 [which ran from 1992-98] and those kinds of shows, it was the next Native show that really created exposure of modern Indians, and it was called Blackstone. I think it was on the air five to six seasons [from 2009-15].

I grew up with Native television being a part of our culture, so it’s very interesting to see it finally reach the United States, and of course the reach the U.S. has is international and global, so it’s very interesting being a part of it growing up but it kind of being in its infant stage in the last five years in a lot of ways in the States. It’s cool to be one of the actors introducing that to the States and internationally with the reach that Dark Winds has, it’s phenomenal. But yeah, I grew up where it’s kind of normalized for a lot of us Natives.

When [Dark Winds exec producer] Chris Eyre first made [the 1998 comedy] Smoke Signals, that was part of the TV that we were getting as kids. We felt so proud of Chris because he was representing something in the States that was exposing contemporary Indians in this setting for really the first time. I always credit Chris for being one of the first people to put Natives on the map in the States, and it’s so cool how Dark Winds is here and he continues to play an integral part of showcasing Natives in ways that we haven’t necessarily seen before.

I really enjoy that about the show — we’ve all seen lots of detective shows before, but Dark Winds has its own specific point of view and it gives a different perspective than other things that are out there.

It has been groundbreaking for me, because as an actor I’ve gotten to break out of the mold of traditionally the kind of roles I’ve been playing. I don’t have to be a “stoic” Native character. We have all these different layers and there’s no limit on the ceiling of what the creators on the show and producers allow us to explore. I hope that we get to continue to create very innovative moments of TV. It’s so cool, it’s such a joy. I think it’s any actor’s dream where there’s no ceiling, it’s like, “Yeah, do whatever you want, Jess. Let’s go!” and to have so many people that make this show be in support of that. My God, what a dream.

What’s it like being a Canadian in the U.S. with everything that’s going on politically?

I’m already charging my friends a 25 percent tariff of my own. (Laughs) “Oh, you want a coffee? Want me to buy you coffee? Add 25 percent to that.”

But it’s a tumultuous time. To be honest, I have a lot of friends who are executives working in the business and I hear and listen to their concerns about the issue with DEI and that some people are trying to eradicate it. I keep reminding them to go with the mindset of “Yes, don’t life in a place of fear, though.” This is the time to be the most courageous, and I know that’s easier said than done but I believe that through these tumultuous times, there is opportunity to be had and to take that with them, all you’ve got to do in times of hardship like this is to pivot.

This is how I’ve operated my entire life. If you’re hitting a wall — or whatever is going on politically and affecting both of our countries, the U.S. and Canada — you’ve got to hold steady and find ways to pivot. Because no matter what, you still have to operate and live your life, whether that’s just on behalf of yourself or for people you have responsibility for.

I just want everyone to know that I’m 100 percent in there with everyone and I’m the first to be everyone’s cheerleader and say, “Just push forward, keep going.” Historically, with time, something has got to give, and something always will give. I can say that being an actor who’s been rejected 1 billion trillion times in their career. Something always gives.

Dark Winds is proof of that, as far as your career.

Yeah, hey, look, I got this great show and I’m still rejected through auditions all the time. (Laughs) That journey never changes. The irony of our business is you can get arrogant, or you can be constantly reminded to remain humble, too. There’s two sides to this. That being said, I like to think about perspective — with everything we’re going through right now politically, finding the inner strength and discipline to change our perspective on what’s going on. I know that sounds kind of silly to say and it’s easier said than done but I feel like sometimes, for our survival, that’s the only way to look at things.

[The political situation] is fucked, excuse my French. I had a friend over last night and it feels like The Handmaid’s Tale come true, and that is frightening. I know they’re trying to get rid of terms and words, and whatever. Well, I exist, I’m walking this this Earth, and you can’t eradicate me with words. I feel that in these times, this is when we as human beings need to band together even more, and hopefully this too shall pass.

You mentioned you just got back to Santa Fe, are you gearing up for season four production?

Oh, this is the nerd in me. (She holds up numerous handwritten pages.) I write all of my dialogue out; I am very old school. It’s back-to-back pages. As an actor, we want to do the best we can, and with TV, we work like 10 times faster than film. To the point when I did a feature film before, I thought something was wrong, because I was like, “Are we literally spending the entire day on two scenes?” We do six scenes a day. I’ve been very well trained and disciplined to work very, very fast and, understanding the pace of television, we have to study in advance as much as we can. There’s no way around it. I lock myself in and just study, study, study. If people have any ideas that we’re living the rock-star life, no, I’m at home memorizing lines by myself around the clock. When I have the weekends off, I’m physically so tired that all I want to do is take a shower, Netflix and chill, and memorize my lines and prep for Monday. (Laughs) That’s how we work.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention before we go?

I have an Indigenous film academy [Indigenous Film & Arts Academy in association with 7 Forward Entertainment], and it’s based just an hour outside of Calgary, Alberta. I work with a lot of students and I’m very transparent about, “If you decide to come into this business, it’s not a cake walk. You’ve got to work hard and you have to take rejection 1 billion times and no matter what point of your career you’re at, you have to be OK with it and not take it personal.” I’m just very transparent about how much work it takes to have longevity in the business. It can be a very magical thing, but it takes a long time.

It’s not just the glamour that people think of.

Right, we do the red carpet thing, we get pretty in dresses and all that. For some people that’s the beautiful payoff, but also part of the payoff is showing up to set prepared and having fun, that’s what I thrive on. I love it.

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Dark Winds season three airs on Sundays on AMC and streams on AMC+. See previous season coverage here.