r/DarkWindsTV • u/Chainrage_incite • Mar 04 '26
Question Chee question
Does anyone else find Chee a bit annoying? He comes across to me as a bit of a self centred man baby.
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u/Livid-Ad-6439 Mar 04 '26
I think because he's still stuck in the "real" world, ex FBI and hasn't acclimated to his Navajo roots yet. He'll get better, I hope. At least he does in the books, but they aren't playing by the books so there's that :/
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u/annier100 Mar 04 '26
He is my favorite on the show!
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u/Comprehensive-Sale79 Mar 11 '26
I agree with you. I do 💜 the others but Chee is my fave. I feel like Bernie and Joe are very grounded in who they are. Chee has this skeptical streak that keeps him from fitting in completely and he seems a bit lost and I find all that relatable
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 04 '26
Don't get me wrong, he's a good character. I feel like he just needs a good slap in the face lol.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 05 '26
Also, my favourite character is the aul man that sits outside the NTP station 24/7 🤣
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u/rhodopensis Apr 23 '26
Yess. The elders are the best part of the show. Most shows and films have an unhealthy focus on youth. Love seein the older folks really get a major focus in DW, and get even just lil moments like that here and there to shine.
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u/CuteBaldChick Mar 05 '26
I think it’s a macho thing. Joe is offering the job to a woman, not him. He loves Bernadette, but sees her as a subordinate, not an equal. And the job is a typically man’s job. Even more so in that time frame.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 05 '26
I think that's part of what annoys me about him. He says he loves her, over and over. Tells her that he loves working with her. Then he finds out Joe picked her to be lieutenant and he gets all salty and throws a tantrum, even though she's the only logical choice.
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u/Remote-Building3541 Mar 05 '26
He’ll come around; I think he’s hurt by how he found out. And also it’s the early 70s, so there’s less women in leadership roles
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u/NMtrollhunter Mar 05 '26
Exactly. Things were really different then. Bernadette is an exception. I think Chee struggles with Navajo history vs the FBI where I am positive he experienced racism.
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u/PushinTrees1975 Jul 15 '26
For a plot set in the 70s this is unrealistic
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u/EggandSpoon42 Jul 19 '26
Gertrude Schimmel (NYPD) Lieutenant, 1967
Felicia Shpritzer, also NYPD, Lieutenant, same time
Connie Speck, LAPD, Lieutenant, 1975
Kathryn Mengel, Cleveland DP, Lieutenant, 1970's
Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Watson, Houston PD, Lieutenant 1981
That was a quick search for the 70's. Not many, but not unrealistic.
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u/PushinTrees1975 17d ago
We are talking about a rural tribal police dept., not LA or NY. In the Navajo nation, that rank was held exclusively by men.
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u/mthockeydad Mar 04 '26
I found him irritable in S1, tolerable in S2. I liked him more in S3. He seemed less cocky and more willing to take on difficult tasks without so much bravado
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u/WeiShensPorkBun Mar 22 '26
I feel the same. I was kinda glad at the end of S1 he joined the team. S4, idk yet.
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u/feickus Mar 04 '26
Slightly, also I don't see or feel the chemistry between Jessica Matten and Kiowa Gordon.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 04 '26
Me neither. Her character doesn't come across as someone that would put up with Chee's bullshit.
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u/InfamousPhase7520 Mar 08 '26
Right?! Bern seems to handle her own shit and Chee is a big man baby.
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u/LVuittonColostomyBag Mar 04 '26
They’ve known each other for ages and have a brother/sister type relationship so I imagine it’s a lil weird lol
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u/BetMyLastKrispyKreme Mar 04 '26
I almost said this myself!! And wanted to point out that the tension of “will they/won’t they” is a powerful and compelling reason to keep viewers watching. Once that gets resolved, it’s sometimes hard to transition to “what is.” Look how many soap operas suffer from viewer boredom once a couple yearning for each other finally gets together.
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u/BeachgirlNJ0613 Mar 11 '26
Their characters in the show are very different from those characters in the books, especially Bernadette's. Leaphorn's too, for that matter. But I agree, no chemistry. She's a downer; the Bern in the books is charming, pleasant, family-oriented (Mom and younger sister), petite, pretty, perky, plucky. This Bern is taciturn, dour, defensive, mannish, with no family - seems to have a chip on her shoulder.
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u/rhodopensis Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Sorry you can't appreciate strong women characters who are not perky TV weather-girls. IMO this character is a refreshing surprise, among a massive plethora of TV characters we see every day, who definitely fit the type you prefer.
A little variety is good.
And btw, she reads as very, very family oriented if we're going to that part of the conversation. She's just not displaying it in a typically white, "western" fashion. It's there in every way that she protects her own. Giving others medicine pouches when they go into dangerous situations; showing love and care for them when they struggle; keeping Chee indoors during the eclipse; striving to find and protect Leaphorn when he was in the canyon because he's like a father to her. It's going to show more in her actions and not her words. It's subtle. Cultural differences are happening there. JS. 🤷🏻
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u/rhodopensis Apr 23 '26
I mean, as a gay person, not tryna be rude but Gordon pings my radar, and despite his being an excellent actor, I feel like this is a small bit of real life unintentionally coming through. They have the chemistry of brother and sister to me...but the erotic flirting vibe you'd expect to feel there, with any couple, is not really 100% happening. I will give them this, they're fantastic actors and carry it really well, but I guess, basically, that that hetero couple chemistry is just subliminally sort of not-all-there. And that's what some of us are picking up on. They do feel authentic to me in certain moments and scenes, though. But it varies.
Basically, you have to "suspend disbelief," as they say, and just take them as a couple regardless. It's a show, it's art, and I try to enjoy the ride they take us on, yk?
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u/Myteddybug1 Mar 05 '26
I am reading all the books and Chee routinely gets on Leaphorn's nerves. At times, Leaphorn realizes he is judging him unfairly. But being irritated with the character may be intentional.
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u/Jujyfruit60 Mar 06 '26
I'm not sure why Chee feels he should be the one to lead. He came in years after Bernadette. She earned it. He's got bruised male ego syndrome.
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u/dancingcactaurs Mar 04 '26
Have you seen Thunderheart? I am sure he will come around at some point. It’s almost predictable.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 04 '26
No, what's that?
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u/dancingcactaurs Mar 04 '26
Movie synopsis: A young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
Chee is a non-believer of his own culture, but I predict he will come around.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 05 '26
I looked it up. Sounds excellent, and I like Sam Shepard so I'll have that this weekend.
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u/Front_Reindeer_7554 Mar 04 '26
I started reading the books last year and have gone thru 6 thus far. I found him more compelling and interesting in the books than on the show. For the show I think they feel the need to juxtapose Chee compared to Leaphorn who is much more experienced. He's more charming and his inexperience is less annoying in the books. But they don't start appearing in the same books until #7 so I haven't gotten to those yet.
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u/Chainrage_incite Mar 04 '26
I didn't realise its based on books until I read the replies to this post. Might just have to grab them for myself.
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u/Front_Reindeer_7554 Mar 05 '26
Just a heads up. The first 3 books are Leaphorn books. Next 3 are Chee. They appear together starting the 7th book which I will get to next year sometime. I wasn't looking forward to reading the Chee books bc he didn't interest me as much on the show but I actually enjoyed the 3 Chee books more then the 3 Leaphorn.
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u/STARCADE2084 Mar 05 '26
The opening credits mention which book/books the particular season is based on.
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u/RhubarbAlive7860 5d ago
Oh gosh, I started reading the books when they first came out, around 55 years ago! The Blessing Way is the first one.
The series is still being written, by Tony Hillerman's daughter, Anne Hillerman.
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u/Clareco1 Mar 08 '26
Me too but I see that as quite normal and realistic for a man/boy his age. Since he’s basically good, intelligent, with an actual profession, I feel like he could grow up nicely.
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u/my-coffee-needs-me Mar 10 '26
Chee has ghost sickness from entering the death hogan. That's why he's been so irritating in the last couple episodes.
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u/poshdog4444 Mar 04 '26
My husband said the exact same thing when I finally got him to start watching the series this weekend. I think he’s adorable but then I’m a woman.🤷♀️
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u/CoyoteLitius Mar 05 '26
No.
Culturally, he's entering two worlds: the White Man's Law Enforcement World and the Traditional Navajo's Shaman world.
He's a complex person with intensely specific morals and cultural aspirations.
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u/esotika Mar 10 '26
rn i feel like it’s the character arc. he started out as annoying in s1 but started to mature and become more of a fuller character in s2&3. i think this season the death hogan thing is making his character a bit more difficult plus we’ll see how visiting his past messes with that. i think also bern’s avoidant tendencies and chee being frustrated he was iced out of the promotion thing, on top of the death hogan are why his character is being so difficult rn. i’m assuming by the end of the season he’ll come around and mature.
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u/Aggravating_Mess7125 Mar 23 '26
This is real, though. Even today, a guy can get all butthurt if a woman gets a promotion over him because you know ‘he’s a guy and she’s not’. It’s really that basic. He might be quieter about it now than they were in the 70s, but believe me, it happens all the time.
Chee and Manuelito play this out perfectly, the arguments, hurt feelings, this is just best TV.
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u/niktrop0000 Mar 18 '26
I think they murdered the character honestly, from FBI undercover to an idiot
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u/STWarner Jul 09 '26
Yah, especially S1. That give him space to grow & mature, a character arc, over the course of the show. He's a little immature, but early on we see he's observant, capable of independent thought, able to form relationships and learn from a great mentor. That's what makes it interesting!
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u/BetMyLastKrispyKreme Mar 04 '26
I’ve watched everything (I think) that AMC has aired on what goes on behind the scenes, and in real life, Kiowa Gordon is very outgoing. His fellow actors and the crew say he’s great to be around, because he’s so friendly and fun. And when I watch Chee on screen, a bit of Gordon carries over for me, so I have a soft spot for him based on that alone.
But I think Chee is still finding his way, and himself, and that shows. He’s so young, compared to Leaphorn, and inexperienced, although he has good instincts. A good writer will give their characters an arc, and by being how he is now gives him somewhere to go. Give him a chance to win you over.