Nearly two years after its third season launch, Lucy Lawless (best-known for portraying Xena: Warrior Princess) returns as private investigator, Alexa Crowe, for eight new episodes of My Life is Murder. Season 4 debuts with two installments on Monday, June 17 on Acorn TV and BBC AMERICA, with additional episodes released weekly. Alexa will continue to seek justice for murder victims and investigate a new series of cases alongside tech guru Madison (Ebony Vagulans), her brother Will (Martin Henderson), cafe owner Reuben, and Detective Harry (Rawiri Jobe).

Lawless expresses her excitement over the premiere, claiming that the past will come back to bite Alexa in the upcoming season. The actor goes on to tease horrifying kills that shocked her to the core and shares her love for her fellow cast mates. In addition to her work in the crime drama, Lawless was beloved as Ron’s girlfriend Diane Lewis in Parks and Recreation.

Screen Rant interviews Lawless about My Life Is Murder Season 4, Xena’s death in the Warrior Princess finale, and whether she thinks her Parks and Recreation character is still with Ron Swanson.

Alexa Will Go On An Uncomfortable Journey In My Life Is Murder Season 4

What struggles might Alexa face this season outside of her investigations?

Lucy Lawless: She comes head to head with the past. The past comes back to bite her. One of the investigations is a very uncomfortable journey for Alexa for reasons that will be revealed.

There are eight different killers over eight episodes. Is there a case that you’re particularly looking forward to fans experiencing?

Lucy Lawless: There are a few of them. There’s one that happens under a house. It was just such a cool set that they built and such a cool idea. That was a really neat murder. The one that shocks me to the core is the very first episode where a woman is waterboarded with champagne. It’s such a horrifying crime because I realized it really could be done. Of course, all murders could be done, but we play fast and loose with some pretty daft weapons in our show. This is something that’s so violent and so mean that it shocked me to the core.

It looks like Madison is becoming even more involved in Alexa’s investigations. What have you enjoyed about that dynamic?

Lucy Lawless: I just love giving Ebony [Vagulans] more to do. It’s so fun for her. Ebony is still in the part of her career where acting is just an utter, utter, utter joy. I like to make her happy.

I’ve noticed that fans really enjoy Alexa and Harry’s relationship. Is there anything you can tease about them in the upcoming episodes?

Lucy Lawless: I can tell you that, off-screen, Rawiri and Joe and I are the best of friends. They are the funniest two guys I’ve ever worked with, and that’s saying a lot. But just off-screen, so funny. I’m not a funny person, but I love to laugh, and I have a crazy Kookaburra laugh, and I hate hearing it erupt out of me, but I can’t stop it with them because they’re just so off the walls.

Lawless Wishes Xena: Warrior Princess Didn’t Kill Its Titular Character

Let’s switch gears to Xena: Warrior Princess. The series ends with her death, which was controversial because of how much fans loved that character. Now that so much time has passed, how do you feel about it? Do you wish Xena’s story ended differently, or are you satisfied?

Lucy Lawless: No, I wish we never killed her. This is the problem. We weren’t thinking about the fans. We were just like, “What’s a really strong choice for the series? What’s dramatically the strongest choice?” But I regret that. And I regretted it quite soon afterwards, because we didn’t understand what we were doing to the fans, and now I do. Now in my line of work, or if I’m directing, every single shot is with the audience in mind. Not just their sort of emotional well-being, but keeping them excited and on the edge of their seats is the name of the game. I just regret that we did that.

The fandom has even continued to grow.

Lucy Lawless: Amazingly, yeah. Now when I go to conventions, the fan base is very surprising to me. There are so many young people, which is probably good, because a lot of our original fans, sadly, have passed away. I know that for a fact—at least the ones who used to come to conventions in Los Angeles. Now it’s like fifty-fifty men and women and all young—people who weren’t even born when the show first aired. So that’s very thrilling and surprising. How can they not reboot it one day? The show’s got legs. It’s still going.

If you had another opportunity to play Xena, even if it was just a cameo in a reboot, would you be interested? Or are you done with that part of your career?

Lucy Lawless: I don’t feel like that, but I think they would have to have a new Xena in a way. They’re going to have to figure out how to do that, to pass the baton. So I’m all for that. If there was a role worth doing, I would do it. It would have to be good, and it would have to do justice and [pay] honor to the original character, because that was one of the most terrific characters of the last century.

I was also a huge Parks and Recreation fan. I love Ron and Diane. Do you believe they’re still together after all these years?

Lucy Lawless: Yes, but they might be having a tough time through this election cycle. Ron is politically quite conservative, and I’m not sure which way he would be going. I’m pretty sure Diane could not follow him.

My Life is Murder Season 4 is coming out, but are there any other projects you have in the works?

Lucy Lawless: Yes. I just directed a film called Never Look Away. It’s a documentary-style film. It’s not, strictly speaking, a documentary because it’s not journalism. It’s not the male gaze, it’s the female gaze, which is all about objective accounts and the emotional motivations of people. That’s been very fun and terrifying and rewarding.

I found this project, and, somehow, we managed to make it happen. And a couple of years later, we were opening Sundance. We did Sundance and SXSW. I’m here at Sundance, London next month, so I’m in London at the moment. That’s been the biggest surprise of my life. My career’s made a hard left turn in a way that I just didn’t see coming, and now I’m addicted.

About My Life Is Murder

Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Parks and Recreation) stars in this contemporary Australian detective drama as retired cop Alexa Crowe. With her old boss (Bernard Curry, Once Upon a Time) regularly asking for her insight on cold cases and a young police data-analyst (Ebony Vagulans) eager to be mentored–whether Alexa wants to or not–Alexa can’t seem to stop solving crime.

My Life is Murder Season 4 drops on Acorn TV and BBC AMERICA in the US on June 17.