We got the sad news last week that Walker was not renewed for a fifth season by the CW, which left a very disappointed fandom, cast and crew. At a convention in Germany this weekend, fans showed EP and lead actor Jared Padalecki just how grateful they were for four years of this show, the entire audience of thousands holding up messages that said Thank You For Walker.
Other fans who weren’t at the con also took to social media to post their own “Thank You For Walker” messages, me included.
Padalecki was visibly moved, thanking the fans and exclaiming he had “all the feels”.
I will be so sorry to see this show go, especially after this season’s dark and twisted story lines – but I am going to enjoy every single one of the final episodes until then!
Last week’s Walker saw us finding out finally one of the mysterious people we’ve been looking for – the woman who’s looking for that necklace. We also get more obsessed Cordell and like-father-like-daughter Stella, worried Augie and Liam and Trey, and for a change of pace, some adorable romantic Cassie and Luna.
Cassie and Luna Get Serious
We also get snuggling Cassie and Luna (and more shirtless Luna because this show definitely knows its fandom).
Cassie introduces him to her big brother on a double date with Liam and Ben.
Luna: Yeah Liam is big and strong, he can protect me.
I kinda love Ben and Cassie and their sibling energy.
Cassie: But don’t be weird about it, or anything else for that matter.
Ben: Who me?
Cassie: Oh no.
After a sort of interrogation courtesy of big brother, Cassie worries that maybe a long distance relationship won’t work, and Luna says he’s not sure where he’ll settle down. Ben confronts her about making sure a long term relationship is really what she wants, but she insists it is.
Cassie and Luna discuss the long term thing, but it turns out it’s not actually a problem – Luna put in a request for a transfer to Austin!
More kissing ensues. I love the way Cassie pushes Luna’s hair back, it’s so … affectionate? Hot? Both?
Ashley and Justin have some amazing chemistry, that’s for sure.
Cordell Is Not Fine
Everyone is still very worried about Cordell, and with good reason. Fresh from a CT scan from his blow to the head, Walker can’t stay away from the case or HQ. He’s almost disappointed that Boyle didn’t turn out to be the Jackal – he’s definitely not, though, because he’s actually dead, possibly killed by the Jackal himself.
Cordell insists he’s fine (repeatedly), and understandably is having a hard time giving up responsibility for a case that got dumped in his lap to protect someone he cares about very much (James). After all this time, he just wants this to be OVER.
Pretty much sent home by James, he stares at the wall of weird, totally sucked in by it, startling when Trey comes over. (The ultra close ups are a great visual cue to just how much Walker has tunnel vision at this point, unable to see anything else.) Walker wanted him to bring over the new evidence, but Trey says he wasn’t able to, possibly because he’s also trying to get Walker to take a break. Cordell admits he doesn’t really know what he’s looking for, and is frustrated that he’s been benched.
Trey: You ever think that Cap was right about taking a break, taking it easy?
Cordell: Yeah, maybe you’re right, maybe I should. Maybe I’ll go for a jog, clear my head.
Liam offers to go with him for a jog, and apologizes for being harsh the other day. Walker says he should be the one apologizing, that it’s understandable Liam is worried about him spinning out, but he’s good. (He’s not). At least the brothers are okay again – but Cordell goes right back to work as soon as Trey leaves.
Walker: I just said that to Trey so he wouldn’t narc to James.
Oh, Cordell.
Liam isn’t fooled. And for the first time in this episode, we get a worried family member who’s younger than Cordell putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder and trying to get him to take a break.
Cordell picks up the bag of rope again after Liam leaves, and it gives me the creeps.
Liam knows Cordell is a little “off”, convinced it’s happening again, the tunnel vision that happened with the Rodeo Kings. Liam remembers how concerned Hoyt was about it back then too, something he shares with Trey. Trey promises to speak to James.
Like Father Like Daughter
Witt comes to Stella and scares her even more, saying the mysterious woman found him and he’s gonna find Stella too. I don’t know if Witt means to be manipulative or if he’s just terrified himself, but every time Stella starts to maybe get a grip, he knocks her off her feet (and good sense) once again.
Interestingly, when Witt sees Stella’s wall of weird, he says “Like father, like daughter.” How does he know?
I’m not even sure why Stella is helping him so much – he was a stranger to her! Why trust him? Why so much loyalty? And now Witt is trying to find “Duke” aka Walker, and that can’t be good. As they leave, a bunch of bad guys in a van grab Witt, but Stella somehow gets away.
Witt is interrogated by the mysterious woman, Joanna, who is definitely a scary villain who means business – and roughs Witt up even though he swears he can still get the necklace.
Augie overhears the conversation with Trey and Liam about the letters that Hoyt gave Liam back then, so of course he tells his sister.
Stella considers asking their dad about the necklace, but now Augie isn’t sure, feeling worried about him and sharing the information about the letters. Stella immediately goes back into find-the-necklace mode.
Augie: To be honest, you’re kinda starting to sound like Dad.
She’s lying like him too, not even telling Augie that she met with Witt or about the attempted abduction.
Oh, Stella.
She interrogates Liam, who’s working on a surprise anniversary gift for Ben aww, lying again saying it’s to help her understand what her dad is going through right now. Liam does not want to think about those dark times, and who can blame him when he almost lost his brother?
Since apparently Hoyt never gave the letters to Liam, Stella then tears apart the club where Hoyt worked looking for the letters.
Witt helps Stella with the search to no avail. (Too bad we didn’t get a flashback of Hoyt aka Longhorn dancing….)
Stella: My uncle Hoyt was a bit of a Renaissance man…
The bad guys turn up there too, and Witt proves himself not an entirely bad guy by helping Stella escape. Stella does get a few good kicks in from her self defense training though. Witt admits it was him who wrote the scary message on her window. She thanks him for coming back for her, but seriously Stella, you wouldn’t be in danger in the first place if it wasn’t for him!
Joanna is now onto Stella and this is not a good thing.
Joanna: How’s your brother’s boot camp readiness? And your grandmother, she sure does order a lot of flowers… Well, accidents happen…
Even Witt now thinks they should go to the cops, but Stella thinks the necklace must be at the Sidestep and says good bye to him. Oh, Stella.
Like Mother Like Son
August is kinda the hero of this episode. He asks his dad to come with him on a school photo assignment to force him to take a break and remind him of other things in life that are important – taking his mom’s camera to do it. Augie says he wants to recreate a photo of his dad posing by the river which he found.
Cordell almost says no even to that, which is heartbreaking, but Augie doesn’t give up. He also pulls the thing that every parent has experienced multiple times by saying the assignment is due tomorrow – and Cordell pulls the face that every single one of us parents has pulled when this happens.
Me included.
Eventually Cordell agrees.
(That photo reminds me so much of the photos Jake Abel took of Jared as Supernatural neared its end, known in the fandom as “Bravealecki”)
Cordell: My back never looked so good…
They have some nice father and son bonding, and we get an impromptu Jared photo shoot and damn he looks so good in that black hat and casual clothes instead of his Ranger gear.
We also see that Cordell is on edge though, looking over his shoulder and getting momentarily distracted, then giving his attention back to posing for his son.
Padalecki did a great job portraying Sam Winchester’s hypervigilance and trauma on Supernatural and he does a great job here too – all those little physical tells let you really feel how on edge Cordell is, no matter how much he genuinely wants to be in the moment with his son.
Eventually Cordell is sure he’s hearing something dangerous in the bushes.
He turns to Augie and runs back, in full protective dad mode.
And accosts some poor dude who was photographing a kingfisher.
Photographer dude: Get help!
Cordell turns to his son, distraught, trying to explain.
Cordell: I thought he – don’t be mad, okay?
Augie is calm. It’s such a heartbreaking switch of parent and child; it’s usually the teenager saying “don’t be mad”.
August: I’m not mad, I’m not – we should just go home.
Walker tries to make it right.
Cordell: Hey buddy no no, let’s get the shot…
Augie: I already got the shot, Dad.
Augie assures him he really did get the shot, and then confides that he thought Cordell needed a break.
August: And this was… I think this was the last photo that Mom ever took of you. Maybe even the last photo she took ever.
That sinks in; you can see how bad Walker feels.
Cordell: August I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I’m sorry.
August: Look Dad, you’ve been through a lot. Whatever you’re going through, you might want to talk to someone, okay?
He puts his hand on his father’s shoulder, suddenly more like the parent than the son. It’s a mirror of what Cordell’s little brother did earlier that day.
Jared Padalecki and Kale Culley were amazing in this scene – these are always my favorite type of scene, when the genuine emotion and family turmoil and psychological angst come through loud and clear. You can see how worried August is, and he’s grown up enough now to not overreact, to be the one staying calm and rational and trying to help his father. You can see how shaken Cordell is, and how guilty he feels for scaring his son, for not being the dad in that moment and needing his son to console him.
So well done.
Can’t Walk Away
We get one of the show’s signature double montage to a great song scenes to end the episode, Stella tearing apart the Sidestep and Walker obsessively going through the wall of weird, both of them with single minded tunnel vision trying to figure out a dark mystery.
“Blood runs deeper than water” are the lyrics that play as we see just how much Stella Walker is like her dad.
James interrupts Cordell working on the wall of weird at HQ, who somewhat guiltily takes off those scary black gloves.
Walker: You told me to take a day and I did. It was nice. But the truth is, I won’t… I can’t… be a good father, friend, partner until I get this guy off the streets. The only thing I can be good at now is being a Ranger.
Stella sits looking at a torn apart SideStep, empty handed. Then she notices Denise the Deer (not actually a deer) on the wall – and of course that’s where Hoyt would hide something important. She finds the letters to her and Augie, and one for Geri – but no necklace. There is, however, a map of the Wynn D Collins Museum where it was stolen from.
The plot thickens…
I’m with this show until the end, and very sad that this will be its final season. But I’m gonna enjoy the wild ride until the final episode! Don’t miss a brand new episode of Walker tomorrow night!
Caps spndeangirl
–Lynn
You can read all about Jared Padalecki’s
experience with fandom and being a fan
himself and how that’s gotten him through
some tough times in Family Don’t End
With Blood – info and links at:
