The “Walker” cast and crew didn’t know for sure whether they would be picked up for a fifth season when they filmed this final episode, but it actually works strikingly well as a series finale too. I’m grateful for that, because many of us were quite attached to this show and were expecting more seasons.
Its numbers were good, so that expectation wasn’t unreasonable, but unfortunately the CW as a network is headed in a different direction – one that didn’t leave room even for a successful and popular show like this one.
I’ve spoken with some of the cast and others who worked on the show, and they were all hopeful too. So, this was a tough ending for them, and I’m sure very frustrating not to be able to tie up all the loose ends and film a true series finale.
Nevertheless, this one did feel satisfying as it brought to a close the main storylines of this past season and even ones that have spanned multiple seasons. I hope the cast and crew know that we appreciate their hard work on this episode, and their hard work on all four seasons.
I know Jared Padalecki knows, because I told him. The unexpected ending was hard on him as the EP of the show, of course, feeling responsible for so many cast and crew. But the “Walker” fandom was celebrating during the finale too, enjoying the ride right up to the end.
This show ending felt emotional for me too because “Walker” came on just as my favorite show of all time, “Supernatural,” was ending. It provided some continuity for fans of Jared Padalecki, who were accustomed to having him on our screens every week for the past 15 years – more if you were a “Gilmore Girls” fan. The “Supernatural” ending felt like a huge change for many of us, and “Walker” helped ease that loss while also giving us a whole new family to love.
I really liked this episode. Its title is even perfect – not goodbye, but “See You Sometime.”
The Aftermath
The best thing about this episode – and I told Jared this too – is that the show doesn’t gloss over Cordell’s trauma from being buried alive and almost killed by the Jackal. He’s trying very hard to be “normal” and hold it together, making a big breakfast for the kids and asking Geri if she needs him for anything.
He’s also trying to make it up to all of them for the time he spent distracted and away, caught up in the case. Geri says not to come over, that he’d be too much of a reminder to Cassie of what happened. Which, fair, but I still don’t think that was his fault.
As he’s talking, he starts the blender to make a smoothie and immediately has a flashback, since that’s what the Jackal used to make the fruit puree he force fed his victims. Geri’s voice calls him back, but she can tell he’s rattled.
Geri: You’re okay. I’m here.
She reassures him that she loves him (though she probably should tell him to go get some therapy instead of just reassuring him that he’s okay, since he’s probably not – and understandably so!)
Most people give Cordell a pretty damn hard time for someone who just almost died and who is clearly trying very hard to make it up to everyone that he wasn’t there for while he was immersed in the case. It’s been a theme of this show, and it makes me have a lot of empathy for Cordi. He tries so hard, and nobody really cuts him a break most of the time.
Cordell wants to celebrate August’s last day of senior year, so he makes a big delicious-looking breakfast and tells Augie how proud he is of all he’s accomplished over the last year, but August interrupts.
Augie: When you weren’t here…
Ouch. He says it will take a minute to get over all the trauma, which he’s certainly right about, but I don’t know why that made the reminder that “you weren’t here” necessary. Like I said, people are hard on Cordell – he loves his kids so much and tries had to be a good dad. I’ve enjoyed seeing that side of the character, and love that parenthood was such a big part of what this show was about, often much more than Rangering.
Augie must decide the same, because he pulls his dad in for a hug. And that Cordi definitely does need!
But I also hope Augie eats that amazing breakfast.
Abilene also checks in on her son, who assures her that he’s okay though he is “having trouble tellin’ up from down sometimes”.
Abilene: This, here and now, this is very real. But then again, so is everything that’s going through your head. Try and focus on what you can do and not what you might have done. You just need to choose where you start.
I’ve so enjoyed the realistic relationship that Abilene has with her grown sons on this show. She cares so much, like we all do no matter how old our kids are, but she also tries hard to let them be adults and make their own decisions (and mistakes). She’s not perfect at it – but who is?
Molly Hagan has been a joy to watch as Abilene. Also I totally want her hair; Bonham is right to be kinda obsessed with it.
Change Comes Slowly
Trey and Cassie both do their interviews for the lieutenant position. Trey is well prepared; Cassie is still feeling a mess. Understandably. Geri and Kelly are there to support Cassie with some TV binge-watching (it’s no Hawks Shadow, but…)
Big brother Ben comes over and makes her the Perez kids kitchen sink omelet too, assuring her that he’s there for her and understands what she’s going through. It was longer for him when he lost Lucas, but he does get it, he tells her – it’s about losing not just the person but the future you were planning together.
At the interview, Cassie is honest about her own difficulties and her history as an artsy kid and admits when they ask her what makes her a good candidate that she’s not so sure about that. Trey is sure, saying he’s a soldier til the end, he protects the team.
Cassie is sure she didn’t get the job. Trey reassures her, and even though they’re technically competitors, they decide to go out to eat and talk about anything other than that.
Later, James finds Cassie looking at some historical Texas Rangers things at HQ. He looks back on how much the Rangers have changed, though change comes slowly.
James: But every once in a while we make a leap forward.
He hands her the Lieutenant badge with a congratulations.
Cassie: But my interview was a mess!
James says everyone has good and bad days, that being a leader isn’t about the good days, but what you bring to the table on your worst, and she showed them she’s one hell of a Ranger on her bad days too.
He also has to break the bad news to Trey, reassuring him that a promotion is coming for him soon, that this isn’t a failure. Trey acknowledges that he has less experience (which is very true).
But Change Does Come
Cordell reaches out to his other child too, to make amends. He visits Stella in her dorm room, commenting that he felt like a total weirdo walking down the hallway.
Stella: That is probably a healthy reaction for an adult man to have.
She reassures him that although what she’s always needed from him is for him to be there, this time it wasn’t his fault. She also takes responsibility for all the decisions about the necklace she made on her own. Though, she notes, people do say she’s her father’s daughter.
Cordell: If you get anything from me, I don’t want it to be running into danger.
He shares his dream world, that in it Stella’s mom was still there and he wasn’t.
Stella: There’s no type of world where you not being here would be better, that would just be a different type of pain. I still need my dad.
Cordell: You’ll always have me. I’m so proud of you.
She gives him back the letters he wrote to his kids long ago, assuring him that they didn’t read them.
Stella: I don’t need apologies, or goodbyes, or whatever that version of you had to say to me.
He holds her and she snuggles against her dad’s chest.
Awww.
Cordell wants to make amends with Geri too – and move forward with her. Cordri shippers you totally won in the end! He tells Geri that he hasn’t been the partner she deserves and he’s sorry, that in the dream world, she was happy and he wants to be the person to keep a smile on her face. She says she had felt like she was drowning, all the grief about Hoyt coming back, and he wasn’t there.
Ouch.
He says things will be different, but Geri is also realistic.
Geri: There’s always gonna be another big case. You can’t know there won’t be another case like this. I just wanna make sure that when it happens, you’ll come to me.
As they prepare for Augie’s graduation party, they also find out that Augie got all his college applications in on his own – and got in everywhere, including Harvard!
Mawline: Is this real?
That hits Cordell hard, and he stammers that yes, it’s real, they’re really here – reassuring himself. It’s also undoubtedly an emotional moment, because every milestone that would have been a shared one becomes one that you miss having that other person there with you. I’m sure Cordell was really missing Emily terribly at that moment, but it was also so very proud of their son.
Cordell also does something not very Cordell-like; he suggests a family vacation with the kids and Geri. Augie and Stella say yes, and Cordell looks so happy and awwww.
Into The Future (That Would Have Been)
The party is a wild affair. We find out Augie’s middle name is Edward, and Ben asks if that’s a family name.
Liam: No, Emily was just a really big “Twilight” fan.
I love that this show is so fandom positive (even if I’m not a big “Twilight” fan…)
Trey plays DJ and everyone is there, Sadie hanging out with Stella, Liam with Ben, Cordi with Geri. It feels so good to see all these characters who have struggled so much just having a great time, celebrating Augie’s accomplishment.
Cordell gives a speech about how proud he is of his son, and of the family and friends
Cordell: I’m grateful. I spent months worrying about how to let go, and I realized it happened, and I have to let it happen. You’re not a kiddo anymore. To my family, I love you. I’m nothing without you and I’m more grateful than ever to be with you here and now. That’s enough out of me – carry on, the night is young.
Me: Is that a “Supernatural” series finale reference??? Carry on??? (sobs)
Bonham and Abilene tell him that he turned the farmhouse they gave him into a home, and that they love him. (I think that farmhouse was always a home personally, but I guess they needed to say that and he needed to hear it – I never did really understand that whole threat to kick him out of it thing a few seasons back).
Trey cheers Cassie up a little and even gets her to eat a little, saying he’s not salty about the promotion and that she has the support of all of them, him especially.
Trey is about to partner with Walker as a result, which means we were all cheated out of that!
Sadie, Stella, and Geri have a heart-to-heart. Sadie admits she should have come to Geri sooner and not left Stella hanging.
Geri: The apple does not fall from the tree. You figured you’d be smart enough to get out of it, and you were.
Sadie: I was smart enough to surround myself with Walkers.
Stella: Just like Uncle Hoyt.
Geri has a proposition for Sadie, since the SideStep is “a family business” – is this another Supernatural reference?? (Or possibly it’s just me…)
Liam and Ben agree that they should keep mixing their personal lives and also share real estate, ie move in together, and they’re so adorable together and we were also cheated out of that! Boo.
Abeline and Bonham agree that they’re glad they were there for the kids (and grandkids) through everything. He says he could sell the boat, but he’d really like to get her out on it once, see the wind blowing through her hair.
Abeline: We could get fans, you know. Put ‘em all over the house…
She says she doesn’t want to deal with the day-to-day in the business with Ben, reassuring him. He suggests they keep the boat and use it for her event business, as a tax write-off.
Bonham: With the occasional wind in your hair.
They kiss, and can I just say that I appreciate this show so much for having an older couple who are so real – imperfect, compelling, caring, romantic. They aren’t just grandparents, they’re a couple who are passionate about each other after all these years, and it’s so nice to see.
Speaking of passion, Cordi and Geri were apparently making out in the bushes at the party like a couple of teenagers, and they’re kinda awkwardly adorable. Under the pretty string lights, he tells her about the family trip.
Geri: I love us and I understand you, I really think I do. I know you want to do something different, but realistically how are you gonna pull this off?
He kisses her, saying he has a solution for that.
The next day, Cordell comes to see Cassie as she moves into her new office.
He says he knows he lost his way and it shouldn’t have taken a tragedy to get them there. He says he’s sorry. She says it’s gonna be hard for her to forget.
He hands her a request for a leave of absence for the summer, and she approves it, says she’s really glad he’s doing that.
Cordell: I’ll do everything I can to be a better colleague. And friend.
Cassie: Well, we probably both need this, just to get to the other side of it.
Liam gets a call from the Governor out of the blue, saying they need his help. An SUV and two men in black get out to pick Liam up.
Everyone watching: Liam, don’t get in that car, this is Texas!
Cassie moves in, her boxed DVD set of Hawks’ Shadow on the shelf. She puts the note from Luna on her bulletin board.
The kids and Geri load up the truck, hugging Sadie goodbye.
Bonham and Abilene fly across the lake on their boat, toasting with champagne. The wind blows through her hair.
Cordell puts on his black hat (that I so love – Team Black Hat 4ever!) and prepares to leave.
He stops in front of the photo of him and Emily and Hoyt and Geri, pulls a ring box out of his pocket as if asking Emily and Hoyt’s permission.
Geri: You ready?
Cordi: Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready.
Geri: Okay, let’s go, let’s go!
(It’s what was said in the dream world, but it means something so different now)
They pass their new neighbors on the way out of town.
Stella: Maybe it’ll be a completely drama free situation…just neighbors…
Stella puts some music on; Cordi and Geri hold hands as “The Shore” by Wiretree plays and off the Walker family goes.
The new “Walker” neighbor leaves a basket of fancy soaps at the door, white robes billowing. The camera pulls back to see that it’s James Van der Beek! So, he wasn’t just at the Walker set to visit after all.
And we were cheated out of that too with “Walker” ending!
It’s a happy ending though, and I’m grateful for that. We got to see all our favorite characters and their “Walker” story lines got a satisfying wrap-for-now even if there were also things we wish we could have seen in the hinted-at future. I’m grateful for the celebration and the healing we did get to see though – and grateful for this show that captured the collective imagination of me and so many of my fandom friends.
Thank you, Jared Padalecki and the entire “Walker” cast and crew, for making this show so special. I’m grateful for these four years of “Walker.” It created a fandom family who have traveled the world together to celebrate “Walker,” and who gathered virtually every week to watch together (often with star and EP Jared Padalecki joining in).
It created a set with an ethos so positive that people in the industry referred to it as “Disneyland,” something Padalecki learned on the “Supernatural” set and brought to his new show and made sure it kept going. “Walker” gave my friend Alana her first job and let it be a magnificent experience, and I’m so grateful for that too.
Such a talented cast and crew – I can’t wait to see what y’all do next after “Walker.”
Onward and upward. Yeehaw!