Walker Season 5’s Story Revealed By Jared Padalecki Following Series Finale
Summary
Walkershowrunner Anne Fricke reveals the plans for James Van Der Beek’s villain in the now-cancelled season 5. A reboot of the famous ’90s western drama seriesWalker, Texas Ranger,this CW crime drama centers around the titular character, Cordell Walker, a legendary Texas Ranger who must wrangle the criminals of his hometown of Austin after spending two years away on undercover duty. After four relatively successful seasons, which garnered substantial viewership, The CW announced thatWalkerseason 5would not be moving forward.
Now, speaking withTVLine, Fricke shares details of what would have come from Van Der Beek’s character, who made a cameo in theWalkerseason 4 finale. The showrunner explained thatVan Der Beek was expected to play a cult leader in season 5 of the show,and his character was going to be “quirky bad,” amusing and pretty whimsical. Read her full comments below:
That whole process was so exciting. We always wanted to leave some threads for Season 5. We were going to do the cult next door. So he was supposed to be a cult leader. Ever since James Van Der Beek moved to Austin, we’ve been like, “How do we get him into the show? What can we do?” and this just seemed like the perfect thing, and we finally got him for this part. A small-known fact is that we had actually approached him to be Clint West [in] Season 1, which Austin Nichols, ultimately played, and Austin was so excellent in that role. I would not have it any other way. But James had been on that list for a possible villain. We were sort of circling him, like, “Is this possible? Can we get James?” and Jared and James are friends, and Dawson’s Creek was, of course, my first job in this industry. So it was a very beautiful full-circle thing.
I’m not going to lie, part of me wanted to leave people mad. [Laughs] Part of me wanted to have like a big, splashy ending, so then people would be like, “How could you end this?!” No, it was going to be a lot of fun, and to me, personally, I think there was something profound in James Van Der Beek with Jared on this show, sort of like a great throwback to the original WB, and the commentary on the evolution of this network, which I was maybe reading too much into, but I enjoyed it. [Laughs]
Oh, gosh. I talked to James, and it was so last-minute. He’s a saint. I think it was truly like the day before we were shooting. It was really, really insanely last-minute, so thank God he lives there. He loved the idea of the cult leader, and I think, actually, half those clothes are his own clothes. [Laughs] He was super into it and super into the dynamic he would bring, and he was really into the idea of playing a fun character, an interesting character, a bad character. He was going to be kind of quirky bad, but amusing. He was going to be a really whimsical, amusing character. We were not going to do blood cult, bad, bad, bad cult. We were going to do like kooky cult.
Walker Could Have Used An Extra Season
The news ofWalker’s cancellation was controversial among viewers of the crime drama. However, it isn’t too surprising considering The CW’s recent direction, which has seen other beloved reboots likeDynastyandCharmedget axed. Even thoughWalkermanaged to amass a sizable viewership audience and boasted high ratings - two key reasons why it survived the initial cuts at The CW in 2023 - it’s been reported thatthe studio could not keep up with its budget and licensing fee.
Why The CW Has Canceled Walker After 4 Seasons
The CW recently announced that it would be canceling its Western crime drama, Walker, after four seasons due to financial and licensing issues.
Regardless, there was interest in seeingWalkercome to a more suitable conclusion.The recently airedWalkerseason 4 had only 13 episodes,a much smaller number when compared to its predecessors, which had about 18–20 episodes. This was largely due tothe WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikesof 2023. While this isn’t necessarily a negative thing, it indicates that the showrunners had even less time to wrap up a show that arguably still has a couple of loose ends.
In spite of the abrupt cancelation, the recently airedWalkerseason 4 finale “See You Sometime” did its best to conclude the series, with Cordell, Geri, and the kids driving off into the sunset. However,the ominous Van Der Beek appearance at the end of the series serves as a reminder of what could have been, as the show still had enough plotlines and material to carry on. An additional season would have ensured every storyline reached its proper end, and that Van Der Beek’s cameo could be more than a brief bit of fan service.
Walker
Cast
Walker is The CW’s 2021 reboot of the ‘90s popular western Walker, Texas Ranger. The drama series was developed by Anna Fricke and stars Jared Padalecki as Cordell Walker, the titular Texas Ranger. Alongside Padalecki stars Molly Hagan, Keegan Allen, Violet Brinson, and Kale Kulley. Jared Padalecki’s wife, Genevieve, also appears in the series as Walker’s wife, Emily.
