Wrangling Walker Season Three Episode Twelve “Best Laid Plans”

Walker‘s “Best Laid Plans” is another solid episode with lots of crime drama and some interesting family issues. I really like how the end of this season is shaping up!

I’ll skip the recap and share my impressions by character group.

Cordell, Cassie, Trey and Capt. James

We have a lot of talk about trust and honesty in this episode. Captain James apologizes for not telling Cordell and Cassie about Trey being undercover. He also apologizes to Cassie specifically for the situation echoing what happened with Miles and Fenton, and praises her ability to think out of the box. Cordell echoes the importance of not keeping secrets and having a circle of trust. (This warns me that thinking out of the box and telling the truth/keeping secrets are going to become issues in the future.)

In the aftermath of the wreck at the end of the previous episode, Captain James shows up but so does Trey and a response team. Trey confirms that it’s the guy who recruited him for Gray Flag. Captain James says that the FBI kept him from sharing information with Cordell and Cassie, but now there are no more secrets.

James and Cassie back up Trey on his first assignment as a lookout while Cordell goes to talk to Julia about new info she’s getting from a contact. Julia brought him a sandwich (reminding me of Cas’s gift of a sandwich to show ‘solidarity’ in Supernatural). Cordell admits that Cooper’s death really shook him up.

Julia is a sympathetic listener. (I still don’t trust her.) They find out that Cooper’s mother died the week before, after Cordell’s visit. (Suspicious!) They discuss closure, but I don’t think we have any real closure yet about what happened to Cordell’s unit. I’m not thrilled about Cordell and Julia becoming lovers.

I don’t think that Cordell (like Sam Winchester) can do truly ‘casual’ sex and I don’t believe Julia will stick around—or that she isn’t going to use him and the ‘story’ for her own gain.

Julia’s contact comes through with security footage of Cordell’s old unit gathered from various sources. She lets Cordell download it and she keeps the flash drive for a future story. They find out that Cooper apparently didn’t die in the explosion overseas…which raises the question of where he is now.

Trey’s first test mission for Gray Flag is a success, and thanks to Cassie’s quick thinking he’s even able to save his partner (although I think Cassie’s intervention will cause later problems). Trey asked to be given more space to handle his undercover assignment with less back up. It’ll be interesting to see if that comes back to bite him.

I like the way the Gray Flag story is unfolding—I’m curious whether it will wrap up by the end of the season. We’re getting a lot more insight into Cordell’s past, and his unresolved emotional scars. I’m very skeptical of Julia—we’ll have to wait and find out how things turn out!

Everyone else

Abeline and Bonham are making an effort to be supportive of the plans Liam and Stella are making for the horse rescue. Liam and Stella are working out their partnership and being on equal footing (an issue that was always in contention between Sam and Dean in Supernatural).

Auggie is working at the Side Step and Kevin hosts a party there. For as much as I liked Kevin at first, I don’t trust him now, either. He offers to expedite getting the liquor license back, even hinting that Auggie doesn’t need to tell Cordell about the help, and going ahead to do it when Auggie tries to decline. He’s a little too quick to help, and I wonder when he’s going to want something in return. Auggie suggests helping the horse rescue find donors, and Kevin delivers. But we know there’s no free lunch. Anyone else getting crossroad demon vibes?

I think Walker is strongest when the main focus is on the crime drama and the family issues are a side note. Lately, that’s what we’ve gotten, and I think the show shines because of it. I am looking forward to finding out how things stand at the end of the season since the future of Walker and all of The CW’s shows are still up in the air. Here’s hoping they either get renewed or find a new network home!

As always, Jared and the cast turned in a great performance!

What do you think?

Find more of Gail’s commentaries on her Writer’s Page.

Bookmark The WFB‘s Walker and Walker: Independence Pages for reviews, character profiles, and news on the cast and show! 

Images courtesy of The CW. Illustrated by Nightsky. Screencaps by Raloria on LJ.