Wrangling Walker: Season Four Episode One “The Quiet”
Seeing the season four premiere of Walker was like coming home to old friends. Although it’s been quite a while for viewers, the Walker gang picked up right where they left off, with an intro to get us back up to speed.
Since other folks do a recap, I’m going to focus on reactions and questions.

Walker and Geri—I guess the pairing was inevitable, although I do wonder if the writers had something else in mind originally and did a retcon along the way. Old friends becoming lovers after both survive loss and tragedy is sweet. But when we first met Geri, she was in debt to bad people, and seemed to be set up to be something of a grifter herself. She had plenty of questionable moments in those early days that didn’t get fully resolved, as if the writers dropped those plot lines and went in a different direction. None of those darker elements have popped up for a while, so I’m guessing that’s all in the past and relegated to the ‘dropped plot threads’ bin.
They are cute together, and it was amusing to see them get blocked every time they started to get going. Geri is sweet to rally the family to do the steak-eating competition that Cordell wanted to do for his birthday and switch it to be done at home. That last conversation in the episode about ‘changes coming’ and how ‘the quiet’ is the worst part of an empty nest is definitely ominous.
Trey, Captain James, Cassie, and Cordell—We start off with an action-packed bust of the Delmonico Brothers (Hmm…is that steak reference intentional?) fentanyl network, and Cassie, on loan to the FBI, is calling the shots. She seems to be in her element, and confides to Cordell that she’s considering not coming back to Austin and taking an assignment at Quantico. James tells her that he thinks she can do things that make a big-scale difference with the Ranger, keeping the door open.
It was good to see Cassie back again and in fine form, but things don’t look too good between her and Trey – although they dodge that conversation. More changes?
Cassie and Trey are also still tracking the serial killer known as the Jackal, but Captain James says he can’t get involved—his obsession with the case last time nearly destroyed him, and Kelly separately asks them to keep James out of it. Interesting because James’s obsession is such a parallel to Cordell’s own obsession with Emily’s murder and how it caused him to do a self-destructive spiral.
Later, Trey and Cordell review evidence and hope they can bust the Jackal before James finds out how deep they are in the case. Having a serial killer on the loose is definitely foreshadowing, and I hope we see more of that case as the season moves on.

Walker Family—Auggie and Stella look older, and they seem more mature, although Auggie doesn’t register that leaving his dad’s party early stings. Stella and Liam sign off on paperwork to close the case about the intruder, although we get the feeling that’s not really the end of the matter. She and Liam have a very grown-up conversation about PTSD, a signal that this isn’t the reckless girl we saw in earlier seasons. Abilene and Bonham appear to be in good spirits, and it’s great to see Liam and Ben together again.
Cordell seems to be starting to put his grief and guilt about Emily’s murder in the past and move on as a father to his kids, a Ranger, and a boyfriend to Geri. That’s healthy, but we get the sense it’s not settled. When he and Geri talk about ‘changes coming’, she asks him what is so bad about being an empty nester and he says, ‘the quiet’.
I have a feeling there isn’t going to be much ‘quiet’ for Cordell or any of the gang in coming episodes.
Thoughts—I like Walker best when the show balances the law enforcement side with the family drama (and I prefer more law than family, to be honest). This episode has plenty of action, impending threat, and potential danger on the Ranger side of things, while for once, the family side seems to be running more smoothly than in the past. I’m sure that won’t last, but it made for a strong debut to get us all back into the show after a long hiatus and re-introduce the characters and relationships so we’re ready for new adventures.
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!
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Bestselling author Gail Z. Martin writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy, and near-future post-apocalyptic adventure for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Press and SOL Publishing, with more than 40 books published. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance for Darkwind Press, with five current series in print. All of her modern-day series as Gail and Morgan are full of ghosts, monsters and things that go bump in the night – settings where Sam and Dean could show up and feel right at home!
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