There were parts of this episode that were so perfectly put together it made me spontaneously applaud:
Establishing shots of the ranch in the morning as Bonham checks on Liam; the soft glow of sunlight as Cassie is in the kitchen with Luna; the camera catching Abeline's gaze at her husband, filled with beauty and love.
The music lifted many moments in the episode and thoses visuals became almost transcendant.
I loved, too, the beginnings of discussions on addiction. This goes for James as well as, perhaps, watching the potential addiction of Liam.
At one point Cordell expresses surprise at a bit of evidence in the Jackal case and Larry passes it off as having assumed it was a father getting baby food in the small morning hours.
But did Larry's drinking cause him to be less than stellar? And is that why he's so angry; does his anger directed fully at Walker come mixed with guilt at himself?
Jared Padalecki and Coby Bell handle these nuanced scenes like the pros they are.
I love the show doesn't shy away from such issues, but rather trusts viewers to come along for the ride.
---
All the scenes with Coby Bell hit the perfect notes of tragedy, even when I was angry at the character for dumping his anger too fully on his friend/found family.
The scene between Bell and Keirran Giovanni (Kelly, Larry's wife) was handled so carefully and acted so wonderfully. Giovanni hasn't had as many scenes as some of the rest of the cast, but this put her as a major player in my mind. (And so grateful that the already successful, smart Kelly is also loyal enough to make an attempt to take back her own load in the situation. She tries to tell Larry it wasn't all Cordi, and what he did Cordi did out of love)
It all stirred big emotions--the very essence of storytelling.
---
I enjoyed how family held family accountable without shaming.
Abeline calling the kids over to remind them of the chores they'd agreed to in starting the sanctuary. Stella, especially, needed that nudge. She's right on the cusp of adulthood and adulthood sometimes stinks.
I didn't feel that Stella agreeing to the treasure hunt from her "ghost" was well explained in earlier episodes, because I'm still not sure why she should care at all about Witt. Care moderately enough to get him help from Liam or Cordell, perhaps, but care enough to keep his secrets and do his footwork? No.
So that problem keeps getting pushed onto other episodes where I wait to understand.
The research itself, however, made me sit up. As a fan of Walker Independence, I'd hoped there might be some resolution of the "feud" Walker's season two opened up to launch the spin off.
This does feel like that, with a lot of familiar name drops. (Glad, however, we won't see Colton back. Hoping we don't see Denise, her husband, her mother. And if we lose her biological sister, Geri, I won't really mind.) The Davidsons were well set up as villains of the lowest order who thought they were entitled to sympathy and, in Tom's case, love.
Bold move taking it on in this economy, but viewers wanted it and the show responded. Huge thanks to producers Padalecki and Anna Fricke for that.
---
And we still get an amazing serial killer set up.
I'm sitting impatiently as a viewer in trying to guess the identity of the Jackal. And if there could be two, because something is off.
However, this tension is a good one.
I'm actively worried it might be Luna, with Cassie choosing the wrong man again. However, I'm equally nervous the Jackal might target Luna and Cassie will have to face his death. Guest stars are red shirts, after all.
---
I enjoyed Trey as Cassie's wingman, even if they had a "moment" in last season's finale we've stepped away from. I'm glad they kept them platonic and colleagues on the Ranger staff.
Jeff Pierre is the cutest wingman ever, too. "The vibes be a vibing" "swagger for miles" (But did Luna say that same phrase back? Did he leave a bug at their table? And if he did is that just a detective who's justifiably cautious of other cops?)
---
This episode had tons to commend it.
It also had a few significant misses that made me give it less than a ten.
Simple things, first: why was the stump Liam ran into so far off the road? He could have hit a dip or a branch fallen in the way, what with his driving while texting.
But instead with no exaggerated swerve, we're supposed to think he hit a random tree trunk?
It just seemed oddly done, in spite of the beautiful overhead shot.
---
Then another minor oddity: the gift basket.
After all the precautions and comments, would the team have left the gift basket with booze sitting there where the Captain might crack?
We know they were "allowed" to take from it, given Cassie's comment at the top of the episode.
And it was just so ham handedly THERE.
---
Third, and most glaring to me, is the attempt to retcon Geri as a hard working businesswoman.
This is certainly necessary and I fully appreciate both the need and the attempt since we seem to be stuck with her as the latest "girlfriend." As a viewer, I literally crave him to be with someone competent and smart. But the episode was littered with unearned comments where viewers were told that she's great.
I flinched a bit an ep back when Cordell called her a "co-owner" when I'm not sure where she got money to put back into the bar (perhaps from Hoyt's estate?) We know she delayed expensive repairs that Cordell handled--or more probably hired out.
We know she ran Sidestep into the ground until she had to get money from loan sharks. We know Emily's death benefits covered her huge fail.
Now, we get Abeline commenting on how much she's working, ok that's good she's doing that now. But we get Geri bragging about how much work she's done on the business when last season she fully dropped everything and just wandered off.
She needs a retcon to be any sort of business partner, but we had three seasons of her slagging and it can't be undone in a few episodes. And as a viewer, I never like being hit so obviously over the head by telling me what I'm "supposed" to be seeing. (Show me, persuade me, make me believe it)
Especially aggravating was that Geri decided to do an OKC branch "on her own" and that she tells Cordell the next morning in the kitchen, rather than asking for input.
Is she not only raised to co-owner but sole owner now?
He, of course, is amiable, just as he went out of his way to fix her broken mug a segment ago, but she never even tried to get his shirt back (precious memories of Emily, swept out of her way)
Rather than showing her as a true equal, these situations make her look careless and entitled. And it also makes him look less than careful of his own boundaries, hero or not. I do not like even hints of Cordell the dupe.
---
Anyway, most of the episode was beyond A+ but sometimes it's details that throw you out of a really good story. Still eight out of ten, so still very good, but I wish the show had more time to breathe a little.
And I'm wondering if they wish that themselves, poor creatives. They deserve more time, more budget, and more of everything else.
The music lifted many moments in the episode and thoses visuals became almost transcendant.
I loved, too, the beginnings of discussions on addiction. This goes for James as well as, perhaps, watching the potential addiction of Liam.
At one point Cordell expresses surprise at a bit of evidence in the Jackal case and Larry passes it off as having assumed it was a father getting baby food in the small morning hours.
But did Larry's drinking cause him to be less than stellar? And is that why he's so angry; does his anger directed fully at Walker come mixed with guilt at himself?
Jared Padalecki and Coby Bell handle these nuanced scenes like the pros they are.
I love the show doesn't shy away from such issues, but rather trusts viewers to come along for the ride.
---
All the scenes with Coby Bell hit the perfect notes of tragedy, even when I was angry at the character for dumping his anger too fully on his friend/found family.
The scene between Bell and Keirran Giovanni (Kelly, Larry's wife) was handled so carefully and acted so wonderfully. Giovanni hasn't had as many scenes as some of the rest of the cast, but this put her as a major player in my mind. (And so grateful that the already successful, smart Kelly is also loyal enough to make an attempt to take back her own load in the situation. She tries to tell Larry it wasn't all Cordi, and what he did Cordi did out of love)
It all stirred big emotions--the very essence of storytelling.
---
I enjoyed how family held family accountable without shaming.
Abeline calling the kids over to remind them of the chores they'd agreed to in starting the sanctuary. Stella, especially, needed that nudge. She's right on the cusp of adulthood and adulthood sometimes stinks.
I didn't feel that Stella agreeing to the treasure hunt from her "ghost" was well explained in earlier episodes, because I'm still not sure why she should care at all about Witt. Care moderately enough to get him help from Liam or Cordell, perhaps, but care enough to keep his secrets and do his footwork? No.
So that problem keeps getting pushed onto other episodes where I wait to understand.
The research itself, however, made me sit up. As a fan of Walker Independence, I'd hoped there might be some resolution of the "feud" Walker's season two opened up to launch the spin off.
This does feel like that, with a lot of familiar name drops. (Glad, however, we won't see Colton back. Hoping we don't see Denise, her husband, her mother. And if we lose her biological sister, Geri, I won't really mind.) The Davidsons were well set up as villains of the lowest order who thought they were entitled to sympathy and, in Tom's case, love.
Bold move taking it on in this economy, but viewers wanted it and the show responded. Huge thanks to producers Padalecki and Anna Fricke for that.
---
And we still get an amazing serial killer set up.
I'm sitting impatiently as a viewer in trying to guess the identity of the Jackal. And if there could be two, because something is off.
However, this tension is a good one.
I'm actively worried it might be Luna, with Cassie choosing the wrong man again. However, I'm equally nervous the Jackal might target Luna and Cassie will have to face his death. Guest stars are red shirts, after all.
---
I enjoyed Trey as Cassie's wingman, even if they had a "moment" in last season's finale we've stepped away from. I'm glad they kept them platonic and colleagues on the Ranger staff.
Jeff Pierre is the cutest wingman ever, too. "The vibes be a vibing" "swagger for miles" (But did Luna say that same phrase back? Did he leave a bug at their table? And if he did is that just a detective who's justifiably cautious of other cops?)
---
This episode had tons to commend it.
It also had a few significant misses that made me give it less than a ten.
Simple things, first: why was the stump Liam ran into so far off the road? He could have hit a dip or a branch fallen in the way, what with his driving while texting.
But instead with no exaggerated swerve, we're supposed to think he hit a random tree trunk?
It just seemed oddly done, in spite of the beautiful overhead shot.
---
Then another minor oddity: the gift basket.
After all the precautions and comments, would the team have left the gift basket with booze sitting there where the Captain might crack?
We know they were "allowed" to take from it, given Cassie's comment at the top of the episode.
And it was just so ham handedly THERE.
---
Third, and most glaring to me, is the attempt to retcon Geri as a hard working businesswoman.
This is certainly necessary and I fully appreciate both the need and the attempt since we seem to be stuck with her as the latest "girlfriend." As a viewer, I literally crave him to be with someone competent and smart. But the episode was littered with unearned comments where viewers were told that she's great.
I flinched a bit an ep back when Cordell called her a "co-owner" when I'm not sure where she got money to put back into the bar (perhaps from Hoyt's estate?) We know she delayed expensive repairs that Cordell handled--or more probably hired out.
We know she ran Sidestep into the ground until she had to get money from loan sharks. We know Emily's death benefits covered her huge fail.
Now, we get Abeline commenting on how much she's working, ok that's good she's doing that now. But we get Geri bragging about how much work she's done on the business when last season she fully dropped everything and just wandered off.
She needs a retcon to be any sort of business partner, but we had three seasons of her slagging and it can't be undone in a few episodes. And as a viewer, I never like being hit so obviously over the head by telling me what I'm "supposed" to be seeing. (Show me, persuade me, make me believe it)
Especially aggravating was that Geri decided to do an OKC branch "on her own" and that she tells Cordell the next morning in the kitchen, rather than asking for input.
Is she not only raised to co-owner but sole owner now?
He, of course, is amiable, just as he went out of his way to fix her broken mug a segment ago, but she never even tried to get his shirt back (precious memories of Emily, swept out of her way)
Rather than showing her as a true equal, these situations make her look careless and entitled. And it also makes him look less than careful of his own boundaries, hero or not. I do not like even hints of Cordell the dupe.
---
Anyway, most of the episode was beyond A+ but sometimes it's details that throw you out of a really good story. Still eight out of ten, so still very good, but I wish the show had more time to breathe a little.
And I'm wondering if they wish that themselves, poor creatives. They deserve more time, more budget, and more of everything else.
