The fifth episode of Walker has arrived, and this time we get to see just what Cordell Walker was up to the time he was away after Emily’s death.
The episode starts off with a flashback to four months earlier, with a group of friends riding horses and trying to lasso bulls. We see Cordell, and he’s wearing the hat that August was wearing in last episode from Cordell’s undercover box. Here we meet Twyla, who was the woman August previously texted from Cordell’s undercover phone. We also meet Clint, who challenges Duke to ride a bull for ten seconds.
Next, we’re brought back to present day to Cordell who is panicking over the text message Twyla sent back. He submerges his head in a sink full of water, before Stella interrupts him. In the next scene, August is at the kitchen table while Cordell gets ready to leave and Stella is making food. Cordell talks about having to go on a call, and August asks if he’s leaving town, to which Cordell says he’s trying to avoid it. As he’s saying this, Stella gets upset because her soccer game is today and she wanted Cordell to be there. He tells her he will be there, and August chimes in saying, “Yeah, unless he leaves town.” Because of this, Cordell tells Stella to watch her brother because he’s now grounded and not to push him after the phone incident because it was boxed up for a reason.
Back at Micki’s house, Trey is amped for the upcoming soccer game. The two talk about Trey’s job, and he says he’s looked into Vegas flights and a trip to go see his Mom. Micki says “it sounds serious” about her meeting his Mother, and Micki snaps at Trey about it, asking to talk about it later.
On a dirt road, Cordell pulls over in his truck, stopping and changing his clothes in the back of his truck to Duke’s wardrobe (and bad aftershave.)
As Micki walks around the station, Captain James calls her into a room where Liam and Tessa Graves, part of the FBI in San Antonio, are waiting. Liam asks Micki if she’s familiar with operation “Watch The Throne”, which is Cordell’s undercover operation. Tessa says it “somehow” took him ten months to complete, and you can already get the vibe she does not like Cordell. Walker was tasked to identify who was part of the Rodeo Kings robbery group. He ID’ed four individuals; Clint West, Crystal West, Jaxon Davis, and Twyla Jean. Tessa says Walker knew Twyla “intimately” and says that she worked at the bank and was the inside woman for the robberies. Liam says he didn’t want to put Cordell on the stand, blowing his identity and jeopardizing his family. Tessa says on the last Rodeo Kings job, $300,000 mysteriously vanished, and Cordell was one of the last people close to it and had no idea where it ended up.
Tessa said that they have a wire on Twyla’s phone, and this morning “Duke” made contact with her (the text August sent) and she thinks they’re making a run at the missing cash before fleeing town. They pull up a motel camera feed, where they see Cordell pull in. As Cordell heads into a room, Liam states that he knows his brother is undercover again as a last resort, probably trying to get Twyla away from Austin and his family, and that Cordell hated who he had to be as Duke. Micki gets an idea, and then the show cuts to Cordell knocking on a motel room door with Twyla answering.
Twyla tells him she’s missed him, as the two start kissing and she drags him into the room. He tells her to wait, and that they can’t do this right now. Twyla brings up the missing $300,000 and he tells her he doesn’t have it, and she says she thinks he does because he walked out of there with Crystal. Twyla says that she thinks she has an FBI tail now, too and that she needs to get out of town and is broke. Twyla begs Duke, and he tells her that he can’t give her missing money that is still missing.
Ruby comes to pick up August, as he tells her about the box and how he’s scared that his dad is leaving. August says he’s getting cagey, and that he’s lying to him and he thinks he’s with Twyla.
Back at a bar, Twyla and Duke are listening to karaoke as they drink. Twyla goes to a jukebox in the bar, playing music as she asks Duke to dance. The two slow dance on the floor, as a flashback appears of Twyla and Duke talk about Clint robbing Twyla point blank and that she followed him to a bar to become friends. Duke shares that he lost someone (he says his brother), and that they rode circuits together and rode bulls.
Back in present day, the two go to sit at a table, and the camera pans to Micki; in the same bar, in normal clothes. She has an earpiece in, and tells Tessa, Liam, and Captain James that Jaxon has arrived and he’s got a gun on him. Micki goes to the table, taking Jaxon’s gun, and calling out Twyla for having a gun in her back pocket. We find out Micki is actually undercover as Adrianna, a friend of Duke’s.
At Stella’s soccer game, she keeps looking for Cordell but does not see him there. Trey is Stella’s soccer coach, and he gives a speech to try and pump up the team.
Back at the bar, Duke confronts Twyla and Jaxon says he knows Duke is sitting on the money, which Duke denies. Jaxon says Duke owes them the money, and Adrianna steps in, suggesting to pull off another job to get the money back. Duke suggests a job that was the last one that Clint cased and prepped. Twyla and Jaxon agree to do it, and says that if Adrianna is going to pull a Rodeo Kings job, she has one thing she has to do first.
The next flashback goes to Liam entering the bar, with Crystal singing karaoke, and Duke and Twyla telling Clint to get up on stage. Liam sees them, and Cordell comes in a back room to talk to Liam. He tells Liam that he has to go to Captain James and tell him to make the arrests tonight and that the Rodeo Kings cannot complete the job tomorrow because Clint and Crystal are talking about going down shooting. Liam tells Cordell he needs them in the bank to put them away for serious time.
Back to present day, Cordell and Micki arrive where there’s a mechanical bull, and as they’re walking to it, Cordell thanks Micki for having his back. As they approach Jaxon and Twyla, Jaxon tells Adrianna that no one has ever joined the Rodeo Kings without hopping on the bull. Adrianna hops on and does well, beating Duke’s time and Twyla and Jaxon are impressed. Right after Adrianna finishes, a car pulls up and Twyla thinks it’s the FBI that’s tailing her. Duke says he’ll take care of it, and goes out to meet the car. To Cordell’s surprise, it’s August and Ruby. Cordell, visibly upset that they’re in danger, tries to tell August he needs to leave without blowing his cover. August is continuing to yell at Cordell about him leaving. Cordell tells him again he doesn’t know what he’s messing with and to go, and August tells him, “If I never see this guy again, it will be too soon,” before getting back in the car and driving away. Cordell tells Twyla it was just a couple of kids trespassing.
At Stella’s soccer game, Trey stops her and asks where her head was today. She becomes sarcastic to Trey, saying he doesn’t know her, and Trey says that he knows what it looks like when your heart isn’t on the field. Trey starts getting ready to run sprints with Stella, and Stella tells him that her mom was a big deal at her college for soccer and that her dad never missed a game. She says that he was gone last year for a while, and that she threw herself into soccer because she thought it would bring him back, but that he still isn’t there. Trey tells her she has to decide who she’s playing for; herself, or her dad.
Duke, Adrianna, Twyla and Jaxon arrive to a place where there’s a stash of guns. As they’re talking, Duke remembers the day of the bank robbery and how Clint handed him and Crystal the bag with the money. As they try to escape and Crystal gets in the car, Crystal told him to tell Clint that they’ll always have one last dance. Duke remembers that One Last Dance was Clint and Crystal’s karaoke song, and therefore he thinks the money’s in the jukebox at the bar. As Duke shares this information, Twyla hits Jaxon over the head and turns a gun on Duke and Adrianna, telling them to get down as she escapes.
At the bar as Twyla gets the bag of money out of the jukebox, Duke enters the bar and the two begin to dance again, as Twyla keeps a gun in his side. As the song changes, Captain James and the Rangers arrive, guns pointed. She grabs the money, and Walker, still undercover, runs with her. They chase him and Twyla, and the two split up, running different ways. Twyla gets caught by Tessa, and as Duke runs near the motel pool, Tessa has her gun pointed at him while Captain James gets Twyla. Duke pulls out a gun and Tessa shoots him as he falls into the pool. They take Twyla away and then Liam runs to Walker, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and effectively retires his persona as Duke, as Liam says it’s over and Duke is dead.
Later that night, Tessa goes over to Walker and Walker asks if she thinks he’s still crooked, and she says she thinks he’s clean… at least on this one. Liam walks over to Cordell and apologizes, saying he should have listened to him. People died and Cordell was way ahead of it. Cordell stops Liam and says none of it was on him, it was on Clint.
Back at the station, Liam walks into Captain James’ office, saying they both requested Emily’s drone footage and something’s off about her murder.
At Micki’s house, Trey walks in as Trey talks about the game and the team. Micki presents Trey with a drawing of him in Las Vegas, and apologizes and says she thinks they should go to Las Vegas.
Cordell arrives home to August at the table, saying that if he really is leaving he needs to tell Stella. Stella walks out of the hallway with Emily’s jersey, and she tells Cordell that she’s going to change her jersey number to hers. Cordell tells Stella and August that he’s sorry, that he’s not leaving and that it breaks his heart that they think he would. He tells August he didn’t mean what he said earlier, but August said he meant what he said. Cordell tells them Duke is over, and the episode ends with the three of them burning the box with Duke’s things.
Walker airs Thursday nights on The CW at 8/7c.
