Tonight is the premiere of Walker: Independence, the prequel to The CW’s Walker. The show takes place in the 1800s in Independence, Texas, following Abigail Walker.
Let’s dive into tonight’s premiere!
The Murder
Abigail Collins and her husband, Liam, are traveling to Independence. As they’re stopped for the night, they hear a noise outside. Liam steps out, grabbing his gun, and a man confronts him — shooting him. Abby sees, and shots are fired at her, too. She plays dead as the man takes off.
Hoyt Rawlins
Hoyt is at gunpoint digging a hole, and he’s told about Independence as he knocks the man unconscious with his shovel. He grabs his gun and his horse, naming him Cordell, and takes off.
Independence
Abby wakes up as the Apache tribe took her in. Calian and the Elders call her a name that means “Walks in Tall Grass”, and she asks him where Independence is. He tells her to find Deputy Augustus, and that he’ll help her. He says he won’t come into town because people wouldn’t like to see an Apache with a white woman.
As she arrives in town, Kate notices she’s new and asks about her first impressions. Abby asks where the sheriff’s office is, and Kate points her in the right direction. Abby meets Hoyt for the first time, and she’s quite annoyed with him. He ends up swiping her wedding ring without her realizing it.
Abby makes her way to the sheriff’s office where she meets Augustus. She’s about to tell him about Liam, but the new sheriff, Tom Davidson, walks out. Abby recognizes that he looks like the man who murdered her husband. Tom asks if something is bothering Abby, and Abby pivots, telling him that she lost her wedding ring but she remembers where it went.
Hoyt is gambling and loses his hand. He walks out and Abby finds him and demands her ring and he gives it back to her. The two head into Hagans, and Hoyt sees Lucia as they share a kiss. He tells Abby to stay out of trouble as the two go upstairs.
Abby’s sitting in Hagans playing the piano as Kate sees her. She sees a banner of Nathaniel Hagan, who runs the place. Kate tells her everyone here is running from something, and that’s why it’s called Independence. She tells Kate she doesn’t have a place to stay, and Kate says she can stay there. Kai comes down, who runs a local laundromat, and Abby sees some bloody clothes that say “TD” raise red flags, and she follows Kai out to the laundromat to help him. He offers her some egg drop soup and tells her about how he’s from China and worked on the railroads, and how he needed a new beginning.
Lucia and Hoyt see Luis, Lucia’s brother. He talks about how someone stole his cattle.
Abby leaves to send a message, and she hears Gus whistling a tune she played in the beginning with Liam. She asks Gus about it, and he says he heard the sheriff humming it that morning.
Abby arrives at the bank to try to withdraw from her and Liam’s account, however, the teller won’t let her without Liam or her telling him who she really is. Hoyt walks in to rob the bank with a bandana over his face. Hoyt takes Abby and the two leave on a horse as Gus sees. The two stop out of town, and Abby tells Hoyt what happened with Liam and how he was killed. She tells him she thinks Tom Davidson killed him, and she asks Hoyt to help her kill him. He says she doesn’t have proof, and Abby threatens to turn him in, but he says that’s a risk he’s going to take.
Outside of town, Calian is on his horse as Gus appears. He tells Calian about the robbery and Abby, and he tells Gus he’ll track her first daylight. Gus says or he could ride down with him, and the two ride off.
Hoyt goes to meet Lucia, and Abby goes back to Hagans. Hoyt also ends up Hagans and watches as Lucia sings on stage. She sees Gus there with Hagan and Tom, and Kate comes down the stairs to see her. She passes by Kai, who smiles sweetly at her, but she keeps an eye on Tom. Lucia comes off the stage to kiss Hoyt, and Gus interrupts, saying he feels like he saw Hoyt in town earlier. Abby goes to aim a gun at Tom before Hoyt grabs her, stopping her. Hoyt also tells her that Tom is from Boston.
The camera pans to show Kai watching the stage with Kate, and Lucia finds money in the bouquet of flowers. Calian is also up above watching below.
Tom and Gus talk and Gus points out that a bullet grazed Tom (the same one from Abby shooting). Hoyt and Abby watch Tom and Abby says they need to go back to where it happened. Kate reads a telegraph sent to Allan Pinkerton, who in history, is the founder of the North-Western Police Agency, and predecessor of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
Abby, Hoyt, and Calian bury Liam’s body, and Abby vows to make Tom pay.
Walker: Independence airs Thursday nights on The CW.
