‘Walker’ Recap: Season 3, Episode 3 “Rubber Meets the Road”
After the events of the last two episodes where Cordell and Liam are rescued, we start to see the aftermath of their kidnapping and how it affected everyone. Let’s dive into this week’s Walker!
The Return
Liam’s at the Ranger station feeling his wound as Cordell goes to him and says Julia is wrapping up. He has flashbacks to when he was taken. Liam expresses concern about wanting to be in the hospital, worried there’s internal bleeding. Liam and Cordell haven’t slept, and as Liam goes to open up to Cordell about what happens when he closes his eyes, Cordell shuts him down. Cordell reassures Liam that he’s safe, and Cassie gets them to bring them home.
Geri’s waiting at the Walker ranch as they pull up. Geri tells them Abby’s never letting them leave home again, and Liam makes a comment about how the ranch isn’t safe. Geri comforts Cordell and he asks about his family.
They all arrive home and Cordell sees his old photos from the military before Abby runs over to hug him. Augie and Stella run over to hug him, too. Cordell’s trying to keep it together, but Liam’s having a harder time. As they all go to sit together at dinner, Cordell says Stella never got to hear the graduation speech, so Cordell tells it while they’re all at the table.
Two Months Later
There’s a bit of a time jump. Cordell and Augie are working out, and Bonham and Liam are working on a fence at the ranch. Stella and Colton get ready to leave for college. Abby and Cordell see that Julia wrote an article about her time in captivity and the case, including Cordell. Abby asks if Cordell is fine, and he brushes her off saying he’s fine. Cordell asks about the mustang, and Augie and Stella lie to him and say it’s in the shop being fixed — and has been for two months. Cordell says he wants the car in the driveway at 9 a.m. the next morning.
Ranger HQ
Trey talks to Cassie at the station and talks about doing training. Cassie’s reading Julia’s article. Cassie and Trey talk about the torture endured, and how Cordell could come back from this.
At Trey’s house, a package arrives with his belt and cowboy boots. He also got Stella a gift – license plate covers with Sauber University on them. He calls Stella to ask if she’s around to give her a gift, and she tells him everything is fine.
Cordell and Liam
Cordell and Liam talk at the ranch and Liam tells him it hasn’t gotten easier, and Cordell brushes him off again as Cassie arrives. Cassie and Cordell go into the basement to look for stuff for the trip and Cassie finds his military gear. Cassie says they need to talk about the article, and Cassie tells him she’s scared to get back in the truck with him. The stuff that happened to him is scary, and she doesn’t feel safe. Cordell is distracted and asks if she hears anything and it’s a water leak, which triggers a flashback to his time in captivity. He tells her he’s doing therapy and PT and he’d never do anything to put her in harm’s way.
Abeline is in the kitchen making a cake when Liam walks in. Abby asks Liam if he’s sure about the road trip, and she asks if she’s heard Cordell say he’s going and she doesn’t want him to get his hope up. Liam gets upset, saying Cordell is dictating how everyone is acting.
The Mustang
At the Side Step, Dan and Colton are working and setting up, and Colton is getting ready for a day of dates with Stella. Colton arrives at the ranch and Stella, Colton, and Augie hatch a plan to try to get the car back – stealing the car back. They see that the woman who stole the car has been using it to drag race, and they go to steal it back.
They arrive at the race and see the woman racing the car. She made adjustments to it, including a spoiler to the back of it. They see the men she was with beating someone else up and Colton and Augie want to call Cordell, but Stella says no.
Trey arrives at the ranch and runs into Cassie and Cordell. Cordell tells him about the mustang saga, but Trey asks if the mustang is supposed to be at Desert Speed Wars – the drag race.
Colton talks to Stella about how she hasn’t registered for classes and he’s worried she’s going to break up with him. He tells her he loves her, and Stella interrupts to say people are packing up. Augie goes to distract the men while Colton and Stella go to grab the car, and Stella finds out she changed the locks on the car. She pries open the window to unlock the car and they hotwire it. Stella tells Colton she loves him too as the car starts. Augie punches one of the men as he hops in the car, but the woman has some sort of switch that stops the car. Stella tells her how she got the car and her dad, and come hell or high water, this car is in her driveway tonight. The woman gives her the keys to take it home after Stella’s speech and says not to have her dad arrest her.
Stella and Augie arrive back at the ranch with the car as Cordell comes out. He asks how Desert Speed Wars was. Cordell makes them sit and wants to run out to put the woman and the men in jail. Stella and Colton tell him that he’s been putting on a show and that this is why they didn’t come to him because they didn’t want him to spiral. Cordell says he didn’t know they felt this way, and that he doesn’t want them to feel like they can’t tell him anything. Stella asks to talk to Cordell alone. Cordell says she doesn’t want to go to college, does she? He tells her he’s not mad, but just confused because she seemed excited. She tells him she doesn’t know what she wants to do.
Cassie arrives and Cordell tells her she was right to worry about him but that he’s working on it. She says that’s all she needed to hear.
The Davidsons
Colton and Dan are at the Side Step and Dan tells him that he and Denise are going to give it another shot. Colton tells him to follow his heart, but he’s going to leave and help Denise open her private practice. Dan asks Colton to look after the ranch and that Geri will help. Dan notices Denise the boar is back up on the wall, and Colton says Denise insisted to Geri to hang it up.
Equine Therapy
Bonham finds Liam and tells him that Abby didn’t mean to put him out. He tries to leave, but Bonham stops him. Bonham tells Liam about how ’73 & ’74 weren’t easy on him and how he could still smell the napalm. Liam asks Bonham how he stopped smelling it, and Bonham says he saw a therapist – an equine therapist. He tells Liam that because Cordell isn’t ready to talk doesn’t mean Liam can’t talk to someone.
Cordell goes to brush his teeth and sees his younger self appear behind him – asking if this is a war hero.
Walker airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on The CW.