This week's storylines delved in two different directions - on the one hand, we had the continuation of last week's cliffhanger with Witt suddenly popping up behind Stella and Sadie, completely alive! And on the other, it was time to finally get some headway into the Jackal serial killer investigation that we've been dealing with on the fringes more or less. Things definitely come to a head tonight to say the least! The episode picks up where we left last week, with Witt taking Sadie and Stella on a drive somewhere quiet to talk because he claims to be on the same side as they are. Suuuuure okay, I guess we can give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment.
He claims that he was robbing Geri's house in search of a mysterious necklace - that is most certainly not the Hope Diamond - but still apparently worth something to the woman who hired Witt to get the job done, which almost cost him his life. Witt explains to the girl's how he managed to survive getting shot and switching identities with his getaway driver who unfortunately was the one who died in the car crash after he'd escaped from Geri's; but even though he was presumed to be dead, that didn't stop him from getting threatening notes either! It looks like we have another "minor villain" on our hands if we consider the Jackal to be this season's big bad; someone who can still cause problems for Stella, Sadie and surely enough, the rest of the Walker clan!
Sadie seems to not only have won the best lines of tonight's episode, (her referencing the episode title and then later her comment about the Hope Diamond were amazing) she also wanted to do the right and responsible thing and come clean to Cordell about everything that was going on, while Stella chose to keep things quiet a little longer, thinking that she can do this alone and try to help Witt - because she no longer feels the guilt over his death, but perhaps feels like she owes him? It was interesting to see the two girl's in this episode, with the roles seemingly almost reversed one could say. I get where Stella is coming from, wanting to do this on the DL, but these things always get dangerous! And they're all technically kids! I hope for Walker to find out sooner rather than later about what his daughter has gotten involved in. At least, when August comes to the dorms in search of Stella, he gets looped into what's going on with Witt's miraculous return, so maybe Liam will be next?
"Insane B.S and Bloodshed" - WALKER. Pictured: Justin Johnson Cortez as David Luna
and Ashley Reyes as Cassie Perez. Photo: Rebecca Brenneman/The CW © 2024 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Elsewhere, picking up the thread of the cliffhanger that ended at Walker HQ with the trio, Cassie is freaking out - rightly so, given their previous experiences with keeping things from Capt. James the way it did with Grey Flag, as she reminds Trey and Walker. Complete with air quotes! Multiple times! And it lasts long enough in the scene that even Cordell starts to mimic her before stopping himself. Although Walker believes that he's doing the right thing by keeping it a secret until they can verify more details before letting him in the loop, we know things don't always go as planned, even with good intentions, just like Stella's storyline which is sort of paralleling her father's in a way - except by the end of the episode, James finds out the truth!
Let's backtrack of course to the events leading up to the reveal. When Walker gets a call from James to meet up for a one on one, the plan is for the trio to divide and conquer - Trey is going to hold down the fort at HQ which means Cassie is in up to take point on the investigation; she gets the files and recording's on the old investigation to fill in the blanks while she goes to meet Det. Luna. Even though we've seen Justin Johnson Cortez onscreen once before last season when he'd made the call to let Walker know about Hollis Miller's death in the finale, this is the first time we're actually getting to see him in action! For those of us who have seen Walker: Independence, (still get a bit teary eyed that we didn't get more answers before it got canceled just one season in! </3) viewers are in for a treat, he plays David Luna as similar and yet different from Calian! Can we keep him please?
When he and Cassie meet up to set surveillance at a possible motel location where the Jackal is going to use as his next base of operations, the two of them get a chance to quickly form a bond of trust and mayyyybe a little bit of a vibe that I picked up on - clearly working on a serial killer case is not the time to be flirting and such, but if things aren't moving on the Trey side of things for Cassie, then maybe Luna could be a potential new suitor for her? I digress, anyway... the stakes get ramped up when one of the kids that he knows, Amy, can't find her mother who went missing a week ago - uh oh - and pretty soon, when he and Cassie go to one of the last known locations where she may be, they unfortunately discover that Amy's mom is the Jackal's latest victim. Things are much more concrete now, it's time that James knows what's going on.
"Insane B.S and Bloodshed" - WALKER. Pictured: Jeff Pierre as Trey Barnett and Jared Padalecki as Cordell Walker. Photo: Rebecca Brenneman/The CW © 2024 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
While all of the legwork was being done by the newly partnered up duo, Walker and Capt. James were spending time together at the Side Step, playing pool and potentially discussing the possibility that Kelly might be pregnant! Of course, Walker being Walker, truly thinks that there is a chance that while she is getting rid of all the alcohol in their house in order to keep James from spiraling, she could also still be expecting. He was just trying to do for his best friend and former partner what James had done for him after Emily's death, but clearly, things didn't go the way that Cordell thought it would. Once he gets the call from Cassie and learns the shocking truth that the Jackal has returned, along with the fact that not only has there been an investigation going on behind his back, but also that Kelly knew before he did as well... he's angry, And rightly so. But now is not the time to be passing around blame, things are getting real serious and dangerous now - the Jackal is back and he isn't going to stop unless James, Walker and the others stop him.
It'll be interesting to see how the dynamic of the group is going to shift now though; with Luna in the field and Kelly in the know, this time, things might be a little different and hopeful? The trust that he had in his team, with Trey, Walker and even Cassie maybe is on shaky ground though. But they're all going to have to work together to solve this case. At least the secret wasn't dragged out for longer though and there's still three-quarters of the season to go, which means there'll be more time devoted to the actual investigating!
"Insane B.S and Bloodshed" - WALKER. Pictured: Coby Bell as Captain Larry James. Photo: Rebecca Brenneman/The CW © 2024 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Over to you now folks, what do you think? Should Stella have listened to Sadie and confided in her father about everything that's going on with Witt? Or perhaps we're waiting for the Jackal storyline to wrap up or slow down a little before he gets looped in, because balancing the two cases would be tricky! And where do we think Abeline and Bonham were at this week? How cool was it getting to see the "Brennan Breakdown" in action after it was referenced by Luna and Cassie? Raise your hands if you want to see JJC stick around for the remainder of the season!