Walker - A History of Horrors and Other Tales - Review: A New Connection!

Last night's episode was, shall we say, interesting? Walker himself was MIA for the most part, leaving the rest of a very big ensemble cast to fill in the gap until he returned; there were three storylines that we focused on - Abeline and Bonham's struggles to find a middle ground with each other as they navigated what being retired meant to them, respectively but also as a couple, with Liam playing referee for his parents. There was also more of Stella's adamancy to keep things quiet yet again from Geri while she continued her treasure hunt for the necklace, more on that later though; our main focus was the Jackal storyline, which once again yielded more results even if it felt a little less impactful as the discovery of his lair, every step forward is a step closer to finding who he is.

I wanted to start off the review by talking about the opening montage scene though, we get to see Walker being unable to sleep, waking up first at 3 am and then 5 am when he decides to get ready for the day; which is paralleled with seeing Capt. James already at Ranger HQ before the sun is even up, there's still very much signs of darkness and one could say that it's the heaviness of working this case and falling into the obsessive spiral that both men have experienced, but while James is shown to be with Trey while they're training, he's also making plans for a vacation with Kelly, telling us that he's starting to heal - whereas Walker is all alone in the house, he's isolated and alone and keeping secrets from everyone... but both of those scenes are then pushed apart to the side, so to speak, when we get to see Cassie, in the sunlight as she gets ready for the day. It's an important highlight to show that in spite of all the darkness that's surrounding these characters, they can find their way back to the light. I just thought it was neat! 

"A History of Horrors and Other Tales" - WALKER: Rebecca Brenneman/
The CW© 2024. All Rights Reserved

Anyway, onto the actual casework! We find out pretty quickly from James that the DPS is considering handing over their investigation to the FBI, and of course there's nothing like a ticking clock of a deadline - until 6 pm that evening - for Trey and Cassie to put their heads together and work the case to find something more about the Jackal, so that they can see this through to the end. We also find out that both of them have been tapped by DPS to move ahead to the top 5 candidates for the Lieutenant position; it's definitely not an easy situation for them - to be essentially pitted against each other while being partners and best friends, but we see that they're able to showcase their respective strengths. Cassie is the one who thinks about finding connections amongst the victims that sets them apart instead of commonalities, and lo and behold! Ericka Sweeney, the Jackal's second victim was the only non-parent of the group... until a little more digging and research actually reveals that she ran a daycare where one of the kid's accidentally died and from that, comes the revelation that the Jackal's M.O is targeting people who abuse their responsibilities towards children, whether their own or ones they care for.

And in the midst of all this, Capt. James tells his team that he's ready to take the case back in his hands, claiming responsibility, his scene with Walker where he asks for the journal showing us that he is indeed a better man for everything he's gone through and come out on the other side. For his part though, Walker mysteriously disappears for most of the episode after he grabs one of the files, not giving us much to go on with as to where he goes, although him checking in to another motel at the end of the episode is enough of a clue that he's still doing things his own lone-wolf way. Even after getting that stern talking-to from Cassie! I gotta say, that was a really good scene between them - we haven't seen a lot of Jared and Ashley together, but they play off of each other very well and I have missed seeing just the two partners together; she's the next person after James - aside from his family of course - who knows how he thinks and can tell there's a lot he isn't sharing, and I'm glad we got to see that moment between them. 

"A History of Horrors and Other Tales" - WALKER: Pictured (L-R): Odette Annable as
Geri Broussard, Keegan Allen as Liam Walker: Rebecca Brenneman/The CW© 2024.
All Rights Reserved

Two more people who know Walker better than he knows himself too? Liam and Geri. Now that her business in OKC has concluded, Geri's back home and trying to figure out where things stand in regards to her relationship with Walker; their scene at Ranger HQ seemed very awkward and stilted, with Geri rightly calling out his "boy listening" because of course, in his mind there's no time to sit and discuss things that have nothing to do with the Jackal; it's a stark parallel to how the scenes between the two of them were at the start of the season and where they are now. Cordell has fallen into this addiction that he can't let go off and it's the same with his daughter too. Thanks to Hoyt's cryptic letter, Stella and Augie discover that the chances of finding Ophelia's necklace in their very own home is a possibility, but when their detecting doesn't lead to anything but another supposed dead end, Augie is determined to come clean; especially after the revelation that this mysterious woman Joanna might just very well be Hoyt's mother, Joanna Rawlins! How many of us saw that coming and weren't terribly surprised by that?

For most of the season, August has tried to get Stella to do the right thing and talk to an adult, it doesn't even matter which one at this point - their own father might not be reachable, but they have Geri and Liam and their grandparents, heck even Trey is basically their second uncle (or is it third if Hoyt was second?) still, Stella is adamant and refuses to give in; Augie quite literally tries to stage an intervention when he gets the former pair to try and reach her, but being her father's daughter, Stella makes an excuse and escapes out the window (!!!) to go track down the necklace's location, on her own, with no backup. Where's Sadie disappeared off to in the meantime? At least if they were together that'd be less foolhardy than Stella charging into danger alone; but it isn't just Augie who knows how similar Stella and Walker are, Liam and Geri realize it a little too late as well!

"A History of Horrors and Other Tales" - WALKER: Pictured (L-R): Keegan Allen as
Liam Walker, Violet Brinson as Stella Walker: Rebecca Brenneman/The CW© 2024.
All Rights Reserved 

Also, circling back to Abby and Bonham, while we saw just how different the two of them are when it comes to having their own definitions of "retirement" as well as what plans they have, they can't seem to agree on pretty much anything, even with Liam as their mediator. Abeline has given so much of her life and time to raising her children and then even her grandchildren, taking care of the ranch, being the matriarch of the family, she's realizing that she wants more out of life for herself. Bonham on the other hand desires to recapture the lull in between the crazy moments; their trip to Italy is at the center of it all for them, but for different reasons! And despite the tension between them, I have to say that I've enjoyed seeing their relationship over the years; it's a beautiful love story to tell - it's not too often that you get to watch an older couple still struggling with the ups and downs of life and their love for each other on tv, but it's refreshing! It's inspiring even, in a way, to see what a couple goes through once their responsibilities towards their family has been more or less "completed" and they want to focus on the time they have left together. I do hope that things get sorted out between them soon!

Over to you now folks! It seems as if the entire family will finally find out about Stella's secrets, because why have one person know when we can tell everyone at once! What do you think Walker was up to before he checked himself into the motel? And where oh where did Det. Luna disappear off to once again? Packing his things up from Corpus to move to Austin permanently perhaps!

Anjali S

Anjali is a reviewer for SpoilerTV - her favorite shows include 911, Walker, The Rookie, Supernatural, Doctor Who! When she's not watching tv, she spends her free time reading and writing. She is a newly published author; her first book was released in March 2024 and she hopes to keep writing more!