You know you're going to have a good time watching Walker when Matt Barr guest stars! The show has been having a strong run of a season so far and with the return of Hoyt Rawlins, in an episode that kind of slowed down the Jackal investigation a little, having it go to the backburner, it still managed to shine during Hoyt's scenes, so that was a highlight. However, I do have to say that there was a lot that went on in tonight's episode, what with very very many different storylines to juggle, and it felt like perhaps there were certain aspects that could have been spaced out a little bit and given breathing room to a handful of scenes instead of overflowing it from all directions. I suppose in that case, it made sense for Det. Luna to have been offscreen this week, otherwise it would have gotten to be a whirlwind of an episode, but not in a good way!
Let's start with the strong points of the episode, namely Hoyt's flashback scenes from five years ago - thanks to a perfectly timed recap, we're reminded that Geri had gifted Augie one of Hoyt's lucky jackets, although we find out that the original owner of it was his friend/partner-in-crime Abhishek Mehar (Jay Ali) who we get to meet both in flashbacks and present day! The opening museum scene with Hoyt strolling in and pulling the fire alarm to get everyone scrambling and distracted while he stole his ancestor's necklace was absolutely masterful! We have seen time and time again over the past seasons how smooth he was at pulling his jobs and this one was pretty much flawless. Once he has the necklace in hand, Mehar thinks that they're going to pawn it off (for a whopping six figures!) but first, he has to make a pit stop and meet an old friend - lo and behold, we get to see "Duke" again too!
"We All Fall Down" - WALKER, Pictured: Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins: Rebecca
Brenneman/TheCW© 2024 All Rights Reserved
If the first flashback was a glimpse into a typical Hoyt Rawlins heist, the ones that followed showed the other side of our favorite thief that we all came to know and love. He has a heart to heart with Cordell, who was three months into his undercover mission as "Duke" and just after losing Emily, and you can see the sincerity in their conversation that Hoyt and Walker really cared about each other, trusted the other with their secrets and fears. Jared Padalecki and Matt Barr have such good chemistry together that their relationship which went beyond friendship, to them being brothers really, was clearly visible and I think the scene was the first of two strong moments in this episode, (I'll get to the second one soon) although when Hoyt meets up with Geri later at Emily's grave, he isn't able to pass the necklace on to her for safekeeping, so we don't quite know where it ended up yet?
All of this of course is uncovered by Stella and August when they meet up with Mehar, help him pull off a heist of his own, and then discover that they need to talk to Walker after all; because clearly that's the way to go instead of looping in their father about this from the start! I definitely think that the lack of communication from Stella's part about what's been going on with her and this search for the necklace that's gotten to an obsessive point, was something that should have been dealt with a little sooner than this, but it makes one wonder, if Mehar didn't tell them about "Duke" then would they have continued to keep him in the dark all throughout the season? It gets a little frustrating at times, to know that August and Sadie and even Liam, getting to be the voices of reason, but none of their questions or suggestions to Stella seemed to have gotten through to her. Maybe once Walker's anger settles down a little and they get all of these secrets out in the open, then things will change. One can hope.
"We All Fall Down" - WALKER, Pictured: Jay Ali as Abhishek Mehar: Rebecca
Brenneman/TheCW© 2024 All Rights Reserved
Speaking of secrets though, we get to see over the course of the episode that Capt. James is struggling to keep himself together now that he's fallen off the wagon again - there's a meeting with the Jackal Survivor Network, and even though Cassie is there with him, the focus is on James to talk to the families of the victims that fell prey to this serial killer. And it takes a toll on him, which gets noticed by Trey a little more than Cassie when James forgets that the case with Spyder back in the day had been Micki and Walker's, not Trey. (Let's give it up for a Micki name drop!) In the end, James shows up at Walker's to tell him that not only did Kelly find out that he'd been drinking again, but DJ - who had shown up for a visit - also was at home at that time. It's an emotionally charged scene with the two friends, but it's the second highlight of the episode for me, having James open up to Walker about what he's going through and trusting him to catch him when he falls.
This is another example of a strong friendship that Walker has, it's scenes like these where you know the show hits all of the right beats. Now that the baton has been passed on though, one can't help but wonder, does Walker have someone to stop him from spiraling while the Jackal investigation is ongoing? I would hope that Trey and Cassie have his back, but with the added layer of his kid's and their secrets, plus with everything that also happened with Geri, perhaps we should be a little more concerned about Walker.
"We All Fall Down" - WALKER, Pictured: Matt Barr as Hoyt Rawlins: Rebecca
Brenneman/TheCW© 2024 All Rights Reserved
Oh yes, we have to get to the Walker and Geri of it all too; he didn't talk to his children about her moving in beforehand and the family dinner that he planned was a complete bust, but there may have been something to Geri's point of view in thinking that Walker's timing of it all - Stella and August leaving the "nest" and having an empty house to fill, might not be the reason for him to ask her to take such a huge step in their relationship. They haven't broken up, not even really on pause I guess, but just taking a beat... still, I guess even Liam was right about bringing the same concerns to Walker earlier on. We're going to have to wait and see where their relationship goes next, once Geri returns from Oklahoma.
Over to you now folks! Having seen the necklace physically now and not just in a picture, we can safely say that it's Abby's necklace from WIndy right? Who do you think is going to be named lieutenant now that both Trey and Cassie have thrown their hats - sorry stetson's - in the ring? Raise your hands if you got super excited to hear Micki being referenced! And is Detective Luna returning in next week's episode?
