Walker: Independence Review: 1883 Meets The CW in Katherine McNamara's Promising Western

Yes, it's true: The CW is getting into the Western business. These days the network is primarily known for its bevy of superhero shows, roster of Very Attractive Actors, and whatever the hell is happening over on Riverdale, but when you think about it, a full-blown Western feels like an obvious choice to add to their repertoire. After all, there's a lot of crossover between a Western and a superhero story when you break them down into their base elements — good versus evil, big action and chase sequences, hot people in clothes that seem mostly uncomfortable — and if anything, the pilot episode of The CW's first foray into a period Western piece, Walker: Independence, certainly feels like a superhero origin story. All of which is to say that this series feels surprisingly on brand and I love this journey for them.

Walker: Independence is technically the prequel spin-off of The CW's modern Western Walker, the Jared Padalecki-led remake of Walker, Texas Ranger,though there's no need to have watched the mothership show to make sense of this new one. Sure, Walker: Independence tells the story of Cordell Walker's (Padalecki) ancestor Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara) and how she started a life out in Texas in the late 1800s (why yes, it is very much to Walker as 1883 is to Yellowstone, I'm so glad you noticed), but the callbacks mostly seem like fun Easter eggs for fans of both shows rather than anything that would unlock some major mystery. Walker: Independence handily stands on its own. The pilot episode efficiently explains why we're all here (and all of this is in the trailer, so it's not really a spoiler): In the first 10 minutes, Abby's husband, Liam (Brandon Sklenar), is murdered while the two of them are caravanning from Boston to Independence, Texas, where Liam was set to be sheriff. Her life quite literally goes up in flames. When she reaches Independence, she learns that the man who has taken her husband's job is the same one who murdered him. She vows to get revenge…or justice…or some mix of the two. See what I mean about the superhero vibe? 

6.0

Walker: Independence

at The CW

Like

• Has the makings of a really compelling ensemble
• Dives right into the action
• Katie Findlay gives a big and bright performance

Dislike

• The central mystery feels limited
• Relies on several genre tropes
• Takes itself too seriously at times

Leaning into the whole "personal tragedy begets revenge mission" gives Independence a real point of view and some great momentum to kick things off, and McNamara is certainly believable as a woman trying to keep it all together while also using the very limited resources she has to figure out what Sheriff Davidson (Greg Hovanessian) is up to. It also clearly does away with the "damsel in distress" trope that plagues so many Westerns, and that's a good thing, since Independence does lean on other clichés of the genre. (Outlaw with a painful past and secret heart of gold? Check. Shifty saloon owner? He's there, too. A nefarious sheriff trying to take over the town? You met him already.) Still, while this central conflict certainly propels the first few episodes forward, it doesn't seem to have much of a shelf life. Even three episodes in, it already feels convoluted that not one single person has figured out that the new, mysterious young lady in town is also the missing wife of the sheriff who turned up dead. That's a small town! Abby and her buddies are acting very shady! It's a premise that's asking to get blown up, or else it will surely get stretched too thin. Though, perhaps, the best kind of TV comes from painting yourself into a corner? Time will tell.

There's certainly potential beyond Abby's revenge mission. Walker: Independence does an excellent job of building a compelling ensemble to populate the frontier town. She quickly enlists the help of the aforementioned outlaw, Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr), and Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez), an Apache tracker who's torn between the pull of Independence and his loyalty and duty to his family. The show seems to be setting up some type of love triangle for these three, but I'm already much more interested in the growing friendship between Hoyt and Calian. The on-screen chemistry between Barr and Johnson Cortez easily elevates a mostly one-note subplot the guys get mixed up in during episode three. It's all very "The Odd Couple goes to the Wild, Wild West" and it's hard not to be charmed by it. 

We also meet Augustus (Philemon Chambers), the do-good deputy sheriff; Kai (Lawrence Kao), a Chinese immigrant who seems to be carrying a lot of guilt around; and Lucia Montero (Gabriela Quezada), the daughter of a Mexican rancher, who has a history with Hoyt. Independence is clearly trying to remind us that the Western frontier wasn't made up of just white men and will hopefully be shining a light on more marginalized stories from that time period. In the three episodes provided to critics for review, these characters had not gotten a main storyline just yet, but everyone has at least gotten moments that imply they all have much more going on than they initially let on. Cracking open all of those characters and in turn broadening the scope of the show will only make the series stronger.

While Walker: Independence has a pretty deep bench of interesting supporting characters, the clear standout is Katie Findlay's Kate Carver. Kate Carver is a dancer at the saloon, but early on we learn she is much more and has a specific, non-dancing job to do in town. At times it seems like Findlay is acting in a completely different show, but in the very best way — you begin to wish that everyone else could get on their level. Findlay seems like they're having the most fun, and that breath of fresh air is needed in a show that at times takes itself way too seriously.

This is a CW Western, remember? I mean, the show kicks off with a sex scene in a moving caravan, which I have now decided is one of the top five least sexy places to have sex, and everyone has perfect, glorious hair even if they presumably haven't showered and/or slept for several days, so someone remembers this is a CW show. Over the course of the first three episodes, the show does seem to struggle to find its footing in regards to tone, but here's hoping it eventually finds a nice balance between the ridiculous and the Very Serious Drama and settles on an identity, because Walker: Independence, like the frontier town it depicts, has a lot of potential. 

Premieres: Thursday, Oct. 6 at 9/8c on The CW
Who's in it: Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Justin Johnson Cortez, Katie Findlay, Philemon Chambers, Greg Hovanessian, Lawrence Kao, Gabriela Quezada
Who's behind it: Walker producers Seamus Fahey and Anna Fricke 
For fans of: Walker, 1883
How many episodes we watched: 3