‘Walker’ Showrunner Reveals the Plan for James Van Der Beek’s Season 5 Villain

It may possibly have been controversial, but the CW’s Walker came to a close following an unexpected cancelation by the network. Starring Jared Padalecki as the titular character, Cordell Walker, the series followed a legendary Texas Ranger who will have to now confront the criminals in his hometown immediately after a stint amongst them. The series had earned itself a substantial following immediately after operating for 4 seasons with relative accomplishment. The Season 4 finale, “See You Sometime,” which now serves as the series finale, provided a clue into whom the subsequent villain would have been, if the neo-Western crime drama had been renewed for a fifth season. As the season closed out, Dawson’s Creek‘s James Van Der Beek emerged as the Walker family’s new subsequent-door neighbor. Showrunner Anne Fricke has now revealed the plans for Van Der Beek’s villain in the now-cancelled series.

Speaking with TVLine, Fricke explained that in the aftermath of his cameo in the Walker season 4 finale, Van Der Beek was scripted to play a cult leader in the fifth season of the show, saying “That whole process was so exciting. We always wanted to leave some threads for Season 5. We were going to do the cult next door. So he was supposed to be a cult leader.” The showrunner also revealed that Van Der Beek was close to joining the series early on, as nicely. “A small-known fact is that we had actually approached him to be Clint West [in] Season 1, which Austin Nichols, ultimately played, and Austin was so excellent in that role. I would not have it any other way. But James had been on that list for a possible villain,” she revealed.

“We Were Going To Do Like Kooky Cult”

While he did not get the Clint West function in season 1, Van Der Beek had scored that of the season 5 villain. A character Fricke goes on to describe as getting “quirky bad,” amusing and whimsical:

“Oh, gosh. I talked to James, and it was so last-minute. He’s a saint. I think it was truly like the day before we were shooting. It was really, really insanely last-minute, so thank God he lives there. He loved the idea of the cult leader, and I think, actually, half those clothes are his own clothes. [Laughs] He was super into it and super into the dynamic he would bring, and he was really into the idea of playing a fun character, an interesting character, a bad character. He was going to be kind of quirky bad, but amusing. He was going to be a really whimsical, amusing character. We were not going to do blood cult, bad, bad, bad cult. We were going to do like kooky cult.”

Walker may possibly have ended, nonetheless, there is a feeling amongst fans who like the show that it could have ended far better. It is a sentiment shared fiercely by the show’s top man, Padalecki, who criticized the network for the cancelation. The show’s fourth season aired only 13 episodes, largely due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 which disrupted a great deal of Hollywood. Walker is a reboot of the 1990s western drama Television show Walker, Texas Ranger which starred Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker.

All episodes of Walker are presently readily available to stream on Paramount+.

Walker

A widowed father returns to Austin immediately after 1 year, attempting to reconnect with his youngsters, navigate clashes with his household, and obtain widespread ground with his new companion, when increasing increasingly suspicious of his wife’s death.

Release Date

January 21, 2021

Cast

Mitch Pileggi , Molly Hagan , Chris Labadie , Jared Padalecki , Lindsey Morgan , Violet Brinson , Rebekah Graf , Keegan Allen , Odette Annable , Jeff Pierre , Gabriela Flores , Genevieve Padalecki , Coby Bell , Alex Landi , Kale Culley

Main Genre

Crime

Seasons

4

Network

The CW

Expand

WATCH ON PARAMOUNT+