S01.E05: Duke

[jewel21]

Quote

When his past unexpectedly collides with his present life, Walker is forced to resume his undercover identity to keep his family safe. Micki gets caught up in Walker’s old case while August threatens to blow his father’s cover. Trey starts his new job.

Airdate: 02/18/2021

[Hana Chan]

A show is never off to a bad start when you've got a shirtless Jared Padalecki to drool over.

Interesting that the Feds suspect Cordell of being dirty and Liam coming to his brother's defense. I may have to reconsider my original impression about the younger Walker sibling.

August... you so deserve the grounding you're facing. Just suck it up.

[roctavia]

So could he not tell his kids that he was undercover? Like did they not know that was why he was gone??? I get keeping things secret and whatever, but telling his family it was work shouldn't be a problem.... Hell, I would have told the kid in the morning that his stupid text message put me back undercover and now I have to go deal with it. That's why he's grounded.

 

Edited February 19, 2021 by roctavia

[Katy M]

Walker's panicked expression when he saw August was perfect.  Do we know how he knew exactly where he was?  

I also might need to re-evaluate Liam.  I do hate changing my mind, though.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

Walker's panicked expression when he saw August was perfect.  Do we know how he knew exactly where he was?  

I also might need to re-evaluate Liam.  I do hate changing my mind, though.

I guess that it has been a generation since we last had a real undercover cop as the lead of a show because August went in as if he never heard of the concept. His  move is in the running with the stupidest I have seen this season. Right up there with the girl who left the safe house in The Equalizer pilot.

This was the first episode where the crime, or rather Walker working under did more for me than the family drama. I especially liked that Captain James agreed with me and it was stupid to send Ranger Walker undercover after his wife's death

[thuganomics85]

I guess Walker didn't tell his kids what was really going because he didn't want them to worry, but that ended up being quite the wrong call there.  Then again, I know August is young, but he knows about his dad's undercover past and how dangerous his actual job is, so he really should have known better than to follow him to some isolated place and start a confrontation.  All it would have taken was him to yell or loudly call Walker "dad", and everything could have gone deadly south real quick.  I'm glad it all worked out and they seem to be at a better place, but damn, learn to communicate, Walkers!

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this episode since Walker's undercover past wasn't high on my list of things I wanted to know more about, but it ended up being fine: especially after Micki got herself involved as well.  Admittedly very reckless (good think she had already crossed paths with Hoyt and was able to answer Twyla's question), but I like that she seems to have the same trust in Walker that he has for her.  If nothing else, both are pretty quick on their feet and know to play off another when the moment calls for it.  One effective duo right there!

Trey being the new assistant coach at Stella and August's school might be a little convoluted, but still a good way for him to interact with the rest of the cast more going forward, hopefully.  I'd like to imagine Jeff Pierre read the script and was like "Yay, I get to film outside of Micki's house set for once!" when he saw that.

Surprise, surprise: it looks like something suspicious really did go down with Emily's death, and both Liam and Captain James are looking into it, and will no doubt keep it from Walker, which will lead to some drama once he finds out about it (because you know that's where this is going!)  And judging from the previews, 

Spoiler

it looks like it will lead them to bringing Hoyt back into the fold.

No Abeline or Bonham this time.  I'm guessing this is going to be one of those shows were not all of the regulars need to appear in each episode, with the exception of Walker (and, if I were to guess, probably Micki too.)

[AnimeMania]

Walker really needs August to spill how he was able to find him.

Trey seems way too qualified to be a sports medicine assistant coach at a high school (is that really a job?). I am not even sure that schools still have school nurses. He should have gotten a job as a sports medicine coach at a college or as an EMT, if he is not qualified to be a doctor.

[Raja]

13 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

Walker really needs August to spill how he was able to find him.

Trey seems way too qualified to be a sports medicine assistant coach at a high school (is that really a job?). I am not even sure that schools still have school nurses. He should have gotten a job as a sports medicine coach at a college or as an EMT, if he is not qualified to be a doctor.

He said that he was a 68 whiskey in the pilot episode so a combat medic. Not a doctor,  nurse or physicians assistant. From everything that I have heard about Texas high school football you would think that the schools would have someone like Trey on staff who would need additional duties when the Friday Night Lights were not burning 

[ukgirl71]

Another very engaging case this week.  I  had never heard of the name Twyla before - is it common?  I wasn’t impressed by the character though and I’m not quite sure why - she just didn’t seem worthy of Walker -   neither sympathetic nor dangerously seductive enough, and of course driven by greed in the end. Jared played Walker’s quietly freaked out emotions in having to become Duke again very well, although he occasionally wandered back into that breathy delivery that sometimes cracked me up with Sam.  I’m loving the growing glimpses we’re getting to see of Liam’s protectiveness towards his brother, and the fact that it was him calling Cordi that brought him back in the pool ❤️  Micki and Walker’s floor banter made me chuckle, but August’s confrontation with his dad, and Walker’s reaction, made my heart hurt.  Trey’s new role feels a little shoe-horned in at the moment, but we’ll see where it goes.   I liked the call-back to Gen’s real life soccer skills.   And, now that he’s not working with Jensen, I keep getting reminded just how tall Jared actually is 😂

[Terese]

I loved the undercover case and the quick reactions. 

But, omg, what is up with the kids not understanding that their father works for a living and what he does for a living? Criminals don't take time out for game day. Furthermore, what parent gets to take time off everytime their kid plays a sport? August following his father on a case was horrendous.  

I am intrigued and glad to see that Emily's murder has not been left by the wayside.

7 hours ago, Hana Chan said:

A show is never off to a bad start when you've got a shirtless Jared Padalecki to drool over.

Interesting that the Feds suspect Cordell of being dirty and Liam coming to his brother's defense. I may have to reconsider my original impression about the younger Walker sibling.

August... you so deserve the grounding you're facing. Just suck it up.

Jared looks great! And totally agree about August.

[Terese]

When Walker was talking about the loss of his brother, instead of his wife, I feel like it was a reference to Dean, with Sam speaking of the loss of his brother and riding the circuits together.

[Terese]

7 hours ago, Katy M said:

Walker's panicked expression when he saw August was perfect.  Do we know how he knew exactly where he was?  

I also might need to re-evaluate Liam.  I do hate changing my mind, though.

August was following from the bar, I think.

With respect to Liam, I thought it a good start in the right direction when he didn't drop everything and show up at Stella's game.

Not really sure what the expectations are; other than if I told my employer that I had to be at every afterschool event my daughter was to participate in, I probably wouldn't have a job. The pan to the empty bleachers, save two people, seemed to suggest parents are remiss. 

[AnimeMania]

It didn't seem like a real game, because even the students from both schools didn't feel obligated to show up.

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Admittedly very reckless (good think she had already crossed paths with Hoyt and was able to answer Twyla's question),

that reminds me, Walker was undercover pulling crimes with his childhood friend?  I would think that would be frowned upon.  Hoyt could have busted him any time and he didn't seem all that trustworthy to me.  And you would have thought that knowing that, walker would have been more accommodating last week.

[Wynne88]

This is the first time I have really liked Micki.  It was great how she backed Walker up, and watched out for him in the bar.  When she's in her uniform, she just seems so prim and proper.   I do wish that flashback undercover Walker had had slightly different hair or more scruff or something, to make it easier to figure out immediately that it was a flashback.  It took me a minute, especially in the karaoke bar scene with Liam to figure out if this was present day or past.  Maybe I'm just slow, though. 

[Raja]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

It didn't seem like a real game, because even the students from both schools didn't feel obligated to show up.

Societal norms must have changed since my and my kids day. For all the teams on campus maybe two drew an audience. Many City champion squads might have just a yearbook photographer show up for one match.

56 minutes ago, Wynne88 said:

This is the first time I have really liked Micki.  It was great how she backed Walker up, and watched out for him in the bar.  When she's in her uniform, she just seems so prim and proper.   I do wish that flashback undercover Walker had had slightly different hair or more scruff or something, to make it easier to figure out immediately that it was a flashback.  It took me a minute, especially in the karaoke bar scene with Liam to figure out if this was present day or past.  Maybe I'm just slow, though. 

They went with the filter route giving the viewer something is just not right with the color feeling. But then such a production trick might depend upon the viewer having the higher end screens to watch.

[wlk68]

8 hours ago, ukgirl71 said:

Another very engaging case this week.  I  had never heard of the name Twyla before - is it common?  

The only other Twyla I've ever heard of is Twyla Tharp. She's a famous dancer and choreographer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twyla_Tharp

 There's a scene in The Bird Cage where Robin Williams mentions her: 

 

[KittenPokerCheater]

I liked this episode- haven't really enjoyed one since the pilot.  I hope we get more episodes where he has to go undercover.

[tennisgurl]

If I was a sexy southern criminal, I would totally want to be named Twyla Jean. I didn't think we would get into Walkers time undercover so quickly, and I thought it was really fun, probably the first time I was more invested in the case of the week than the family plots. 

So August gets to be the main angsty teen this week, this family really needs to work on their communication skills. If Walker had just told the kids that he was working a sting to clean up some loose ends from his time undercover, then August presumably wouldn't have followed him, which almost led to the whole op becoming a complete disaster. If he had just yelled "Hey dad!" everything would have gone to hell, especially with the trigger happy guy around. I get why the kids are still really jumpy about their dad possibly leaving again, but you would think that he could put two and two together on what is happening here, they do know that Walker was undercover after all. It did lead to a nice moment at the end though, hopefully now that "Duke" is officially gone they can start actually rebuilding their family again. August really is so many kinds of grounded after all of this though. 

It was also nice to see Liam standing up for his brother, as things have been pretty tough between them since Walker got back. He supported him the whole time and stood up with him whenever the fed started accusing him of being dirty, and they had some really good bro moments near the end. As much as the focus has been on Walker reconnecting with his kids, I am glad that he is also reconnecting with the rest of his family as well. 

My favorite part of the undercover plot? Micki jumping in to play along with Walker's undercover persona, complete with wavy hair and southern accent. She really did a good job at improving, especially considering she has never really done undercover work before, Walker and Micki continue to be a great team. Good thing she knew about Hoyt, see it really IS good to know stuff about your partner. I also love how quickly she jumped to his defense when the fed accuses him of being dirty, their partnership is growing really well and I continue to love their banter. 

"Oh your surprised you got robbed by the robbers?" 

Trey becoming Stella's new coach is a bit contrived, but I am happy to get more Trey and I bet the actor is happy to get to shoot some scenes outside of the house and gets to interact with the rest of the cast more. 

So I guess there really is more to Emily's death. I am shocked shocked to discover this of course. It also looks like Liam and James are looking into the case but are keeping Walker out of it, presumably so that he wont run in super hot on any lead and get himself killed, but this is so not going to end well, as we just saw in this very episode. This family really needs to work on their communication, keeping secrets is only going to end in hurt feelings and disaster, even if its done with good intentions. 

[Bobcatkitten]

Jared was yummy but I find myself being pulled out of the story because a tiny bit of communication would eliminate so much crap. 

Hey August- you sent a text to a former CI and now I have to go handle it. And when the kid pulled up - August, this is an undercover op and you are in danger. Get the hell out of here. 

Also I don't buy the kid can track his undercover Texas Ranger to some random place. 

 

 

 

 

[Whimsy]

On 2/19/2021 at 2:56 AM, ukgirl71 said:

Another very engaging case this week.  I  had never heard of the name Twyla before - is it common?  I wasn’t impressed by the character though and I’m not quite sure why - she just didn’t seem worthy of Walker -   neither sympathetic nor dangerously seductive enough, and of course driven by greed in the end. Jared played Walker’s quietly freaked out emotions in having to become Duke again very well, although he occasionally wandered back into that breathy delivery that sometimes cracked me up with Sam.  I’m loving the growing glimpses we’re getting to see of Liam’s protectiveness towards his brother, and the fact that it was him calling Cordi that brought him back in the pool ❤️  Micki and Walker’s floor banter made me chuckle, but August’s confrontation with his dad, and Walker’s reaction, made my heart hurt.  Trey’s new role feels a little shoe-horned in at the moment, but we’ll see where it goes.   I liked the call-back to Gen’s real life soccer skills.   And, now that he’s not working with Jensen, I keep getting reminded just how tall Jared actually is 😂

 

On 2/19/2021 at 11:43 AM, wlk68 said:

The only other Twyla I've ever heard of is Twyla Tharp. She's a famous dancer and choreographer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twyla_Tharp

 There's a scene in The Bird Cage where Robin Williams mentions her: 

 

I guess there are no fans of Schitt’s  Creek here. There was a character named Twyla on that show. 
 

I like the bits of humor we get. I wish there were more of those. 

[VegetasMom]

I hate bratty kid storylines.  And that kid is too old for that nonsense.  He needs to be told in no uncertain terms to stay out of his dad's work business, and he shouldn't need to be.  They're acting like he's 8 years old or something with the way Walker coddled him when he got back.  He almost got his dad killed, but let's worry about his sulky attitude instead.   Can we have no more of this please?  

[foxfreakinmulder]

On 2/19/2021 at 12:48 AM, Terese said:

When Walker was talking about the loss of his brother, instead of his wife, I feel like it was a reference to Dean, with Sam speaking of the loss of his brother and riding the circuits together.

Me too!!! I came on here to say exactly that but you beat me to it 🙂 And when he said they had to cremate Duke very Supernatural especially how fast the box went up in flames, like someone had poured lighter fluid on it 😉

I'm sorry but August would've gotten my foot up his ass when I got home. Do these kids know that dad works for a living as a Texas Ranger and that sometimes he goes undercover? That was stupid! And maybe dad should say I'm working undercover on a case and I'll try but not sure I can get it wrapped up before your game. But I'll do my best to be there.

I see Jared is back to using his facial ticks. It reminds me of a story I saw on John Wayne on the making of the movie Stagecoach. The director John Ford bullied John Wayne a lot on set and pulled Wayne aside and asked why he was moving his mouth so much and Wayne said "I'm acting" and Ford said "in motion pictures you don't act with your mouth, you act with your eyes."  John Wayne credited Ford for changing his life and teaching him.

A little convenient for boyfriend to be working at the school with Walker's daughter but I'll hand wave it and remind myself it's a CW show.

[Featherhat]

Well August always was going to explode in pretty short order. Unintentionally throwing his dad back into his undercover life and then exploding that was a way to do it though. I do think if he had actually said "I have to clean up some stuff your completely stupid, angsty texting last night brought up" then it would have cut down on August messing stuff up. Then again August wasn't using great logic skills anyway. "I think this is my Dad's excuse-to-leave-me-woman so I'll text her just to see what happens then complain when I think he responds to her invite and doesn't just ghost her!" 

I really liked the opportunity for Cordell and Micki to partner up undercover, she's a really quick thinker not only with becoming Adriana but then immediately planning a way to get these two arrested and the danger to Cordell and his family neutralised. I really enjoy their partnership, they have some really good partner chemistry and they compliment each other without the writers necessarily hitting us over the head with it each week with big speeches. "You didn't think we'd get robbed?! They're literally robbers!"

Would "Duke" have really used Hoyt Rawlings as his real life BFF in stories? Considering how unreliable that guy is I wouldn't want that name connected to both Duke and Cordell Walker if they met him. 

I liked Liam this week and that he was sticking up for this brother. I think it helps that he wasn't involved with the kids at all and there wasn't that uneasy competition between him and Cordell. I'm glad Captain James acknowledged that allowing Walker to be sent in immediately after his wife's death was the wrong call, even if Walker wanted to be someone else and make his grief less immediate just as Micki said she felt like not being her for the day, others should have made that call. 

So Trey is the sports director and coach at their school. That's one way to integrate an awesome but secondary character into the show more even if it is extremely convenient. I love him and Micki together, they're so cute even when they're arguing because they actually acknowledge their issues and communicate like healthy human beings whilst still having issues and vulnerabilities. I hope this means they won't kill him off, have him turn out to be working for the bad guys or get reactivated and go MIA etc etc. I thought his and Stella's talk was pretty fast for an angsty 17 year old to open up but I guess they had to give him a win on his first day and her some sort of resolution because she wasn't the Angst Generator this week. 

Sorry I just couldn't take the name Twyla Jean seriously so I couldn't take anything about her seriously at all. 

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Featherhat