3 things we loved about the Walker series premiere

There was a lot to love about the Walker Season 1 premiere on The CW. Jared Padalecki finally has a new series that isn’t about fighting supernatural creatures, and it’s exciting to see him in something much different than what he’s spent the past 15 years doing.

Padalecki’s new series reimagines the original Chuck Norris-led show Walker, Texas Ranger, with the 38-year-old actor playing his own version of Cordell Walker. The first episode starts with tragedy as Cordell’s wife Emily (played by Padalecki’s real-life wife Genevieve Padalecki) is murdered while on a supply run.

The Walker Season 1 premiere then skips ahead 11 months into the future. Cordell has spent all that time on an undercover mission and has finally returned to his hometown to find his kids have suffered without him there. He has a long way to go to make things okay with his family again, and that’s what the series premiere focuses on setting up for the remainder of the season.

Among the many things we liked about the opening hour, the following list focuses on the three things we loved most and what we look forward to seeing for the remainder of the season!

3. Jared Padalecki’s short hair.

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During his Supernatural tenure, Padalecki consistently had long hair that seemed to get longer as the seasons passed. I’m guessing the primary reason for that was because his co-star and on-screen brother Jensen Ackles had always had short hair, and they wanted to keep a contrast between them.

But in Walker, Padalecki was finally allowed to shear his long locks, and it suits him really well. The stubble + short hair combination is seriously working for me and lots of his fans — judging by the tweets I’ve seen.

2. We’re not in Canada anymore.

Most fans of CW shows know to anticipate low budgets when they watch shows on the network, which almost always means the series will be filmed in Canada, where they get filming tax breaks and the like. As such, a lot of CW shows wind up looking similar in regards to their locations. But that’s not the case for Walker, which actually filmed in Austin, Texas. It has been a while since a CW series shot full-time somewhere outside of Canada.

I’m guessing a big part of the reason is that Padalecki wanted to stay close to home. He’s a real-life Texas boy, and considering the many years he’s spent away from his family, being able to film in his home base must have been a big selling point for him on this series. It also doesn’t hurt that the City of Austin chipped in an incentive agreement to let the show film there.

1. The family relationships.

I’m not going to lie, the storytelling and lack of action in the Walker Season 1 premiere weren’t very impressive. As far as procedural shows go, the opening case for Walker and his new partner Micki (Lindsay Morgan) wasn’t compelling. But what the show lacked in the story, it made up for in characters and family bonds. Watching Walker felt like a cozy hug and reminded me of some of the old classic WB shows.

Even if the overall story doesn’t become fantastic — and this was the pilot, so I’m cutting the show some slack there, too — I can see myself sticking around just for Walker and his family. If Walker leans into its family drama storylines, it could really set itself apart from other crime procedurals and become an entertaining, heartwarming show to watch.

What did you think about the Walker Season 1 premiere? Are you planning to tune in for the remainder of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!