Of all the regular characters on Walker, August Walker is the one who’s most often relegated to the background. Most of his moments with the other family members involve him being a sounding board or a plot device. His individual plots are often short (when he gets them), and even his longer arcs involving his love life are still given very little screen time. Within the fandom, his character is often ignored or forgotten beyond being Cordell’s son. He’s just another character in an ensemble of others who have had larger, more memorable plots and more impactful moments. Despite all of this, it’s hard to ignore the impact August has had on Walker’s overall narrative - or perhaps, it’s a bit too easy to ignore it.

When August was first introduced to us, he was described as Cordell’s thoughtful son. August then spent the first few episodes acting as a peacemaker and buffer between his father and the far more opinionated Stella. Though he has gained a bit more personality over the course of the show, it’s still easy to put August in the background of his more dynamic family members. Because of this, his impact on the plot and the other characters is easy to miss or even forget about, when in reality he has been the driving point behind most of the larger plots and character development moments.

I’m sure we all remember the infamous text to Twyla Jean that forced Cordell to go back undercover and, more recently, stealing and re-hiding the mysterious lantern from the Burned Luck Barn. But I wager there are a few more examples of August stirring up trouble that you either missed or forgot.

Here is a comprehensive list of every time August advanced Walker's plot:

1. 1.04- He hid the phone and disposable camera from Cordell's undercover box. He also texted Twyla from “Duke’s” phone, forcing Cordell back undercover, which made him look crooked to his superiors.

2. 1.12- August chose to stay silent about Stella’s deception, resulting in Cordell leaving for the Rodeo Kings job.

3. 1.18- August left the rest of the family to decorate for the party and snooped around Stan’s house by himself. This resulted in him finding the poker chips, confirming for Cordell and the Walker family that Stan was involved with Emily’s murder.

4. 2.05- August snuck out to the barn to spy on Stella and Todd. This not only made him a trespasser, not unlike his father 25 years before, but it resulted in him finding the infamous lantern. He also hurt his shoulder here, which is what led to him becoming friends with Colton in the next episode.

5. 2.07- Not only did he tell Colton about the mysterious lantern, but he carefully waited until Abby was out of earshot to do so.

6. 2.10- He told Colton that Stella/Todd was “just a fling”. Though he said he did this in the name of keeping his friendship with Colton, it resulted in Colton lashing out at Stella in the next episode when she tried to talk to him. Colton's hurt feelings over Stella pushed him away from the Walker kids and led him to tell Gale about August finding the lantern.

7. 2.12- August agreed to go with Denise for questioning, despite both Geri and Stella telling him not to. She also likely couldn’t legally have forced him to go, especially without a legal guardian present. This not only resulted in the lantern being uncovered and Bonham being arrested, but it served to further the tensions between the families as Cordell finally let go of any hope of peace between them.

8. 2.14- He accidentally(?) let it slip that Cordell had told them all about Geri being the missing Davidson baby before she had a chance to tell them herself. While this seems small, it increased tensions between Cordell and Geri before their big breakup.

Probably more than you thought, huh?

Given how many antagonists are present in the show, I found it interesting that so much conflict and plot advancement came from one of the Good Guys. While not everything on the list could be seen as malicious, all of these points have contributed to the drama of the story in some way and impacted the rest of the characters significantly.

Of course, now we have to ask ourselves the question: why is it that August is the one behind all this? Is he a bumbling idiot who stumbles into these things without a care in the world? Does he feel neglected by his family and this is how he tries to get their attention or get back at them for the lack of it? Or, is he perhaps merely an enjoyer of chaos?

It’s difficult to say for sure. Though we have gotten to know August a bit more since his peacekeeping days, there are parts of his character that remain a mystery. Still, I think we can come up with an educated guess, though whether these ideas will ever be validated by canon is a mystery all its own.

Let’s start with the first theory: August is a Bumbling Idiot. While August was initially set up as thoughtful, innocent and perhaps a bit naïve, he proved himself to be more than that very quickly. For example, though his attempts to gain the attention and affection of the ladies may often make him look foolish, he is intelligent and he seems to be especially aware of how the people around him will react to things. We first see this in “Bobble Head.” After Stella stops him from burning his feet in a misguided attempt to woo Ruby, he asks her why she came to the party and if she’s trying to make their dad leave again. She tries to brush him off but he continues, recounting how she’s been pushing Cordell since his return and how it seems like she doesn’t want their dad around. Later, in “Four Stones in Hand”, he calls Stella out on her poor treatment of her friend Isabel when Stella tries to complain about getting ignored by her best friend. He tells her that she can’t seriously expect Isabel to sit around waiting to be friends again while Stella's off running around with Trevor. There are plenty of other examples of August

showing this level of awareness, so it’s hard for me to believe that he wouldn’t understand the consequences of using his dad’s phone to text a mysterious woman, or commenting on his sister’s relationship. Even in the cases where he’s stumbled onto some big news instead of causing it, I find it hard to believe he could do this so frequently by accident.

Next, we have the Neglected Genius theory. August is close with his family but he seems to be outshined by Stella more often than not. Bonding moments between him and members of the family who aren’t his sister are quite rare, and the moments we do get are short lived. There is also some clear favoritism toward Stella from Cordell’s end of things; he’s often soft when it comes to punishing her while he’s usually a lot fairer, if a bit harsh, when it comes to August. We also see more bonding between Cordell and Stella than we do with him and August.

On top of all this, he seems to have trouble making friends at school. Even among his fellow AV club members he fades into the background, to the point where they don’t even know his name. He seems to get his friends from Stella rather than making his own, though he laments his lack of popularity in “Four Stones in Hand.” In this same episode, he attempts to fix this problem by fueling the rumor mill that popped up at school around the events at the ranch because, somehow, the story got twisted into making him a hero. Though it backfires in the end, August enjoys being the center of everyone’s attention and happily informs Stella of his intention to milk this for all it’s worth. This is indicative of August not receiving enough attention at home. It’s entirely possible that all the actions listed above are his way of acting out and trying to get force this attention, even if it is negative.

That brings us to the final theory: August, the Chaos Enjoyer. Some characters just want to cause trouble and watch the fallout as their friends and family crumble around them. While this is an interesting idea and I’m not ready to entirely discount it, I don’t think there’s enough evidence to confirm this at this point in time. August loves his friends and family and he doesn’t seem to get joy out of causing them pain and strife. It’s possible that he does and he’s just good at masking it but we also already know he’s a terrible liar, especially when it comes to his family, so I believe this is unlikely.

But those are just my thoughts. What do you think? Am I on point or am I thinking way too much about this? What do you think is the reason behind August causing all this trouble? Is it all purposeful or has everything in this series just been a chain of unfortunate accidents? Let's discuss!

On May 5^th, 2022, the on-screen relationship between Bret and Liam ("Briam") came to a surprise end when Liam successfully stumbled through asking newcomer Ben Perez out on a date in Walker's episode "Champagne Problems" (2.16). While I personally was happy to see Liam getting out and about again, I was disappointed that his previous relationship didn’t get a proper conclusion. I’m sure the true, real life, behind-the-scenes reason for this plotline being dropped was related to Alex Landi’s (Bret’s actor) availability and schedule, but I do have to wonder what the in-universe reasons were.

Since we didn’t (and likely never will) get an on-screen conclusion to Briam, I’d like to put some of my own thoughts out there about how and why this ship sank.

I think my thoughts can be summed up pretty well in one word: Neglect.

Even in the early episodes of season one, Bret and Liam are experiencing relationship troubles and neither of them tries to hide it. We all remember the explosion that came with Liam’s fake affair, but there were already dangerous sparks as early as the pilot.

When we first meet Liam in season one, we learn that he’s living at the ranch despite him and Bret having an apartment in the city. This is hardly normal behavior for an engaged couple, though Liam makes the excuse that Bret wasn’t ready to play a semi-parental role for Stella and August like he was. This is understandable; after all, Bret’s just had to move halfway across the country and into a very different culture so maybe he just needed some time to settle in first. But, later on in the same episode, Bret crashes Liam’s failed lunch meeting with Cordell, which he only knew about through their shared calendar. It’s very odd that there wouldn’t have been at least a text about the day’s activities for both of them. Bret’s “joke” about Liam turning his back on his family and devoting himself to Bret seems a little less lighthearted in hindsight.

From here, the problems only continue. When Liam goes on an investigation trip with Larry James in “Tracks”, he says that he lied to Bret about what they’re doing. Then, upon their return in “Fine Is A Four Letter Word”, he moves into his office and refuses to see Bret for a week with the excuse of protecting him, all without telling his fiancé why he’s doing this. Bret does end up forcing his way into Liam’s office with food, but his victory is short lived as Liam keeps his distance despite attempts to draw him into simple small talk. After Liam’s “confession” about cheating in Mexico, Bret tries to keep the relationship together because of how much he’s put into it, but Liam keeps pushing him away and insisting that breaking things off is the only solution. Bret does end up breaking up with him, but not because of the alleged affair. He’s angry that Liam keeps trying to control his actions like he controls everything else in his life. He also says that he should’ve seen this coming as this wasn’t the first time Liam was putting other people’s thoughts and feelings over Bret’s.

Although at first glance this act of neglect appears noble, it does make us wonder what Liam’s thought process was. If Bret’s life was truly in danger, shouldn’t he have known about it? And what would this breakup really do to protect him? A part of me can’t help but wonder if this was less for Bret’s safety and more a subconscious desire from Liam to end the relationship.

In the next episode, “Rule Number 17”, we get more insight from Liam on what their relationship was like before the fall. When Micki asks him if he’d ever thought about running for public office, he says that it wasn’t really an option for him because Bret kept “threatening” to move back to New York. The details remain unknown but it appears that Bret pulled the “moving back to New York without you” ultimatum card more than once during an argument. I think it’s very telling that Liam didn’t wait for very long after the breakup before deciding to run for District Attorney, setting down the roots that Bret prevented before.

It’s not stated directly, but we can infer from all of this that Bret and Liam were having disagreements about how long they were going to be staying in Texas. Bret wanted to get back to their lives in New York as quickly as possible while Liam felt he needed to stay with his family just a little bit longer. This issue in their relationship, while large, seems to be a recent development. We see in the flashback episode “A Tale Of Two Families”, that their relationship was happy and there was easy communication between them. We can also see that Liam was initially hesitant about moving to Texas and instead tried to help his family by flying back and forth between his two homes. This was both because of Bret and because of Liam's career opportunities. Oddly enough, it was Bret that nudged Liam toward being more present for his family and moving down south. Of course, this may have been done under the assumption that it would be a temporary move, which is fair given how long Liam had previously been living away from his family. We can only speculate as to when Liam changed his mind and started to look toward a more permanent future in Texas, but it’s easy to see that this put a large strain on their relationship.

We don’t hear about Bret again until “Mehar’s Jacket”, where we see him texting Liam to check in after the attack on the ranch and asking if he’d like to meet up. Even though we see Liam respond with an affirmative, we find out in “Bad Apples” that they actually haven’t spoken since that exchange. Liam admits to Cordell that he thought about Bret while he (Liam) was essentially dying, but Liam has yet to admit this to the man himself. When Liam does end up seeing Bret, it’s because he wants him to look over his campaign speech, with apologies coming as an afterthought. Bret is not all that happy to see Liam after all this time of no contact and we see that he’s apparently moved on with someone else because he got tired of waiting around for Liam. Though Bret does return at the end of the episode, it’s purely to help Liam as a friend and professional. They care for each other but neither of them is ready to go back to what they were.

The next big relationship moment between them comes in the season 1 finale. At the end of the episode, Liam apologizes to Bret for how much he neglected him and their relationship. In the spirit of turning over a new leaf, he asks Bret out on a date.

While this was a happy note to end on, we find out in the season 2 premiere that Bret is back in New York and Liam has been making monthly trips to see him. This is a nice arrangement on the surface but when Stella asks if Liam’s going up to see him again this month, the response is uncertain.

Bret doesn’t get another mention or appearance in season two until “Where Do We Go From Here?”, when he comes down to get Liam out of his hermitude. It does look like their communication has improved, as Bret seems aware of everything that’s happened during his absence, but that doesn’t mean everything is fixed. The episode still leaves their relationship on an uncertain note, with both parties expressing their desire to get back together but neither of them making any moves to do so. Liam claims he wants to be worthy of Bret’s love while Bret says he’s waiting for Liam to see that he already is.

After that, we never hear of, or from, Bret again. It is assumed that they were working out their relationship problems during this time, though there is no evidence of this. With everything that’s been happening to the Walker family lately, I don’t think it would be a stretch to say that there just wasn’t time for Liam to do anything on his end. As Liam said to Ben in “Champagne Problems”, he’s put a lot of his energy into being there and doing things for his family with very little time to dedicate to himself and what he wanted.

I believe that Liam and Bret's off-screen breakup came down to Bret, once again, getting tired of waiting on Liam. Bret expressed multiple times in the past, both onscreen and off, that he needed more time and attention from Liam than what he was getting. This was enough of a problem when they were living in the same city and had a shared living space; I can only imagine this problem got worse when they were living in different states and time zones. To quote Geri, “You make time for the people you care about.” The care between them was there, but if Liam wasn’t going to put in the time, then Bret didn’t need to wait for him. Just caring for each other isn’t enough to save a relationship, as we saw demonstrated by Micki and Trey earlier this season. So, Briam fell apart after undergoing months of unaddressed neglect and eventually, they came to the healthy decision to end their relationship and move on.

At least, that’s what I think happened.

So, what do you think? Did Bret and Liam fall apart due to neglect? Was Liam the only one at fault or did Bret have a part to play? Will we ever get a proper resolution to their relationship? Will Liam make the same mistakes with Ben or will he learn his lesson? Is there another love triangle waiting for us in the future?

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Hoyt Rawlins was introduced in the first season of Walker, in the third episode, “Bobble Head”, and it was a memorable introduction indeed. Hoyt was shown to be a charming, fun-loving outlaw with a soft spot for two very special women: Geri Broussard and Abeline Walker. He’s also Cordell’s best friend going back to their school days and he shares a close bond with Cordell's family, having been dubbed “Uncle” Hoyt by Stella and August. Despite everything he has in Austin, he’s often away for months at a time to work or serve time. Hoyt Rawlins is a man who leaves us asking questions about his past, present, and future. Sadly, he was ripped out of the series after only a few episodes during the tragic almost-finale, “Defend the Ranch” where he lost his life doing just that.

Though Hoyt may have left the script, he left a mark behind on the show that won’t be easily forgotten. Personally, I believe he was taken from us too soon and that there was more of his story to tell. While I understand Matt Barr had other projects to work on and that we’ll technically be getting Hoyt back in Walker: Independence, it’s just not the same. So, in honor of our favorite outlaw, I’d like to lay out what little we do know about his character and lament the loss of what might have been.

From his very first episode, Hoyt Rawlins is a character full of mystery. He’s Cordell’s best friend but he’s also an outlaw. He’s in love with Geri but he always leaves her behind to live life elsewhere. He’s got an incredibly close relationship with Abby but he’s at odds with Bonham. How these contradictions came about is largely a mystery, but there are some clues that can give us a rough idea.

We know that Hoyt comes out of a rough childhood from lines in “Bobble Head”. When Cordell and Hoyt reunite for the first time since Emily’s death, Walker starts to call him a “Son of a bitch”, but Hoyt playfully cuts in and tells his friend not to speak about his mother like that and then claims he never knew her. Later in the episode, during a phone call, Abby tells him that just because he comes from bad people, that doesn’t make him bad. In “Freedom”, Abby recounts the times when he was younger and Cordell started bringing him over to the Walker home. The Hoyt she describes is shifty, uncertain, and not someone who easily handed out his trust. Finally, in “They Started It”, Geri brings up some stories that she heard about the family from Cordell and Hoyt, one of which was that Hoyt wasn’t allowed to attend Denise’s birthday parties because he came from the “bad” (or at least economically disadvantaged) side of town.

We know that Hoyt played football with Cordell in high school and that at some point he started his on-and-off relationship with Geri. We also know that he was good friends with Emily and that even as an adult, he held respect for the wild side of her younger years.

There’s another interesting line from Abby in “Bobble Head” that clues us into Hoyt’s past. During their final conversation, Abby tells him “You saved my boy. I’ll never forget that.” Though we never get any elaboration on what happened, it’s clear that the event referenced here had a significant impact on Abby and how she views Hoyt. It's possible that this happened during Cordell’s time in the Marines, which could mean that Hoyt followed his friend into service. Or it could reference something that happened during Cordell’s time in law enforcement, where Hoyt just happened to be there to help at the right time. Or it could be something else entirely. It's unlikely we’ll ever have more than speculation for this. It’s lines like these that make me think the writers did have a longer storyline planned for Hoyt that was cut short due to Matt Barr moving on to other projects.

Aside from this, we have no concrete clues about Hoyt’s life pre-series. We can speculate based on other bits of dialogue what else might have happened but all we can really know for sure is that Hoyt spent a lot of time committing crime, doing time, and proposing to Geri. Something that I wish the show had delved into more is Hoyt’s motivation for doing any of those things. Why would Hoyt keep leaving Austin when he has so much there waiting for him? Why would he commit himself to a life of crime when he has a support network that would allow him to have something more stable? Why did he propose to Geri so many times despite knowing he would likely be rejected? Alas, we can only speculate.

My personal theory for Hoyt’s life of crime is that his rough childhood made him disillusioned with the world at a young age. Unlike Cordell, he never had the luxury of thinking that law enforcement officers and the government as a whole truly had the average person’s best interest at heart. Perhaps he was subject to a government custody program at some point in his youth and, as a result, decided he wanted nothing to do with being part of “the system”, leading to a life where he had no income or property to be taxed or purchases to be tracked.

Perhaps his family was involved in the crime world to an extent. Maybe his dad was part of a gang or involved in drugs and he was exposed to all of this when he was young. Maybe the truth is some strange combination of both. I have doubts that they will go back and revisit Hoyt’s character in any meaningful way so we’re only left to speculate.

Now, let’s explore what we see of Hoyt in the present.

When we first meet him in “Bobble Head”, he’s arranged to be a wheelman for a notorious gun runner stationed in Austin, the very same one that Cordell and Micki are trying to catch. Throughout the episode, Hoyt retains a calm, cocky demeanor. This certainly isn’t his first rodeo and he wants everyone to know it. Even when confronted by his best friend, he remained unfazed, giving back as good as he got. The only time he let the mask slip was during his conversation with Abby at the end of the episode, when he sincerely apologizes for missing out on their mushroom hunting trip.

The next time we see Hoyt is during “Bar None”. When Liam and Larry James hit a wall in their secret investigation into Emily’s murder, they turn to Hoyt for answers. The plan is to move him into the same cell as the man who confessed to Emily’s murder, Carlos Mendoza, so that he can get more information on him and maybe provide them with some insight on whether or not he really did it. Hoyt initially pushes back against the idea because he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Mendoza, but Liam and James tell him that there’s a strong chance he isn’t the killer. Hoyt calls them out on not involving Cordell in their plan but agrees to it with the warning that if Mendoza is guilty, neither of them are going to be leaving that prison.

Hoyt hides his disdain from Mendoza and quickly strikes up a conversation about the art he has on the walls of his cell. He slowly learns more information with baiting questions and gains Mendoza’s trust. By the time Liam and James return, he’s learned enough from what Mendoza did (and, more importantly, didn’t) say to know that he’s innocent. From here, we can deduce that he’s often in situations where he has to watch what he says and “read between the lines” to get the real message. It almost makes me think he could’ve become a detective or perhaps even a ranger if he’d taken that path.

We don’t see him again until “Freedom”. It’s Hoyt’s first day out of prison and the whole family is there to celebrate. Unfortunately, Cordell and Geri are still a little too caught up in their own problems to celebrate with him, but Hoyt's got other things on his mind. He admits to Abby that he’d like to turn his life around for good and be the man that Geri deserves - someone who’s present and stable, someone she can build a future with. Abby is more than happy to encourage him on this path and even hands down her old engagement ring from Marv for him to pop the question. With her support, he’s nervous but willing to take the plunge.

This decision ultimately becomes the beginning of the end for him. Geri rejects his proposal, citing her kiss with Cordell as a reason. When he tries to push past that, she tells him that she just isn’t ready for this and she wants to take her life in a different direction. Hoyt becomes a lot less forgiving after that and storms off to the ranch to confront his supposed best friend. This lands him in the middle of a battle of wills (and bullets) between Cordell and the infamous Clint West, an encounter that ultimately leads to Hoyt's death.

And where does that leave Hoyt’s story?

In a word: Incomplete.

We know very little of Hoyt’s past and even less of his motivations for how he acts in the present. His story ends with an unresolved conflict as he bleeds to death for a home that he was never truly welcome in.

A character’s death is usually meant to do one of two things: motivate a protagonist to act in a certain way, or to complete their story. Hoyt’s story was incomplete, so his death was used to motivate Cordell’s “need” for revenge against Clint. Which is all well and good except for the fact that Clint had already: taken Cordell's family hostage, shot Liam with the intention of killing him, and forced Cordell to take part in a robbery. I feel that those three things alone are enough to stoke a need for revenge on anyone. Hoyt dying was just unnecessary. It felt like a cheap ploy for drama and it was conveniently timed so that neither Cordell nor Geri would really have to deal with how they betrayed him. Hoyt died on the same day that he learned that his best friend and the love of his life had kissed without telling him, and the same day the love of his life rejected his proposal in part because of that kiss.

Hoyt deserved the chance to have closure with Geri and Cordell. He deserved to know why they kissed and, more importantly, why they kept him out of the loop. He deserved the chance to ask Geri if she was ever really that serious about their relationship. He deserved the chance to witness Bonham accept his place in Abby’s heart. He deserved to go on that mushroom hunt with the most important woman in his life. The way I see it, the writers missed out on some excellent character development for the sake of convenience. And that, my friends, is just another tragic stab in the gut for Hoyt Rawlins.

his may just be my personal bias talking, but I believe the show could've benefitted from his continued presence, especially in the second season. Even if he remained a guest star with a limited presence, I think having even a false hope that we could see him again would have brightened the tone a bit. I think it would have been interesting to have someone there with a legitimate vendetta against the Davidsons that wasn’t a Walker. I also think this would’ve given the writers something to expand on that wasn’t just ‘Oh look how EVIL the Davidsons are’ for the fifth episode in a row. There was so much potential for a character like that and squandering him was a mistake on the writers’ part.

So ends my tribute to Hoyt Rawlins, the outlaw with a heart of gold who was taken from us far too soon. Am I being a little dramatic, or am I justified in labeling this a tragedy? How many ways could the writers have taken Hoyt out of the script without entirely eliminating him? Would keeping him around have improved the show at all or was his tragic ending for the better? Let me know what you think!

Dan Miller had quite the character journey in season 2 of Walker. From being Gale’s sidekick, to Denise’s scapegoat, to finally ending up as an unlikely ally to the Walker family, Dan's both frustrated us and given us some heartwarming moments. Though sometimes his character flipflops in ways that give me whiplash, I want to spend a little time discussing an aspect of his character that has remained consistent throughout the season: his commitment to his son, Colton.

From the early episodes of this season, Dan’s affection for his son is near palpable. Even during his marriage troubles and his own feud with the Walkers, Dan always makes time for Colton and does his best to be supportive. Almost everything he does over the course of season 2 is done either directly for Colton or at the very least so he could stay near him. This is played in sharp contrast to Denise, who rarely seems to have the time of day for her son and isn’t afraid to sacrifice him and his feelings for her personal drama.

The first real interaction between Dan and Colton in “Sucker Punch” is one that stands out to me as an example of Dan’s care for Colton. He presents his son with two tickets to a music festival that will be coming to Austin soon. Colton is excited and thanks him for them. Of course, since there are two tickets, there’s still the question of who Colton will be taking with him. Dan offers to go himself but Colton is hesitant and says he was planning to ask someone else. Dan asks who and then guesses Stella Walker. When Colton confirms this, his dad doesn’t berate him or speak badly about the Walker family as one would expect. Instead, he encourages Colton to ask Stella to the festival and wishes him luck scoring the girl. This mostly stood out to me because in previous episodes Dan showed a lot of animosity toward the Walker family, almost acting as Gale’s lackey. Unlike his wife and mother-in-law, though, he was able to put his feelings aside to support his son.

Given the limitations of the screen time of the show, we don’t get many one-on-one moments with these two, but there are many other examples of Dan striving to do the right thing by his son above and beyond himself. Allow me to elaborate.

As early as “It’s Not What You Think”, we’re told that Dan and Denise are having marriage troubles when she apologizes to him for missing their counseling appointment. This thread continues throughout the series, eventually leading to Denise kicking him out of the house in “Boundaries” and sending him divorce papers sometime before “A Matter Of Miles”. All through this plotline, we constantly see Dan apologizing and trying to make peace with Denise. While he does plenty of things that would require an apology (such as lying to Denise about his involvement with the men operating the illegal cameras in the Walker home), we also see Denise bring out the “You bought the wrong kind of cleaner” fight, something she later attributes to Gale and Marv’s struggling marriage. While neither spouse is perfect, this is a point where it seems Denise is largely the aggressor while Dan comes across more as a peacemaker who constantly strives to prove that he is on Denise's "side" and always has her back.

This idea is reinforced in other episodes. In "Barn Burner", we see video footage of him sneaking around the Walker property, which sets him up as the buyer for the surveillance operation later on. In the next episode, "It's Not What You Think", we learn that he has done this to find dirt on the Walker family. While this could be an extreme way of supporting Gale's ire, I think his motivations could also lie in trying to impress Denise to help her avenge her father's death. Later in the episode, he lies about his reasons for being on the Walker property when he shot the criminal running the operation, which went a long way in endearing Denise to him as he became the hero of the day. In “Bygones”, Dan admits that he’s been trying to take on big projects around the property because he wants to impress Denise. In “Common Ground”, Dan offers himself as the racer because he knows he has the best shot at winning against the Walkers, which would undoubtedly score him points with Denise. In “Search and Rescue”, Dan initially rushes to Denise’s defense and fights back against Liam’s rash accusations, despite the fact that she’s already kicked him out and all but officially ended their marriage. An honorable mention goes to "Sucker Punch", in which Dan did everything in his power to ensure that Denise got the incriminating footage of Seranos that he saved from the surveillance op while remaining anonymous. While on the surface these things appear to be just attempts to win Denise’s favor as her husband, I think there’s another motivation underneath that: staying near Colton.

Remember earlier I mentioned that Dan acted as Gale’s lackey and fellow Walker-hater? Let’s circle back to that.

In “Douglas Fir”, Gale mentions Dan and Denise’s marriage problems to Cordell. Aside from her painting the possibility of divorce as “giving up”, Gale gives an interesting perspective on things. Rather than taking her daughter’s side, she seems to favor Dan. This is only further proven by the fact that she follows her son-in-law to Thalia to help him gather Christmas decorations rather than stay at home with her daughter. It’s likely that Dan gained this favor by being equally gung-ho against the Walkers while Denise was still in her “Let’s be Neighborly” stage. Why would Dan put so much effort into being Gale’s sidekick, especially when Denise was still against her mother’s actions?

Because he knew Gale would return the favor later.

In “Boundaries”, Gale overhears Denise kicking Dan out of the house. As soon as Denise leaves that conversation, Gale jumps to his defense. Based on how Denise reacts to this, I’d wager it’s not the first time Gale has argued on Dan’s behalf.

In “Common Ground”, we see Dan’s bootlicking endgame come to fruition. Though Gale failed to convince Denise to forgive Dan this time, Gale's still willing to work with him. She makes a deal with Dan behind her daughter’s back: if he wins the race for them, he gets to stay in the farmhouse on the Davidson property. Dan wanted to do this because it was a way he could stay next door to Colton when he was forbidden from living in the same house.

Based on all this, it seems pretty clear that Dan spent so much time sucking up to Gale so that when his apologies and peacemaking attempts failed, she would be the one to back him up when Denise wanted to end things. If she could convince Denise not to divorce him, he could stay with Colton. Everything Dan did this season: every jab made at the Walkers, every scheme hatched in secret, every breakfast smoothie made and apology dished out, all of it was done so that he could stay near Colton, his son.

Why go through all that effort? Why not accept the marriage was failing and make his case in child custody court?

Because Denise is a damn good lawyer and a vindictive bitch on top of that.

Dan knew very well that if he ever agreed to a divorce, Denise would be more than happy to screw him over. We already saw with Denise’s actions in “Common Ground” with August and Bonham that she’s perfectly willing and capable to bend the legal system to her will, however outlandish it may be. Who’s to say she wouldn’t bend the truth, or even outright lie, to gain full custody of Colton and deny Dan visitation rights? We saw during the disastrous dinner in “A Matter Of Miles” that Denise isn’t afraid of dangling divorce right in front of his face, even in front of their son. There’s a reason Dan was “dodging divorce papers” and it isn’t because he loves his wife.

It’s because he loves his son.

What do y’all think? Did I hit the nail on the head with this one or am I reading too much into it? Why do you think Dan tried so hard to stay married to Denise all this time? I’m curious to see your comments!

Hoyt and Geri’s relationship is an interesting element of Walker's first season. From Hoyt’s introduction in “Bobble Head” (1.03), we learn that the two have a long-term on-and-off relationship that’s been going strong since their younger years. Through many trials and tribulations, conjugal visits and absences, Hoyt and Geri have come back together over and over again.

But was that the right choice for them? The implications for Geri carried over into Walker's second season, and definitely affected her relationship with Cordell. Let’s have a look at the facts.

On the surface, Hoyt and Geri's relationship appears to be a simple case of opposites attract. Geraldine Broussard is a smart, reasonable woman who’s maintained a successful business on her own for years while living in Austin. Conversely, Hoyt Rawlins is a professional getaway driver and drifter extraordinaire, never staying in one place for too long and always finding some trouble to land himself in. Despite their differences and long absences from each other, the love and care between them is clear to anyone who cares to look. Between Geri’s conjugal visits and Hoyt’s incessant proposals, there seems to be something holding them together despite their very different lifestyles and outlooks on the world. Unfortunately, due to Hoyt’s short time on the show and the show’s choice to not acknowledge the way he complicates Cordell and Geri’s relationship, we have yet to learn what that “something” is, but there’s plenty of room to speculate.

By the time Hoyt makes his first appearance on Walker, he has been gone for some time with very little word back home. Despite this, he proudly proposes to Geri with a plastic bottle ring only to be rejected for what is clearly not the first time. At the end of the episode, we can see Geri looking meaningfully at this same ring and in a later episode, “Freedom” (1.11), we see what looks like a collection of these rings as part of Hoyt’s proposal. The implication here, to me, is that Geri has kept the “rings” he gave her, despite her many rejections. Was it because she intended to say “Yes” one day but wasn’t ready yet? Was she waiting for Hoyt to do something? If so, what caused her to change her mind? Or, if not, was Hoyt right in claiming that she never once took him seriously?

In order to get to the bottom of what made Hoyt and Geri “work” and what ultimately led to their downfall, we’re going to have to do a little detective work and explore all possible theories.

Let’s start by looking at the evidence.

The first mention of Hoyt and Geri’s relationship comes during “Bobble Head”, before we even see them on screen together. When Cordell invites his friend for a boys’ day out, Hoyt mentions stopping by to meet his girl. Cordell (jokingly?) tells him that if he really thinks Geri still holds a torch for him after all this time, then he’s crazy. The first time we see Hoyt and Geri on screen together is when Hoyt proposes and Geri plays it off as a joke. He takes it in stride and they dive into their poker game. At the end of the episode, we see Geri contemplating his most recent plastic bottle ring.

The next time we see them on screen together is during a flashback scene in “Bar None” (1.06). During Cordell’s 32nd birthday party, Hoyt and Geri are all over each other (though that may be because of the alcohol). There’s not much to say here except that this little scene is evidence of their closeness and chemistry with each other.

The final time we see them on screen together is “Freedom”. This episode is quite a doozy for them. This is the first time we’ve seen Geri since the infamous kiss with Cordell, and Hoyt has just gotten out of prison. While he’s under the impression that everything is fine and dandy and just as it was when he left, even going as far as to deliver another “fake” proposal at his Welcome Home party, that could not be further from the truth. Hoyt mentions to Cordell that he “can’t get a read on” Geri at the party, a troubling issue that even Micki can pick up on.

It seems Geri has reached a fork in the road in her life. On one path lays Hoyt Rawlins and their relationship as it stands today, conjugal visits and all. On the other, is a life without Hoyt, perhaps one with Cordell. Which one does she want? Which one will make her happiest in the long term? Which one will end in the least amount of pain for all of them?

Hoyt, on the other hand, is a lot more confident in where he wants to take their relationship. He plans to propose to Geri and give up his life of crime to settle down and make an honest man of himself. We find out in “Mehar’s Jacket” (1.14) that he went as far as to acquire some land in a place Geri mentioned wanting to settle in and even arranged for some livestock. Though he is a little unsure if the simple life is for him, he’s willing to give it a try for Geri.

The next day, Hoyt surprises Geri in the morning with a heartfelt proposal. Shocked, Geri tells him that she and Cordell kissed while he was in prison. He brushes it off, though his confidence is faltering. Then, Geri deals the killing blow and tells him that she’s not in a place to marry him. She’s thinking about making major changes in her life and she can’t make those changes while tied to him. While her logic is sound, Hoyt becomes angry and circles back to the kiss admission. He grabs his hat and storms out of the house to confront his best friend, but he leaves Geri with this parting remark: “You know, I meant it every time I asked you. I should’ve paid more attention to how you never took me seriously.”

We all know what happens next so I’m not going to force us to relive it.

Before we move on to the analysis, I want to bring up a few more things from Geri that happen following Hoyt’s death.

In season one's “Mehar’s Jacket” , the episode right after Hoyt’s death, Cordell and Geri have some interesting conversations about Hoyt. Despite both of them knowing him since they were all children, it seems neither Geri nor Cordell really knew him and they both severely underestimated him and how he cared for both of them. They both lament not giving him enough credit while he was alive, especially considering how he died.

Jumping ahead to season two's “Sucker Punch” (2.09), Geri offers Colton a few words of wisdom while he struggles with admitting his feelings to Stella. She not only tells him to make his move while he still has a relative chance, but she also delivers a warning of what might happen if he doesn’t. She says that she’s not only seen that sad story play out before, but she’s been a part of one herself. If you combine this with some other comments she’s made in the season, it looks like her romantic feelings for Cordell are far from new.

Now that we have all our evidence, I want to dive into a little analysis so that we can answer our key questions. Why were Geri and Hoyt together? Why did they stay that way for so long? Was their relationship doomed to fail from the beginning or was there something they could’ve done to prevent its downfall?

While we don’t know exactly when the romantic side of their relationship started, we know that they’ve been together for quite some time. They do appear to be a bit off-and-on due to Hoyt being away for long stretches of time, but Geri always seems ready to welcome him back into her heart with open arms. But why? Why is she so accommodating of this? Why does Hoyt keep returning? And what changed the tides for them?

One possible answer to these questions is that Geri was willing to wait for Hoyt to settle down for a certain amount of time before she got tired of waiting. Even when Hoyt proved himself to be willing to turn his life around for her, she’d either already committed to leaving him behind or she didn’t think he was capable of sticking it out in the long run.

Similarly, it’s likely that Geri just didn’t want to settle down with him. We’ve seen over the past couple of seasons that while she does have a permanent residence in Austin, she’s no stranger to travel and has a tendency to flee when things get too complicated or serious for her liking. Hoyt was a simple on-again-off-again boyfriend that allowed her to exercise the freedom to live this way while keeping the security of a loving relationship. When he decided to make it serious, she turned him down because that wasn’t what she wanted from him.

Another possibility stems from Geri’s comments to Colton. If she really has been in that movie before, it’s possible that her missed opportunity was with Cordell; Emily just got to him first. Between that, the infamous kiss, and the fact that she had tried to tell him about these feelings in “It’s Not What You Think” (2.04), I believe it’s very likely that she’s had these feelings for many years and was unable to act on them due to his marriage to her best friend. It may not be too far off base to say that she was using Hoyt as a substitute for what she couldn’t have.

Or, we could look at the simplest answer: they were a relationship of convenience.

Geri and Hoyt entered a romantic relationship at around the same time as their best friends, Emily and Cordell. Maybe they loved each other, maybe they didn’t want to feel left behind, maybe it was a little bit of both. Whatever they had, they made it work because they wanted it to work and they cared for each other.

But just wanting something to work isn’t enough. Geri didn’t want someone like Hoyt; she wanted someone more present in her life, someone who would be there for her whenever she needed them, someone who would accommodate her schedule, someone with whom she could settle down. Hoyt wanted someone who could appreciate his free spirit, who didn’t want to conform to society’s expectations on how to live a life, someone who would support his endeavors. No matter how much they wanted it to work, they weren’t being what the other person wanted from them. They stuck it out, but there was only so long the charade could go on.

At some point, they both had to ask themselves if this was worth it, staying with someone that wasn’t quite right for them for the sake of not being alone. Geri came out of that question with a firm “No”, deciding she wanted to try a new direction in her life. Hoyt, on the other hand, decided it was worth one last go and he made plans to completely change his life so that he could be the right man for her. The result was a disastrous proposal but, unlike all of Geri’s “rejections” before, this one sank their ship for good.

Which brings us to the conclusion, the place where we answer the question “What went wrong here?”

Whatever the reasons for Hoyt and Geri’s relationship beginning or ending or staying together, I think the biggest factor in their downfall comes down to a lack of communication. Geri wasn’t able to communicate her feelings to Hoyt about what she wanted from him or how she was ready to throw in the towel on their relationship, which is why he was so blindsided by her final rejection. Hoyt wasn’t able to communicate to Geri how much he loved her and how much he was willing to give up to make it work, which is why she never took him seriously. In the end, all they got was heartbreak

But those are just my thoughts. What do y’all think? Was there ever a way for Hoyt and Geri to live and thrive romantically or were they doomed from the start? Do you think Geri would’ve continued on with Hoyt if not for The Kiss or was their breakup inevitable? Would their marriage have ended in a bitter divorce? Please share your thoughts below!

Romeo and Juliet is a classic tragic love story penned by the playwright William Shakespeare. The plot revolves around two teenagers in love, Romeo and Juliet, who come from rival families. Though they know their parents would never approve of their union, they decide their love is stronger than any rivalry and hatch a plan to run away together. Unfortunately, their families’ unwillingness to get along spells tragedy for them until they both commit suicide and leave their families to weep.

Given that the Davidson/Walker rivalry was such a major plot point in Walker's second season, it’s not surprising that the romance plotline between Stella and Colton has been dubbed a “Romeo and Juliet” story. However, I feel that this is merely a surface level reading that completely ignores the fundamental dynamic that exists between these two teens. Honestly, the only thing Stella and Colton share with the tragic couple is that their families don’t get along. Instead, I liken Stella and Colton to a rather different classical couple: Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

When Elizabeth and Darcy first meet, there’s instant dislike between them. Darcy brushes her off as low class because of her family’s economic status and claims that even if she was wealthy enough for him, she wasn’t nearly attractive enough to hold his attention. Elizabeth hears all of this and brushes him off as arrogant, elitist, and entitled. Contrary to Romeo and Juliet, it’s hatred at first sight for our lovebirds.

Stella and Colton meet in a similar way. From the very beginning, Colton is prejudiced against Stella because of her family. Due to his grandmother’s lies, he believes Stella to be entitled and that her entire family is untrustworthy. In response to his insults, Stella is rude and standoffish toward him and believes there’s no way they would ever get along.

Later, Darcy does try to gain Elizabeth’s affections. Unfortunately for him, Elizabeth doesn’t recognize his actions that way. She deems his staring at her as him trying to find fault in her, and his attempts at conversation with her are interpreted as invasive and rude. Not to mention she’s already set her sights on another man, George Wickham. He's charming and fun, someone who she easily gets along with.

Similarly, Colton does fall for Stella and makes multiple attempts to get her attention. However, Stella either doesn’t notice them or misinterprets them as friendly rather than romantic. On top of that, Todd also has feelings for Stella and has been making more noticeable moves to get her attention, which she gladly accepts.

There is another barrier in Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship: the sister of Darcy’s good friend, Charles Bingley. She quite fancies Mr. Darcy (though it’s likely more for his money than any aspect of his personality) and she goes through great lengths to assure that he and Elizabeth remain apart. She tells lies and half-truths to give Elizabeth a false impression of the situation and even meddles in Charles’ engagement with Elizabeth’s sister to keep her away from the estate. It's truly a miracle that these two ended up together at all.

Similarly, Colton's family seems determined to keep Stella and Colton apart. While Dan has been supportive of them since Colton admitted his crush, Denise and Gale are an entirely different story. Gale’s many lies prior to the Davidsons moving to Austin gave Colton a false impression of Stella and her family. Both Gale and Denise make efforts to be aggressive with the Walkers and even used Colton to do so when they were trying to get their hands on the lantern. The animosity between their families even threatened to end the teens' relationship toward the end of the season.

But, things are not perfect for dear Elizabeth. While George is a charming man, he’s also one with a lot of secrets and to say he had a scandalous past would be an understatement. Elizabeth initially tries to make excuses for it and paints his past as lies from Darcy but, when George elopes with her little sister and all but forces her into marriage, it’s hard to ignore his obvious flaws.

In a far less scandalous situation, Todd and Stella’s relationship hits a rough patch after the Walkers lose the ranch. She needs/wants Todd to be her emotional rock during this time, but he’s more focused on having a good time. He says he just wants to distract her from her issues, but Stella sees this more as a sign of his immaturity. She wants to be in a relationship with someone with whom she can have serious discussions, not just a class clown.

After much trial and error, Darcy does eventually learn how to gain Elizabeth’s affection. He’s kind to her when her family is experiencing turmoil and helps in any way he can. This allows him to gain a private audience with her wherein he’s able to be emotionally vulnerable with her. He’s given the chance to apologize for his previous errors and explain that he truly loves her despite, or perhaps because of, her refusal to be a typical lady. This heartfelt moment breaks down Elizabeth’s final walls and she realizes that she shares his affections. When he proposes, she says yes to becoming the next Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

In this same vein, Colton does finally reveal his feelings to Stella after trying to apologize for the problems his family has caused her. Though she initially rejects contact with him, he catches her after the ranger fair and presents her with her mother’s necklace to get her to listen. He tells her that he is truly sorry for everything that’s happened to her. He also takes the chance to be emotionally vulnerable with her and reveals his romantic feelings for her. He tells her that the song he wrote, the one that Todd sang to win her heart, was all about how knowing her has made things seem better for him (Colton). Stella doesn’t know how to react at first but she appreciates his honesty. Later, after doing some soul searching, she breaks things off with Todd and tells Colton that the feeling is mutual.

In conclusion: Stella and Colton have far more similarities with Elizabeth and Darcy than Romeo and Juliet could have even had with each other.

I really hope I didn’t come off as a literary snob there but it was a little frustrating for me to see people calling Stella and Colton a “Romeo and Juliet” story just based on the family rivalry and ignoring all the parallels between them and Elizabeth and Darcy.

What do y’all think? Did I hit the mark with this one, or am I off? Does it really even matter? I’m curious to see your comments!