Walker – Don’t Fence Me In Review

For a show that already seemed refreshingly content on making Walker’s partner Micki Ramirez into a genuine co-star, the series’ fourth episode, “Don’t Fence Me In”, truly helped Micki shine and rightfully take her place as an equal.

After being called by a local sheriff to a Texas oil well, Walker and Micki chase down the suspect’s vehicle by passing a car, swerving immediately in front of it, and running it off the road by “bulldogging him.” I hope that term comes up on Jeopardy someday because I was quite proud I learned some new car lingo. Unbeknownst to them, the victim is a Mexican-American immigrant named Enzo Carillo that (based on his tats) belonged to a ruthless gang and drug cartel.

Micki’s instincts lead her to an uncomfortable realization: the cartel deals with drugs and weapons–and typically wouldn’t concern itself with oil fields, so what was he doing there? After she discovers Carillo has seemingly lived a legit life for decades and was supporting his daughter by paying her medical school tuition, suddenly things get murky. The suspect has worked for years and was friendly with the owner of the oil field. He was so close to him, in fact, that they would attend functions together. Things aren’t adding up.

Much to her chagrin, she is ushered in front of the media even before closing the case. She now feels “fenced in” by how her superiors are handling the case.

“The cap (captain) made me smile for the cameras yesterday. It felt like I was the Mexican good guy used to justify taking down the Mexican bad guy,” she confides in her boyfriend, Trey, she gets home.  

Walker seems skeptical because the case is supposed to be closed, but he enjoys egging her on a bit because he, of course, never goes by the book.

I’m not a fan of telegraphing (which the show has done in multiple cases) but it was clear from the get-go that the retiring sheriff was somehow involved in the mess. The key question was how.

True, the case ends up being more layered than expected: Was it the mother? The entitled children? And how did the sheriff play into it? And what did Enzo discover and when? And who was at the oil field that night?  Yes, some of this actually is a bit surprising albeit unbelievable. I felt for a while I was stuck in the ending of a Law & Order Criminal Intent episode as Micki (who is an artist herself) discovered sketches or photos that help her solve the case (just as Detective Robert Goren could solve anything in the most abstract ways possible on L&O). 

Still, since Walker is more often good guys vs bad guys, as cases go, this was one of the more interesting we’ve seen. Oh, and they also solve the case with a “plant cam.” You’ll have to watch it to see how. Plant cam reminds me of “giraffe cam” that was a national sensation a few years back as the nation watched April the Giraffe.

The episode also features second incident of our newly-learned car technique of “bulldogging it.” Just because.

What didn’t work is the daughter of the accused and her interaction with Micki. I’m certain in real life that a daughter of a man who A) just died and B) was once in a gang and C) was implicated for the murder of a popular oil tycoon wouldn’t appear the next morning at a police and media press conference to confront one of the law enforcement agents who ran her father off the road. 

And strangely, Micki really doesn’t feel that badly after running someone off the road who supposedly died from those injuries. It just seems inconsistent with Micki’s character. You’d think as a rookie cop who just killed someone by running them off the road you’d feel a bit of guilt? Of course, by episode’s end we were told he was already dying from his earlier confrontation with the killer so the “justified” road maneuver didn’t kill Enzo and Micki could have a clearer conscience.

What worked in this episode was the relationship drama taking even more dark turns: Walker discovering his mother had an affair or at least communicated with a beau of interest, which leads her to say something like “all people have secrets.” Yikes.

But Walker’s mom isn’t the only one with secrets.

Walker’s snooping son August (in an Encyclopedia Brown type move) goes through a box of Walker’s materials, including a photo from an instant camera he develops only to see Walker getting cozy with someone who was not his mother. He finds a burner phone in the same box and then has the audacity to text the mystery stranger–although only Walker finds the reply. The reply suggests the stranger wants to meet Walker at a hotel ASAP.

Uh-oh. 

It remains to be seen whether Walker is embroiled in an affair of his own or, as he tells August, it’s all part of an undercover operation, which does seem plausible since he was gone for the past months on an undercover assignment. Walker’s own heartfelt breakdown earlier in the show “I miss her so much Mama” seems to suggest his one and only true love was Emily. (I mean, we’re still close to Valentine’s Day so I’m not going to jump to a darker conclusion). 

Which brings us to young love? Walker’s daughter’s court-imposed community service seems too good to be true: she gets to work with horses and meets a boyish prince charming at the stables. The horse boy seems to have stepped out of a Masterpiece Theater romance. Of course, with a slightly overbearing and intimidating Dad like Walker, he better treat Stella perfectly well! It’s nice seeing a week go by where there is not much conflict between Stella and her father.

Micki also continues to have good personal news to celebrate. Her boyfriend Trey is not just supportive, but now that he’s decided to not be a lifetime military man – he gets a job as a Director of Sports Medicine and a soccer coach. Plus, he frames one of Micki’s earlier “superhero” drawings. Cute.

Clearly the Walker writers are working hard to showcase one stable relationship. It’s refreshing. Not everyone can be in family turmoil.

There are a few writing missteps: At one point Stella seemed to ease her guilt at her friends’ parents’ potential ICE deportation scenario by… celebrating when the boy from the stable calls. Oops. It wasn’t perfect–but it is something we can see almost any teen doing. Even Walker’s kids aren’t perfect.

It’s not just that it’s immensely likeable while watching, but Walker continues to surprise with its knack for difficult or even disquieting relationships within the larger family. They are all clearly flawed. And that’s welcome.

At its heart, the episode itself was all about trust: a minor subplot has Walker complaining Micki wasn’t letting him in and Micki arguing Walker doesn’t deserve to know about her. By the end of the episode, when Micki thanked Walker for believing her, Walker’s line was totally cheesy, but in a satisfying way: “I didn’t believe you. I trusted you. When your partner has a strong feeling you back her up.” These actors are just making this professional relationship work. Instead of screaming at the TV, I almost said “Awww.” Almost.

Least importantly, we do learn a deep and strange secret about Micki: her favorite foods are “barbecue” (not sure if that’s ribs or chicken), blueberry ice cream, and bourbon. I’m going to nickname that B-Cubed if I ever open a restaurant.

So with a heavy dose of family focus, “Don’t Fence Me In” is another winner. Walker is certainly proving to be a show that is anything but “fenced in.”

Walker can be watched on the CW App or can be streamed here.