The CW has released the synopsis for “Duke”, the fifth episode of the first season of Walker the network’s reboot of the classic CBS series Walker, Texas Ranger. The episode is set to air on Thursday, February 18th. In the series, Jared Padalecki plays Cordell Walker, a Texas Ranger who returns home to Austin and his family after spending two years undercover and it sounds like this episode will see his time undercover collide with his real-life, forcing Walker to go undercover again for his family’s safety.
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A true reboot of the original Walker, Texas Ranger, Padalecki recently told Good Morning America that he had to get original Walker star Chuck Norris’ blessing for the series as Norris still co-owns the original having helped create it.
“He did have to give his blessing. He helped create the original version and so he still co-owns it,” Padalecki said. “He didn’t have any problem with it, thank goodness because I don’t want to mess with Chuck Norris. But I’ve seen all the GIFs and memes and stuff. So, he did have to give his blessing.”
He added, “it’s a very, very different show, and our Walker, Texas Ranger is a very different Walker than his Walker, but he did give his blessing.”
One of the key differences between Padalecki’s series and Norris’ is that The CW series is more family-oriented. It also doesn’t feature martial arts the way Norris’s series did.
“This isn’t a show about karate,” Padalecki told the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s not about how many roundhouse kicks we have per episode.”
He added, “Our Walker grew up in the 80s like I did, as opposed to growing up in the 40s like Chuck did. It’s a very different generation we find ourselves in. Knowing what we know now, more than 25 years after the original premiered, no one wants to see a police officer walking around randomly kicking people.”
You can check out the synopsis for “Duke” below.
WALKER’S PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT HIM – When his past unexpectedly collides with his present life, Walker (Jared Padalecki) is forced to resume his undercover identity to keep his family safe. Micki (Lindsey Morgan) gets caught up in Walker’s old case while August (Kale Culley) threatens to blow his father’s cover. Trey (Jeff Pierre) starts his new job. The episode was written by Bret VandenBos & Brandon Willer and directed by Steve Robin (#105). Original airdate 2/18/2021. Every episode of WALKER will be available to stream on The CW App and CWTV.com the day after broadcast for free and without a subscription, log-in, or authentication required.
Walker airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.