It might have been controversial, but the CW’s Walker came to a close following an unexpected cancelation by the network. Starring Jared Padalecki as the titular character, Cordell Walker, a legendary Texas Ranger who must now confront the criminals in his hometown after a stint among them. The series had earned itself a substantial following after running for four seasons with relative success. The Season 4 finale, “See You Sometime,” which now serves as the series finale, offered a clue into whom the next villain would have beeen, if the neo-Western crime drama had been renewed for a fifth season. As the season closed out, Dawson’s Creek‘s James Van Der Beek emerged as the Walker family’s new next-door neighbor. Showrunner Anne Fricke has now revealed the plans for Van Der Beek’s villain in the now-cancelled series.

Speaking with TVLine, Fricke explained that in the aftermath of his cameo in the Walker season 4 finale, Van Der Beek was scripted to play a cult leader in the fifth season of the show, saying “That whole process was so exciting. We always wanted to leave some threads for Season 5. We were going to do the cult next door. So he was supposed to be a cult leader.” The showrunner also revealed that Van Der Beek was close to joining the series early on, as well. “A small-known fact is that we had actually approached him to be Clint West [in] Season 1, which Austin Nichols, ultimately played, and Austin was so excellent in that role. I would not have it any other way. But James had been on that list for a possible villain,” she revealed.

“We Were Going To Do Like Kooky Cult”

While he didn’t get the Clint West role in season one, Van Der Beek had scored that of the season 5 villain. A character Fricke goes on to describe as being “quirky bad,” amusing and whimsical:

“Oh, gosh. I talked to James, and it was so last-minute. He’s a saint. I think it was truly like the day before we were shooting. It was really, really insanely last-minute, so thank God he lives there. He loved the idea of the cult leader, and I think, actually, half those clothes are his own clothes. [Laughs] He was super into it and super into the dynamic he would bring, and he was really into the idea of playing a fun character, an interesting character, a bad character. He was going to be kind of quirky bad, but amusing. He was going to be a really whimsical, amusing character. We were not going to do blood cult, bad, bad, bad cult. We were going to do like kooky cult.”

Walker might have ended, however, there is a feeling among fans who love the show that it could have ended better. It is a sentiment shared fiercely by the show’s leading man, Padalecki, who criticized the network for the cancelation. The show’s fourth season aired only 13 episodes, largely due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 which disrupted much of Hollywood. Walker is a reboot of the 1990s western drama TV show Walker, Texas Ranger which starred Chuck Norris as Cordell Walker.

All episodes of Walker are currently available to stream on Paramount+.