This Walker review contains spoilers.
Walker Episode 3
Walker’s “Bobble Head” saw the past clash with the present, where flaws were shown and where change is on the horizon. The present mainly had to do with Walker and Micki in this episode. Right off the bat, they were kind of adorable trying to get to know each other—Walker a little more than Micki because he was so eager to get to know his partner and it was different from the man we’ve gotten to know so far. Seriously, he was like an eager puppy.
Micki wants to get to know her partner, there’s no doubt about that, but she takes a bit more time to open up. And it makes sense. She’s a woman in a male-dominated field. She has to put up walls to stop others from walking all over her. And Walker as a show is doing an excellent job at balancing Micki’s struggles with those surrounding her based on what she’s experienced in the past and what she wants to experience in the future.
Walker and Hoyt is the past that the former needed to shake off. Seriously, it doesn’t matter how glittery Hoyt is or how smooth talking he ends up being with Walker’s family, he’s trouble and something that Walker needed to let go of before it buried him up to the neck. It’s understandable that Walker would be reluctant to let Hoyt go, as he is connected to a lot of Walker’s memories as a kid and with his wife Emily, but that doesn’t make their relationship healthy or something that should continue.
It’s important to note that it isn’t Micki’s job to rescue Walker. He has to do the rescuing himself. If he wants to get to know Micki, that’s great. But it isn’t her job, or any woman’s job, to swoop in and save the day because the man is in pain. That’s not how true partnership works. Support each other, absolutely. But never step on one another to grow. It’s nice to see that, so far, Walker is avoiding this particular stereotype.
Walker and Micki aren’t the only ones dealing with the past meeting the present in “Bobble Head.” Abby has been bonding with Hoyt for a long time. And no matter what he does in the present, she keeps him close to her heart. This clashes with Bonham’s feelings about Hoyt, especially when he proves to once again be a thief with sticky fingers and a penchant for trouble and guns. This little side arc only served to enrich the overall story of Walker, while hinting at some marital trouble between Abby and Bonham.
There was an unexpected moment in this episode that pulled at the heartstrings. Stella was the first name that popped into Walker’s head when he thought about naming something he loved. Sure, he’d only learned to drive a stick that day and it’s a car, but the sentiment stands. Love grounds that decision and love kept that name in the family.
Teaching Stella how to drive in Stella was a way of handing off the torch to the next generation. Emily taught Walker how to drive, how to have confidence in himself, and how to be silly while doing it all. It’s now Walker’s turn to teach his kids in hopes of keeping Emily’s memory alive and creating new ones at the same time. Because that’s all we can do sometimes when our present is changed dramatically and all we have are memories of what came before.