'Walker's Cassie Perez Deserved a Better Ending (2024)

Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Walker Season 4.

Ever since Walker's second season, Ashley Reyes has warmed her way into our hearts as Cordell Walker's (Jared Padalecki) new partner, Cassie Perez. As a Texas Ranger, Cassie is driven, loyal, and immensely quick on her feet, and has proven herself an asset to not just the Rangers, but to the whole Walker family. In many ways, she's become an intimate part of the titular hero's life, and without her, he would've likely fallen off the wagon long ago. Cassie helps keep Walker in check, but more than that, she's a valuable member of the Texas Rangers who is constantly sacrificing herself for the sake of others. But now that the infamous Jackal case has officially concluded, we're left wondering if the Walker writers could've primed Cassie for a better send-off. Unfortunately for Reyes' character, it seems like every time she gets a win, she loses big time.

Walker

TV-14

Drama

Crime

Action

A widowed father returns to Austin after one year, attempting to reconnect with his children, navigate clashes with his family, and find common ground with his new partner, while growing increasingly suspicious of his wife's death.

Release Date

January 21, 2021

Cast

Mitch Pileggi , Molly Hagan , Chris Labadie , Jared Padalecki , Lindsey Morgan , Violet Brinson , Rebekah Graf , Keegan Allen , Odette Annable , Jeff Pierre , Gabriela Flores , Genevieve Padalecki , Coby Bell , Alex Landi , Kale Culley

Seasons

4

Creator(s)

Anna Fricke

Network

The CW

Cassie Perez Became so Much More Than a Replacement on 'Walker'

It's hard to divorce Cassie's first appearance in the Season 2 episode "Nudge" from the exit of Walker's previous partner, Micki Ramirez (Lindsey Morgan). When Walker started, part of the draw of the show was the budding friendship between new partners Walker and Micki, who would often find themselves having to overcome their odds. Nevertheless, Micki was quickly inducted into the Walker family, and it was clear that she was here to stay. Or so we thought. When actress Lindsey Morgan opted to leave Walker at the beginning of the second season, fans were rightfully shocked. It was hard to let go of a character we had grown attached to, someone who kept Walker on his toes. After all, without Micki, Walker wouldn't have solved his wife's murder. That's not to mention what might've become of her boyfriend, Trey Barnett (Jeff Pierre), who had likewise become a major player on the show.

Micki was written off Walker in the sixth episode of Season 2, with an announcement made that her role would be filled beginning with episode ten by Ashley Reyes. It was clear that Reyes had big boots (and a stetson) to fill, and so fans likely wouldn't take to the changes too quickly. Unsurprisingly, neither did Walker nor Trey, who struggled with Cassie Perez at first. She was tough, abrasive, and not as by-the-books as Micki was, and it was those differences in personality that drew us to her. Though Cassie first came to Austin in search of her former partner, her obvious decision to stay was one we were all thrilled about, and it wasn't long before Reyes' episode count far surpassed Morgan's. Cassie quickly went from a token "replacement" character to an essential member of the Walker team. It was hard to imagine the show without her, and revisiting a Cassie-less Season 1 was almost strange.

Over two and a half seasons, Reyes has killed it as Cassie Perez. From aiding the Walker family in their personal conflict with the Davidsons to being instrumental in stopping Grey Flag, the character has more than proven her worth. But despite her fan appeal and general usefulness, the writers of Walker always seem to be kicking Cassie down. Whether it was all the drama surrounding the abduction and distrust of her former partner Miles Vyas (Mustafa Elzein) or, perhaps especially, her romantic relationship with the terrorist leader Kevin Golden (Jake Abel) in Season 3, Cassie is constantly down on her luck. Now, with the death of Detective David Luna (played by Walker: Independence star Justin Johnson Cortez) after Walker's abduction by the Jackal killers, Cassie has once again been kicked while she's down.

Cassie's Tumultuous Relationships Have Been the Source of All Her Pain on 'Walker'

From the get-go, the one thing that's always been clear about Cassie is that she's "not good at relationships." That's not just romantic, it also extends to her familial relationships, such as with her brother Ben (Matt Pascua), and with work partners, such as Miles and Walker. Time, of course, heals all wounds, and the same has been true for Cass in the long run. She went from not trusting anyone (including herself) to the point where she went rogue from the Texas Rangers to find her missing partner, to inserting herself into the Walker family so that they were practically her own. She went from carrying only a taser as a defense mechanism after being afraid of having possibly killed her old partner, to being able to trust herself again with a firearm in the field. She went from being at odds with and manipulating Walker to trusting him as not just a partner but as one of her best friends.

The biggest growth of Cassie's entire time on Walker, however, is undoubtedly going from her romance with Kevin Golden to her love affair with David Luna. Deciding to go out with Kevin was a big enough step for Cassie, who still struggled to trust most people during the third season. In this case, that tendency was certainly warranted as Kevin turned out to be a major player in the terrorist cell Grey Flag, which Trey (who has since become a Texas Ranger) had managed to infiltrate. Kevin's betrayal was a major blow to Cassie, who had completely let her guard down for him, and we wondered if things would ever be the same for her again. Thankfully, we were pleasantly surprised when she and David Luna got together in Season 4, especially as their romance took a more serious and permanent turn.

But once again, Cassie was stripped of any long-term chance of happiness when Luna was killed at the end of "Let's Go, Let's Go," as she, Luna, Trey, and Captain Larry James (Coby Bell) searched for Walker, who had been buried alive by the Jackal killers after going rogue himself. To say that this was a disappointment would be a serious understatement. Cassie and Luna had come so far throughout the fourth season, and Ashley Reyes and Justin Johnson Cortez had a clear chemistry that, if Walker had been renewed, would've been fun to explore as their romance progressed. Unfortunately, Cass didn't get the happy ending, and after now two major relationship malfunctions in a row, it seems seriously unlikely that she'll find happiness like that again any time soon. Talk about a downer way to end one of the show's most dynamic character arcs.

Though Season 2's Cassie thought that she was better off alone in all aspects of her life, Seasons 3 and 4 have proven the exact opposite to be true. When Cass is in a well-balanced relationship, she's sharper, happier, and more fulfilled. Not that a relationship in and of itself is needed for Cassie Perez to be any of those things, but that emotional security back home certainly makes her a better Ranger. All of Season 4 has pushed both Cassie and Trey toward a potential lieutenant position within the Rangers, and with the extended series finale ("See You Sometime") the only episode left, it's likely we'll get our answer as to who is progressing soon enough. But whether Cassie gets the promotion or not, that's not the win this character really needs.

Just like what happened with Walker when Emily (Genevieve Padalecki) died at the start of the series, or Geri Broussard (Odette Annable) when Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr) was killed in the first season, so too will Cassie have a lot to work through now that Luna is dead. For all the emotional progress the character has made, it feels almost impossible for her to come back from this with only one episode left in the series. It took her half of Season 4 to finally be ready to pursue a relationship with Luna, not to mention how long it took her to fully trust Walker back when she first showed up in Austin. But, as Geri alludes to at the end of "Letting Go," grief can do some seriously terrible things to a person. Yes, Cassie helped catch the Jackal killers, Cole Tillman (Brian Letscher) and his daughter Rebecca (Alison Rood), but there's a lot of healing she still has to go through.

'Walker' Is Ending Too Soon

One tease that the show made for fans at the end of Season 3 was the idea that Cassie and Trey might find that long-awaited happiness together. As close friends, this pair have a chemistry that rivals that of Cass and Luna, and at the beginning of Season 4, there was some awkward tension that made it seem like it was still a possibility. Whether the writers wanted to hold off a while for Trey and Cassie or backpedal on that plot (as it might be too similar to Trey and Micki) is unclear, but what is clear is that both these characters would be good together—and they know it. Unfortunately, Walker's cancelation ahead of the Season 4 finale (now the series finale) throws a serious wrench in the show's potential, including any plans for these two romantically.

Whatever grief-centered arc was planned for Cassie going into a potential fifth season—which likely would've focused on her and Walker rebuilding the trust between them—has now been completely dismantled, and we'll be lucky if we get even a fraction of closure come the impromptu series finale, "See You Sometime." Walker is set to air its final episode as an extended production on June 26, and now that the Jackal case is wrapped up, it means that the whole episode can be dedicated to the final curtain on this beloved band of Austin-based characters. Hopefully, Cassie gets the send-off she deserves, and (whether she gets that promotion or not) can find a way to forgive Walker for what happened to David Luna before the credits roll.

Walker Season 4 airs Wednesdays on the CW.

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