Walker's Jared Padalecki Talks Finale's Killer Threat, Why He's 'Excited and Nervous' About Cordell/Geri's Future

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday’s Walker finale. Proceed at your own risk!

Walker fans are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief that the CW series was renewed after viewing Thursday’s cliffhanger-packed Season 3 finale.

Among the episode’s biggest developments: Captain James and Kelly got married again; Auggie told Cordell he wants to enlist in the army, while Stella announced she was going to start college in town in the fall; Cassie was seriously considering joining an FBI task force (and perhaps leaving Austin for good?); Geri and Cordell shared a kiss, which was interrupted by a call informing Cordell that a serial killer from his past known as the Jackal may have killed again; and Stella and Sadie happened upon a break-in, leading to a struggle between Stella and the offender, Witt, who was accidentally shot by his own gun during the tussle. But when Stella returned to the scene of the crime with Liam, Witt’s body was MIA.

Below, star/executive producer Jared Padalecki breaks down those twists and reveals what he’s most excited to explore in Season 4.

TVLINE | First of all, congrats on the renewal!
Thank you so much! Certainly a relief. We’ve all been waiting on bated breath. So to get that vote of confidence was a huge, huge deal. And [Wednesday was] Odette Annable’s birthday. [Thursday] is Coby [Bell’s] birthday. [Kale Culley’s] birthday is this month. So they were all kind of mentioning on the cast text thread like, “Best birthday present ever!” It was very awesome to be able to share that awesome news with the gang.

TVLINE | You planted a lot of seeds for next season, so thank God you got that renewal. Which storyline are you most excited for in Season 4 coming off the finale?
Well, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. I kind of tend to have a lot of interesting storylines that deal with the character having to confront past traumas. Obviously, I did that for many, many years on Supernatural as Sam Winchester. And so, the storyline of the Jackal, of this case that went cold that really consumed Captain James and Cordell Walker many years ago, the fact that that might be reopened is very exciting. We’ve seen Captain James be a stalwart for the whole Ranger organization and for his friend Cordell. So I think it’s nice that, hopefully next season, I’ll get to return the favor and be there for him when he’s kind of having to revisit some of his past trauma. So that’s, I don’t want to say No. 1 on my list, but certainly high on my list.

I also love the bombshell of August wanting to go into the military, and Cordell not knowing how to really approach it and going, “Well, I did it. So who am I to say, ‘Don’t do it’? I’m just saying, ‘Don’t do it just yet.’”

And I’m very, very excited about the Cordell/Geri storyline and seeing where they go. They kind of gave it a preliminary shot, and that didn’t stick. But now that their lives are different and that they’ve had some time to really think about it and digest it, I think they could make a good tag-team for Stella and Auggie.

TVLINE | But between the serial killer and the FBI task force, how worried should we be that work is going to get in the way of Cordell and Geri’s re-sparked romance? Or are they finally ready to give it a real try?
[Laughs] I think we can rest assured that it will get in the way, and that’s going to be the exciting part to explore and play and find out alongside the writers and the audience, to see just how realistic it is for Cordell to find love again and for Geri to find love again. Obviously, we saw Hoyt come back in Episode 17 of the third season, so we know that she’s been happy with somebody. There were asterisks, obviously, with Hoyt, and I guess there are asterisks with Cordell, as well, because his job is serious and can be dangerous and can, as we’ve seen, kind of bleed into his home, his family and all that. So I’m excited and… I don’t want to say hesitant. I’m excited and nervous to explore that with the writers next season.

TVLINE | He did ask her to stay with him for the summer. So can we at least assume he’s definitely not going to accept the FBI gig?
Well, it wouldn’t start until after the summer anyways. And so, he’s going to have time to think about it, and he’s going to have to kind of measure whether it’s important enough. He doesn’t want to do a Rodeo Kings thing again. He doesn’t want to get caught up in something again, and I think he’s starting to really put roots down with his family and with the people he loves. I’m, obviously, not having any conversations with the writers right now because they are on strike, and I support them very much. But as soon as we’re all back in the pool, I can’t wait to see what their thoughts are on what Walker’s decision will be.

TVLINE | We also need to talk about Walker’s other kid because that cliffhanger with Stella was quite dramatic. And it was interesting that she chose to go to Liam, not her father, for help. Do you think that will cause a rift within the family?
That’s a good question. I don’t think so. It’s possible. I can understand why Walker would be upset. And maybe this is unimportant or uninteresting, but the reason it happened the way it happened is because of location issues we had. So initially, Liam was just going to be the first person she ran into, like she was just going to see him while she was figuring out who to tell. And so he was the first person [she saw], and she wasn’t able to call her dad, and so she told Liam. But also, Walker presumably didn’t really have his phone on him, he wasn’t checking it a whole lot. He was helping with bacon and eggs at the Side Step for the after party. [Laughs] I think Walker always finds himself in the position — and God, I guess, Jared has found himself in the same position as well — of August went to Bonham to talk about enlisting. Stella seemingly went to Liam to talk about the crazy situation that she and Sadie find themselves in at the end of the episode. So it might give him pause, but I think he’ll ultimately understand.

TVLINE | I wondered if maybe it had to do with the fact that he’s an authority figure, he’s part of the police so to speak, so it puts him in an ethically compromised position, as well, if she goes to him.
Yeah, you know, to that end, maybe it does upset Walker. Thinking about it now, now that I know we’re going to explore it next season, Walker would certainly feel kind of bombarded. He son is coming at him, saying, “Hey, I talked to Gramps about this,” and his daughter is going to ultimately have to admit, “Hey, I talked to Liam about that.” He might find himself in a position of like, “Whoa, what am I chopped liver? This is what I deal with, keeping my family safe, keeping the people of Texas safe as best I can. So why would you not immediately call me? Why would you not come to me?” I’m sure Walker will find out very quickly what happened, and hopefully he can focus on the task at hand and not get too emotionally involved with feeling hurt.

Walker fans, what did you think of the season ender? Grade it below, then hit the comments!

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