Walker aired a midseason finale that wrapped up the mystery of Grey Flag once and for all—and I can’t say it was all that surprising.
When Clay Cooper came into the picture a few episodes ago, setting his sights on Kevin Golden and informing Cordell Walker that he had to handle the situation, it was clear that the two of them were somehow related.
My initial gut instinct was that Clay was Kevin’s father, but it turns out, they were brothers, and Kevin’s motive, which was unclear for much of the season—as was his vendetta against Cordell and his reason for killing off every member of his former unit—was that the foursome abandoned Cooper during battle.
Color him surprised when Clay walked into that airport hangar very much alive. Unfortunately, by that point, the damage had been done and Kevin was too far gone in his revenge scheme for anyone to actually reason with him.
Quite frankly, Kevin’s motivation watered down what was a pretty incredible twist that revealed him as the mastermind behind Grey Flag. Though, to be honest, I don’t even know if he was because his brief squabble with the billionaire Danny Dawson, who he then killed, revealed that Kevin was just a political figure “they” recruited—the “they” remaining rather ominous. However, Danny never condoned the kidnapping and torture of Cordell and his brother, so that was solely Kevin’s rogue mission.
Either way, Kevin was the person that had a beef with Cordell, and he went above and beyond to infiltrate Walker’s life by schmoozing his family and even getting close to Cassie by pursuing her romantically.
No one saw Kevin coming (I guess maybe Cassie did, in a way), which is kind of concerning since they are all rangers. He played the part well, and before Cordell knew it, he was being framed for a bombing that took out six of his fellow rangers and Julia, the reporter he’d been spending quite a lot of time with, in addition to putting the mayor in the ICU.
After the explosion, Cordell made a run for it, which made him look guilty. At first, I didn’t really understand why the FBI thought that Cordell was Kevin’s accomplice, but eventually, his decision to run made sense—Kevin planted a ton of evidence against Cordell, which is what Julia was trying to tell him right before the explosion. If someone like Julia, who knew Cordell and trusted him, could be swayed by the information Kevin was feeding her, the FBI would eat it right up. And they did. Graves set her sights on Walker almost immediately, scoffing at Captain James’ suggestions that his ranger and former partner was set up.
Thankfully, Walker had a few people in his corner, including James, Trey, and Cassie, who tracked Cordell down and stayed in constant communication with him while he kept a low profile.
The truth is that Cordell knows exactly how these things work, and he wouldn’t have been able to prove his innocence if he got caught. By that point, Kevin might’ve been in the wind.
His priority was getting to Geri’s and asking her to inform his family that he was alive. It was truly nice to see Geri again, and a brilliant way to bring her back into the fold. If there’s anyone who is going to risk it all for Cordell, it’s her. And she did by not only harboring a fugitive but making a call and passing along a message to Stella, which was understood and received by Cordell’s father.
Who knew that the team-up we needed in the finale was Bonham and Cordell? That man knows his way around a gun, and he was a damn good lookout for his son!
Geri did the right thing by calling Cordell’s father because he was spewing nonsense by suggesting that maybe his disappearance would be the best for the family. He’s put them through a lot, that’s true, but their biggest concern is his safety, and not having him around brings them more stress than anything else.
Walker — “False Flag (Part Two)” — Image Number: WLK315fg_0013r — Pictured: Jake Abel as Kevin Golden — Photo: The CW — © 2023 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
It’s also the reason for this mess in the first place because Cooper thought he was doing his family a favor while his brother felt hurt and abandoned. Admittedly, the Clay/Kevin relationship wasn’t really explored, so their conversation fell a bit flat as we couldn’t fully understand the extent of Kevin’s pain when he mentioned being left alone with his father. I assume it means that they weren’t on good terms, but it wasn’t very clear or well executed.
Regardless, Kevin shot his brother, while Cordell chased Kevin on a motorcycle while trying to stop his plane from taking off. It was the kind of action sequence that fans of Walker find thrilling. The cherry on top of it all was Cassie, who was arguably hurt the most by Kevin’s betrayal, taking the shots that ended his life while protecting Cordell in the process. She. Did. That.
Cordell’s name was cleared in the end, with Graves and James promising a full apology from the rangers—as they should. Seriously, jumping to conclusions about a decorated ranger was just messy and rash decision-making.
We’ll have to wait until new episodes return on April 27 to find out how Cordell is coping, how his family reacted to his return, and what will happen between him and Geri upon her return.
The scene between Cassie and Trey may have been the most heartbreaking if I’m being frank. I didn’t realize how much I was rooting for them until Cassie blamed Trey for making her question her instincts. And while I get where she’s coming from since both Trey and Cordell insisted that she give things with Kevin a go, the truth is that she can’t blame everyone for the choices she made. And the reason she is blaming Trey is that she’s denying her feelings for him. That’s the real reason why it hurts the most.
As for Trey, I feel for him because he never meant any harm by encouraging her to let her guard down—he never could’ve anticipated this outcome. He thought he had her back, and was shocked by the development himself, though it’s a nice reminder to trust her instincts in the future. The poor guy already placed so much blame on himself, it was a bummer to see him get kicked while he was already down. Not to mention this is his first real gig with the rangers!
Looking back on how everything transpired, it’s wild to see how the situation got away from them all so quickly—and it’s a lesson that you never really know who you’re dealing with.
I think with time, Trey and Cassie will rebuild their friendship and trust in each other, and before you know it, they won’t be able to deny their feelings for each other much longer!
What did you think of Walker Season 3 Episode 15? Are you happy to see the Grey Flag storyline wrap up?