The tenth episode of the CW’s “Walker” starts with Jared Padalecki (Cordell Walker, that is) looking right into the camera, which was unexpected – and I almost always like unexpected. I thought for a second he was about to break the fourth wall, but instead, he asks, “Ready to get to work?” He puts on his safety glasses and he and the kids and Liam and Bonham start breaking down walls and hammering and sawing things.
The renovation of the Side Step has begun.
Bonham opens a can of strategically featured Benjamin Moore paint while music plays and Cordell looks at him skeptically.
For “Supernatural” fans, who are still grieving the loss of our beloved show after 15 years on the air, the premiere of the new CW show “Walker” on Thursday brought a lot of complicated feelings. Many of us weren’t ready (and to be honest, would never have been ready) to say goodbye to Sam Winchester, so seeing Jared Padalecki inhabit a brand new character was exciting but also brought a fresh sense of loss, as though the new character made the loss of Sam finally real.
On the other hand, it was wonderful to have another television show to anticipate, and for Thursday nights at 8 pm EST to be something special once again. In the midst of continuing controversy about the way “Supernatural” ended, and a hashtag campaign to tank “Walker” before it even began, the show itself managed to air with considerable fanfare anyway – making it the CW’s most watched Thursday in three years, even topping NBC’s airing in its time slot!
Photo illustration by Texas Monthly
It’s been a rotten year. Let’s get that out of the way. The coronavirus pandemic, combined with social, political, and economic unrest, has ruined 2020 for most of us. Businesses were shuttered, jobs were lost, and family and friends got sick. Yeah, it’s been bad. So let’s talk about beer.
Choosing the best Texas beers of the year is almost an impossible feat, not unlike choosing your favorite Bill Callahan song. There are too many great choices, and too many variables that could sway your opinion. I’ve spent most of this year working from home, quarantining with my family in Brownsville, and riding my bike around the perimeter of Texas. All that meant I had plenty of time to drink lots of beer, but the experience was far from my usual routine of visiting breweries around town and throughout the state. When at home in Austin I stuck close to the house, which meant I bought beer from either H-E-B or WhichCraft, a neighborhood beer store