Walker: Independence (TV Series) Random Acts (2022) User Reviews

That Ending Though

[Sarah423 · 8/10 · 16 November 2022]

This episode started a bit flat for me.

It felt like Abby arriving late to Otis's house was kind of make-work to fill in a scene.

Otis and his relationship with the others was interesting, however, and I'm kind of hoping he takes charge of the town again sometime. (Or maybe he's the one who created problems and we're still getting a false read?)

We had a major shift in that Hoyt threw the fight for cash (dishonest, yes, but was it for an actually good reason like Lucia or something more dastardly.)

Even more, we have a soft view of Tom Davidson once again, wanting to step out from his past shadow. Seeming to actually want to do something to IMPROVE the town.

And the ending.

Both with Calian and with Tom.

The ending, frankly, averaged what started out slow way, way up.

The Texas sporting scene prior to football

[militarymuseu-88399 · 6/10 · 15 November 2022]

Deputy Augustus and Calian pursue an alternative theory in Liam's murder investigation, the Pinkertons continue to shadow Sheriff Davidson, and the railroad sends an advance man to Independence.

The murder of Liam appeared from the series' opening footage to be Sheriff Tom's doing, but the writers apparently want to muddy the waters a bit; suspect #2 is former sheriff Otis Clay (Jonathan Medina) who apparently disliked both Collins and Davidson. Clay was paid off to vacate the job (not really a plum posting in most of the Old West), but a process in which circuit judges rather than elections pick sheriffs is purely a writers convenience.

Sheriff Tom is seeking to impress a railroad executive, and former roustabout Kai tells him that railroad bosses (presumably on the Central Pacific) staged prizefights between the Chinese workers for their amusement. I have never seen the least allusion to such in any history of the transcontinental railroad. It is well established that the immigrant Chinese labor force risked life and limb and endured an an abundance of racism in the building of the CPRR, and starting pseudo-history like this does their story a disservice. Also thinly explained how local entertainment could sway Gilded Age railroad managers, usually interested in finishing their work on the raw edge of the country as rapidly as possible and heading back to the more abundant diversions of the east. And why place the fight in a hotel lobby with seemingly never-ending good weather outside?

We do know that in real life the Santa Fe RR was to go through Independence, but when the town fathers denied them a right of way they went elsewhere and the town's fortunes nosedived; interesting to see if that sequence makes it into the story.

Augustus is given a background as a Buffalo Soldier, which is spot-on for 1870 Texas; his general role deserves some discussion in a future review. Abby is looking a bit more windblown and period-relevant, though it seems a stretch to make her a law clerk this far back prior to suffrage.

We can accept at this point that for the first season W:I will move at a soap-steady pace, but the groundwork is apparently being laid for a larger scope. Tonight the fates of two main characters are tossed in the air, which may shake things up a bit.