Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Walker Season 3 episode "Just Desserts." Read at your own risk!
Jared Padalecki mentioned that Cordell would face some issues at home after surviving his hostage situation, but never in a million years would I have guessed things would end up how they did in "Just Desserts." Walker showed Cordell desperately trying to honor the tradition of ensuring his mother Abeline didn't lift a finger on Thanksgiving, while also trying to navigate the increasing divide between him and his children. Predictably, that didn't go well, and The CW twisted the knife on its audience with an absolutely gut-wrenching twist right at the end.
This season may not be about Cordell adjusting to a new partner or picking a fight with the cartel, but damn, he is really struggling with keeping the peace at home. Unfortunately, things just got a bit harder, as Abeline's health will be a topic of interest when the show makes its return in the 2023 TV schedule.
Abeline Had Some Sort Of Medical Emergency
Abeline has tried her best to stay out of Cordell's parenting of Stella and Auggie, and it's played out much to her grandaughter's detriment. Cordell cracked down on Stella when the bar was busted for minors drinking on the premises, even though Auggie was to blame. At Thanksgiving dinner, Abeline had to set Cordell straight, and inform him that he was going far too easy on his son and that the whole incident that Stella took the punishment for was his fault.
Auggie wasn't happy to hear his grandmother snitch on him and called her a "bitch" for ratting him out. Abeline got up and left the table, and Cordell finally woke up to the idea that he needed to tighten the leash on his son at this point. Once cooler heads prevailed, Cordell convinced Auggie he needed to apologize to Abeline, which brought us to Abeline standing outside in the snow.
It's unclear exactly what happened, but Abeline collapsed to the ground and was unresponsive as the snow fell around her. A brief promo for the 2023 return showed that Cordell and his father Bonham will not be able to wake her up, and a scene later shows her in a hospital. Obviously, this is a serious situation, and it couldn't have happened at a worse time.
Why This Will Be Cordell's Toughest Challenge Yet
Cordell proved in the two previous seasons that he's more than capable of tackling most things related to crime. When it comes to family, however, he's struggled to connect with Stella and Auggie as of late, and now the one person who often helped him with that is out of commission. How will he respond?
Cordell may feel lost at first, but Walker has already shown him adjusting his parenting methods to better interact with his kids. He's definitely still learning, and it would be unrealistic for the parenting experience if Cordell didn't do at least two wrong things for every right. I have no idea if his new attempts to be more attentive and receptive to Stella and Auggie will work, but hopefully, they'll end this season looking as close as Jared Padalecki was with his sons in that picture of them watching the show.
Walker will return to The CW on Thursday, January 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET. It’ll precede the return of Walker: Independence, a show that Jared Padalecki might appear in before too long.
