(Photo by: Richard Foreman/The CW)
Abby, Hoyt, and the rest of the townspeople won’t be back for the 2023-24 television season. The CW has cancelled Walker: Independence, so there won’t be a second year.
An action period-drama series, the Walker: Independence TV show is a prequel to the Walker series. It stars Katherine McNamara, Matt Barr, Katie Findlay, Greg Hovanessian, Philemon Chambers, Justin Johnson Cortez, Lawrence Kao, and Gabriela Quezada. The story is set in the late 1800s and follows Abby Walker (McNamara), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. After crossing paths with Calian (Cortez), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas. There, she encounters eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets. Abby also literally runs into Hoyt Rawlins (Barr), a slippery rogue, thief, and con artist with a dented heart of gold who quickly eyes Abby as a mark — until she turns the tables on him. Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of Abby’s husband’s killer. They also vow to save Independence, a frontier boomtown where nothing is what it seems.
Airing on Thursday nights, the first season of Walker: Independence averaged a 0.05 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 497,000 viewers in the live+same day ratings (including DVR playback through 3:00 AM). It was one of the network’s better-performing scripted series of the season. In the live+7 day ratings, the series picked up 90% more viewers.
The cancellation is not a surprise given that Nexstar, the company that now runs the network, wants to focus on airing low-cost programming like unscripted series and acquired scripted shows. Only two of The CW’s current original shows have been renewed for 2023-24 — All American and Walker — and most of the rest are expected to be cancelled.
What do you think? Have you tuned in for the Walker: Independence series? Are you disappointed that it’s been cancelled and won’t be back for a second season?