The Checklist: Walker, Texas Ranger (S7 Ep13) “Special Witness”

The further along we get in human history, the more difficult it is to remember life without the Internet. But every now and again I am forced to remember… like a few Saturdays ago when I woke up to find my Internet was out and I had two options for something to watch while I had the most important meal of the day. I could either select something from my movie library OR I could go old school and watch over the air television.

Laziness won out and I flipped on the TV and landed on Heroes & Icons and their three hour block of Walker, Texas Ranger on Saturday mornings just as the first episode in the block was ending and the second was about to begin. That second episode was Episode 13 from the seventh season of the series and I figured while I was up and while I was watching, I may as well put that episode to The Checklist test…

#1. Were there any notable guest stars?

This episode didn’t waste any time introducing one of the notable guest stars in this episode… Gary Busey of Eye of the Tiger and Point Break fame plays professional hitman Donovan Riggs. We first see Riggs at a restaurant in Chicago. Riggs is sitting at a bar, keeping an eye on his next target who is there having dinner with his wife. When the wife leaves to use the powder room, Riggs slides in to her spot and stabs the guy… he never saw it coming.

Meanwhile in Texas, preparations are underway for the Special Olympics and that’s where we find Cordell Walker (Chuck Norris) Alex Cahill (Sheree J. Wilson), James Trivette (Clarence Gilyard) and C.D. Parker (Noble Willingham) volunteering their time alongside the other notable guest star on this episode… Prime Time himself, Deion Sanders! 1/1

#2. Does anybody have to dress in drag?

This is one of those oddly specific Checklist questions, but I had to include it so I could mention Detective Carlos Sandoval (Marco Sanchez) wired up and working undercover as an old lady to catch a bunch of scum bags who have been targeting elderly women. Walker and Trivette were monitoring the sting operation and had some fun with Carlos, who is none too happy with this assignment. But the bait works, the scum bags surface, surround “old lady” Carlos and we get our first taste of martial arts action as Walker and Trivette join in to better even the odds… because apparently it took four tough guys to mug these little old ladies.

The Carlos Sandoval character was introduced at the tail end of Season 5 along with his friend Trent Malloy in an episode entitled “Sons of Thunder”. Both Carlos and Trent would become recurring characters in the seasons that followed and there was even an attempt to give them their own spin-off series called Sons of Thunder. 2/2

#3. Was anyone hospitalized?

The opening scene at the Special Olympics event spotlights one Special Olympian named Sally (Andrea Fay Friedman) that Walker has personally been coaching for the track and field competition. Sally got quite a bit of screen time so I had a feeling that Sally was going to play a bigger part in this episode.

When Walker is unable to get Sally to one of her practices, the aforementioned Trent Malloy (James Wlcek) steps in. But there’s one problem, Trent is Alex Cahill’s star witness in the upcoming trial for “legitimate businessman” Morris Foley. Foley has hired the services of Donovan Riggs to eliminate the one witness left that could put him away. So Riggs tracks down Trent while he is with Sally, posing as a priest Riggs approaches Trent and asks for help, selling him on a story about a woman hurt in a nearby alley. Trent doesn’t hesitate to help… but it is a trap. Riggs pulls a knife on Trent, eventually stabbing him and sending him to the ICU and now Sally is an eye witness to an attempted murder. 3/3

#4. Is the bar fight rule adhered to?

After witnessing the alley fight, Sally sits down with the police sketch artist and the authorities now have a pretty good idea of what the guy who stabbed Trent looks like. The sketch is all over the news and when a bartender spots Riggs sitting in his bar he calls it in. Riggs realizing he has been made and knowing it’s only a matter of time before the Texas Rangers come looking for him, pays some of the toughs frequenting the establishment to rough up the Rangers when they show up…. and Walker and Trivette do show up and walk right into a bar fight adhering to the long standing unofficial rule that if an action hero enters a bar he must engage in a fight before it is all said and done. 4/4

#5. Do the bad guys get their comeuppance?

This question may be easier than the tailor made question #2… I have not seen every episode of Walker, Texas Ranger but I have seen a good amount and the bad guys ALWAYS get their comeuppance. Well, I am happy to report that “Special Witness” was not an exception. Riggs after schmoozing (then killing) the police sketch artist finds out where Sally lives and he is going after her… but Riggs didn’t realize Carlos was there to protect Sally and even worse for him, the roundhouse kicking Cordell Walker shows up too and that’s all she wrote for ol’ Donovan Riggs.

But there’s one loose end that still needs to be tied up, Morris Foley’s trial and last we saw Alex’s star witness he was in a coma… but just as the judge is about to dismiss the case, Carolos rolls Trent Malloy in to take the stand and that’s all she wrote for ol’ Morris Foley. I haven’t seen timing that good since the end of another Chuck Norris project… Missing in Action. 5/5

• Final Score = 5/5 (100%) There’s never a bad time to watch Walker, Texas Ranger. You turn an episode on and you forget your troubles for a little while thanks to Chuck Norris’ ass kicking skills. This particular episode was elevated with a notable guest star the level of Gary Busey who was at his evil best going after a Special Olympian for cripes sake!