The Checklist: Walker, Texas Ranger (S8 Ep18) “Black Dragons”
It is that time once again to put an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger to The Checklist test!
I actually caught a bit of this episode, titled “Black Dragons”, a few weeks back on the phenomenal Heroes & Icons channel and knew in that moment that I needed to go back and watch the entire thing for a future edition of The Checklist.
The future is now…
#1. Was the cold open hot?
“Black Dragons” begins with known drug pusher, Manny, picking up some more “black dot heroin” from his connection, the brash and arrogant P.K. (Byron Mann, Wu Assassins), to sell to his anxious clientele. Moments later, when Manny goes to sell the heroin, the deal is interrupted by our heroes Walker (Chuck Norris) and Trivette (Clarence Gilyard Jr.). While the Texas Rangers are kicking the asses of the would be buyers… Manny manages to runaway and it briefly appears that P.K. is going to help Manny escape… that is until he pulls out a gun and kills Manny as he is running towards P.K.’s car. And there goes our heroes only lead to solving the black dot heroin problem!
Later that evening, Walker joins his bride-to-be, Alex Cahill (Sheree J. Wilson) and his fellow Rangers for a fund raising event being held by Consul Edward Song (Mako, An Eye for an Eye) of the Chinese Consulate. Then comes the big reveal… P.K. is P.K. Song, the son of Consul Song! Cue the theme song… 1/1
#2. Was the parking garage dangerous?
Rangers Gage (Judson Mills) and Cooke (Nia Peeples) excuse themselves from the fund raiser early and that’s when Gage can’t help but overhear an argument between P.K. and his girlfriend, Laurie Chang in the parking garage Laurie is pissed and mentions smuggling heroin for P.K. and when things get physical between P,K. and Laurie, Gage steps in and P.K. abuses his diplomatic immunity and strikes Gage. Things could have been worse, but Sydney Cooke, who was driving by, comes to Gage’s aid and the two take P.K. in. This scene further established P.K. as a nasty individual and was just another example of parking garages being some of the world’s most dangerous places! 2/2
#3. Were there any notable guest stars?
If you’ve been paying attention up to this point, you know the answer to this is yes. But there were more notable guest stars in addition to Mako and Byron Mann..
We find out that P.K. is serving as the liaison between the Black Dragons triad and a pair of bad boy brothers who are looking to distribute black dot heroin, imported from China, all over the United States. Those brothers are Dexter and Luke Warley… Luke was played by none other than Deron McBee of T-Force and The Killing Zone fame.
Who better to play Master Ko, the head of the Black Dragons, than Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa!? I feel like Tagawa is mentioned on this site at least once a week and for good reason. The man has one of the most impressive action movie resumes of them all including Soldier Boyz, Showdown in Little Tokyo and Kickboxer 2: The Road Back.
If that’s not enough for you, Larry Manetti of Magnum P.I. fame plays a street informant that the Rangers use to their advantage. And Bob Wall of Enter the Dragon fame plays a customs agent at the airport who gets on the wrong side of P.K. Song. 3/3
#4. Do we get a Chuck Norris vs. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa fight?
With black dot heroin costing numerous teenagers their lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, rest assured taking down The Black Dragons, P.K. Song and The Warley Brothers is a top priority. Walker hatches a plan to drive a wedge between the villains and as always, he’s ready to kick some ass as needed which means we do get a Cordell Walker vs. Master Ko battle!
As a bonus, we also get a Francis Gage vs. P.K. Song rematch allowing Gage to deliver some payback to P.K. after their earlier parking garage skirmish. But what Gage does is nothing compared to what Edward Song ends up doing to his own no good son… he revokes P.K.’s diplomatic immunity! 4/4
#5. Does the show have a light-hearted ending?
How do you wrap up an episode that has had teenage drug overdoses, a man shot on the streets of Dallas, and three different people taking the plunge off a tall building? With some tuxedo fun of course!
A running thread throughout the episode is Sydney pushing Gage to go get fitted for his tuxedo for Walker and Alex’s upcoming wedding. As the episode is wrapping up, we find out that Gage STILL hasn’t gone to the tuxedo shop AND neither has best man Trivette OR groom Cordell Walker!! Men, am I right?!?! 5/5
- Final Score = 5/5 (100%) In an episode chock full of notable guest stars, Byron Mann manages to steal the show as P.K. Song… he comes across as pure evil and his arrogance knows no end, up until the bitter end. Mann was easily the MVP of this episode… There was also got a big gas station explosion… And plenty for our Rangers to do! And I respect the hype for the Cordell/Alex wedding which wisely took place as a two-part Season 8 finale!
