WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Walker Season 2, Episode 8, "Two Points for Honesty," which aired Thursday, Jan. 20 on The CW.
Walker Season 2 has put more than just Cordell Walker through the wringer, and the stakes continue to rise on The CW show. As the crime syndicate the Northside Nation and the Davidson family menace the Texas Ranger, his family and his boss, Captain Larry James (Coby Bell), get caught in the crossfire. Captain James is shot while catching up with his friend, Trey Barnett. Although the Captain survives the assassination attempt, the identity of the culprit and ensuing showdown visibly shake the Ranger Captain and Walker to their core.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Bell observed how Captain James' near-death experience affects his outlook moving forward in Season 2. The Walker star also praised his co-stars for helping him grow into his character and explored what makes the Ranger Captain tick.
Congrats on surviving! It was touch and go for a second there. With this episode, we finally get to see Captain James' family, more than just his son DJ. How is it playing off of Kearran Giovani and Joshua Brockington?
Coby Bell: It was awesome! Getting to know Captain James' personal life more and more as the series progresses has been so much fun. For Kearran to come in and play Kelly, James's ex-wife -- I've done this before, I know how hard it is to just come in on a series that's already going and doing well and make it feel like you've been there the whole time -- she totally understood the dynamic between the characters. It all made sense right away. She knew what they were like together, talking smack about each other, and you understood it immediately. You see that there was still something there, some affection, and they still care about each other. Towards the end, you see there still might be a spark there. I thought all of that was awesome.
Immediately after waking up, James is right back to giving orders from his hospital bed -- he can't help it. This is the complete opposite to how Liam Walker processed being shot. How is it maintaining that level of focus in your performance?
That's the kind of guy he is. I think that's what got him to where he is. I think that's why he's the Captain. He's very level-headed and like, "Hey, we've got a job to do!" I love that the writers had him get shot twice and come out of surgery. He's probably still in a drug haze and he's ready to get right back onto the case which is so he is. I love it.
This season has really developed the friendship between Walker and Captain James. It was always there but this season you're on double dates and having heart-to-heart conversations where we get to see how much these two men respect and care about each other.
Those are some of my favorite scenes, and Jared [Padalecki] was saying the same thing just a couple of weeks ago. He was saying that he loved the Walker-Captain James scenes. As me and Jared's relationship progresses, we're becoming really good buddies and that's starting to come across even more in the scenes. The two of them, story-wise, have so much history to fall back on. The dynamic of them being big brother/little brother and best buddies to where one of them is the boss -- they have to navigate their way through that. That's so much fun and we have a lot fun on-set together.
Walker started this series reprimanded for being reckless, and we see how much his and James' relationship has progressed since that point. He temporarily lets Walker take control of the investigation. Mentally, how do you think James sees him and Walker at this moment?
I think James knows Walker just as well or better than anyone. He knows down deep that this isn't Walker's jam. He's like, "I know this guy. He's a loose cannon and acts first and asks questions last." I also don't think James has given Walker enough credit for how much Walker has changed in the past year. Walker is really trying to be a better version of himself, and I think Larry sees that and says, "I'm on sidelines so someone has to step in and it has to be Walker. He probably wouldn't be my first choice even though he's the best Ranger that I have but I don't think he's the right guy for a leadership role."
Walker steps in and does it his way, does a good job, and is honest enough with himself to say that this isn't for him but that he can do his part changing things around here in his own Walker way. There's a lot of levels to it and I think it's really cool with the way that the writers have set it up.
Now you've spent two seasons in this guy's boots and Stetson, what did you want to bring to Captain James in Season 2?
I never wanted him to be the TV cop captain going, "Walker, in my office now!" I wanted to portray him as a real human being. Sometimes he has to be that cop captain and let people have it -- that's part of his job -- but I also wanted him to be a fully formed human with a sense of humor and flaws. I wanted to play him as someone you'd think as a cool boss, someone you'd want to work for. I see him as a very level-headed guy and I try to play him that way.
With this episode providing such a rich range of places to take your performance, was there a specific scene you were looking forward to filming?
With this one, almost all of the scenes, they gave me so much good stuff to do. I'm so thankful that the writers trust me with that kind of stuff and they keep giving me fun and challenging stuff to play so I can keep growing as an actor and a character. You learn more about the character because I've learned things about Captain James that I didn't know when I joined this show, stuff that I learned in this episode. I loved the whole arc of this episode and the challenge of having to do 90% of it lying in a bed [laughs].
This episode we get to see a ghost from James' past that informed how he evolved as a Texas Ranger and it really feels like that moment will chart his future for the rest of the season, if not the rest of the series.
It affects him more than getting shot twice did!
James arrests this guy years ago and tries to do the right thing talking to the judge to go easy on this guy but he doesn't. The guy ends up doing serious time and comes out of jail hating James and gunning for him, and shoots him twice. When James realizes what's going on, James is like, "My bad! You're the one who shot me but I'm the one who put you away." I think James is the kind of guy that would rather give a criminal an opportunity to change rather than put him away or shoot him. He's telling Cordie not to shoot him, even after he shot James. He's so tired of the violence and shooting first and asking questions later that he wants to do things a different way.
The other big on-screen dynamic is between you and Jeff Pierre, with both of your characters commiserating over Micki Ramirez leaving Austin.
Jeff is just the best. He is such a good dude. Everyone -- from Jared, Anna Fricke, Steve Robin -- on the cast and crew are just good people that are on the same page trying to make the best thing we can make. We're having the best time doing it and Jeff is no exception. Jeff and I actually flew out to Austin on the same flight to film the first episode last year. We didn't know we were on the same flight because we were both wearing masks and I had a face shield on because it was my first time flying in the pandemic. We both had to quarantine in the same hotel, and, after the quarantine, we would hang out together before the show got going. He was my first buddy out here.
Anytime I get to work with Jeff, he's such a good actor. It's a cool way of seeing the two characters both deal with the loss of Micki. Having them talk it out together, I thought was very cool that the writers did that and to also humanize both of them.
Coby, what can you tease about Captain James as Walker Season 2 continues?
I just trust that it's all going to be awesome and don't ask what's going to happen next and wait for the next episode to come out to inform me.
I know that I would love to see him continue down the path that he's on. I would love to maybe see what happens with him and his ex-wife. As a fan of the show, I'm looking forward to see what happens with the Davidsons and Walkers and for Liam to have his redemption. We know that he's on to something with Dan Miller being crooked, but Cordie and the others don't know that yet, and Keegan [Allen] is just so much fun to watch. I'm just a fan of the show and watch it with my kids and I'm just enjoying every aspect of being a part of it.
Developed for television by Anna Fricke, Walker airs Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW.