Walker: Independence

Purposefully weaves overlooked parts of U.S. history into the narrative to create a refreshingly inclusive and subversive take on the old-fashioned western, honoring its classic cornerstones while bringing some much-needed and long-overdue diversity to the genre.

While I wouldn’t say this series is quintessential viewing (especially during this stacked fall TV season), it remains a fun show to catch each week, and is another shining addition to The CW’s line-up of unique series.

Walker: Independence is a pretty straightforward western that is helped by a well-considered world that’s been built around its main character.

If you’re a fan of Westerns and interested in the series, “Walker: Independence” hits the genre beats without trying to do anything new. If you’re not a fan of Westerns and interested in the series, “Walker: Independence” isn’t so aggressively of the genre that it’s difficult to get through. And if you’re a fan of The CW, “Walker: Independence” is ultimately fine.

Over the course of the first three episodes, the show does seem to struggle to find its footing in regards to tone, but here's hoping it eventually finds a nice balance between the ridiculous and the Very Serious Drama and settles on an identity, because Walker: Independence, like the frontier town it depicts, has a lot of potential.

“1883” but make it sexy! And ridiculous!

Of the two, “Independence” feels a bit more intriguing, if hardly original, inasmuch as “Yellowstone” already blazed the same trail into cowboy territory with “1883.”