Walker Independence star Justin Johnson Cortez says he cried when he read the mid-season finale
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from the Walker Independence mid-season finale.
Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez) now knows who his friends are.
On Thursday's mid-season finale of Walker Independence, Calian faced trial for the murder of Francis Reyes (Nestor Serrano), and despite Abby's (Katherine McNamara) best defense, he was still found guilty... of a crime he didn't commit. Thankfully, before Calian was hanged, Hoyt (Matt Barr) was able to get a confession out of Luis Reyes (Santiago Segura), but that doesn't mean Calian will soon forget how so few people in town stood by his side. By episode's end, Calian had put Independence in his rearview, at least for now.
EW spoke with actor Justin Johnson Cortez about the emotional mid-season finale.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I think this episode is the most you've spoken all season.
JUSTIN JOHNSON CORTEZ: Absolutely, hands down the most I've spoken. It might be the most I ever speak, who knows. [Laughs]
What was your reaction when you got this script?
I loved it. I cried. Ryan Harris, who wrote it, he's half-Native and so I think he really connected with telling this story. The storyline with Nascha wasn't planned from the beginning. In episode 3, we see her for the first time and nobody really realizes that she's going to be a major part of Calian's backstory. But originally when the character came out, I kind of pitched the showrunner like, "What if she's more than just some little girl that spots Calian spying on Hoyt? What if she's a vision of his, a spirit, maybe someone in his family or somebody who got caught in the crossfire at one point, maybe somebody he just carries with him." A couple days before we stared shooting that episode, the showrunner was like, "Oh by the way, we're going to run with the idea for the little girl. It's your sister, she was taken when you were kids, you couldn't help, so you've been looking for her and that's why you become a tracker." I was like, "I love this." Because coming into the season I was like, "Why does Calian care so much about Abby? What draws him to her? Why does he feel so connected to her?" I had to create something for myself because we didn't have that written down, so this really brought all that together in a really beautiful, powerful way, and I love that.
Jeff Neumann/The CW Justin Johnson Cortez and Katherine McNamara in 'Walker: Independence'
The reveal that it's how he got into tracking is the backstory I didn't realize I needed.
Yeah, I love that we're able to see why he became the person we know him as and his history. That was a major part coming into this show as well, I wanted him to be complex. I wanted him to be dynamic. I wanted people to see him as a human, not just there as a sidepiece. I feel like this really gave us the opportunity to show people that.
We have to talk about filming the big speech in the courtroom, and then having only Abby and Gus (Philemon Chambers) stand up. It was heartbreaking!
Yeah, it's heartbreaking. That's what that scene was all about for me, just the fact that these people couldn't see him as a human. They couldn't see him as being like them, even after everything he's done for them over the years. It was so heartbreaking. I could've played him as angry, but the heartbreak is when you realize these people don't accept you and maybe they never will. It's something people struggle with today as well. These issues aren't gone, which is why I think this episode is so powerful. At the end, Augustus [Philemon Chambers] has his moment with Calian when they're saying goodbye and he's questioning, "Why am I doing this when these people would probably judge me just as quickly?" I love that they didn't shy away from trying to tell this part of the story because it could've very easily been something they didn't want to touch on. They went for it, and I appreciate them for that.
Calian already wasn't big on coming to town, but how does this experience affect him going forward? I imagine he gets pulled back into things, but I'm sure this changes things.
In order to come back to a place where you experience that, it would have to be for good reason. So hopefully it's for good reason. [Laughs] These people's lives are intertwined and that's always been challenging with this character in particular. It's like wait, how do we get him into town, why would he want to come to town? That's been part of the conversation since day one and so I don't think, even when he is there feeling a little more comfortable moving in and out of the space and interacting with these people, I don't think it's ever left him that he doesn't quite belong there. He's hyper-aware of that at all times. So to come back in, that opens up the door for some real stakes. You'd have to have a really good reason to come back.
Sometimes you just need a beer...
[Laughs] Bottom line, I just need some Hoyt time. Sometimes you just need to listen to Hoyt say some stuff and get a good laugh and then leave again.
I was so glad Hoyt played a part in saving his life, because despite all their bickering this season, watching Hoyt walk out of the courtroom was devastating.
Yeah, that's been so much fun to play, those two characters, since the pilot. They interact, they have to move in the same space, but you're not quite sure if they like each other or if they don't. They're not quite sure if they're okay with kind of liking each other. That's so much fun to play and I think there's so much more there that we could keep exploring. I love that they brought that back because that would've been devastating. I think that was the best way to play that.
Going forward, who's someone you want more scenes with?
Kate [Katie Findlay] and Kai [Lawrence Kao]. They're both brilliant actors and I love their characters so much. I think Calian's interacted with Kate a couple of times, but they don't speak, and it's kind of funny. It's this ongoing joke with Katie and I. We say, "We hardly talk to each other." So I do hope we get to interact a bit more. Kate feels like an ally to Calian, even with very little being said. I think she really understands his place in this world and how the changes have affected him, so it could be interesting to explore their relationship. And then Kai. Lawrence is incredible, and it could be fun for Calian and Kai to get into some stuff. I don't know what that would be, but I'm here for it.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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