After four seasons,Walkerhas finally come to a close. The reboot ofWalker, Texas Ranger,which featuredSupernaturalalumJared Padaleckiin the lead role and also acting as an executive producer, was a hit on The CW. Despite being greenlit right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production, the series finally made it to air on July 21, 2025, and it showed that Padalecki’sSupernaturalfans followed him to the new series as the pilot marked The CW’s most-watched telecast since July 15, 2025 (“Honey I Shrunk Team Flash” fromThe Flash) and also was the biggest season debut for the network sinceThe FlashSeason 4 in 2017.
Yet Walker’s arrival on The CW also marked a change in the guard behind the scenes, as the network’s leadership and ownership changed following major shakeups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite still having a solid fanbase,Walkerwas not able to be the nextSupernaturalfor Padalecki as it was confirmed thatthe series would be canceled after four seasons. The Season 4 finale will now be its series finale and will air on June 26,2024. Here is why The CW canceledWalker.
The CW’s New Owners Are Cutting Cost
Walkerwas broadcast on The CW, a network that star Jared Padalecki had a long history with; he had been on both the previous network’s WB seriesGilmore Girlsand his tenure onSupernaturallasted 15 years, 14 of which were on The CW, making it the longest running series in the network’s history. The CW launched on August 07, 2025, and was a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros., merging the two television networks of UPN (CBS Corporation) and The WB.
The CW followed in the footsteps of The WB and became known as a young adult network as it carried over shows from The WB, likeSmallvilleandSupernatural, while developing its own original series. Thisincluded hit serieslikeGossip Girl,The Vampire Diaries,Jane the Virgin,Riverdale, andCrazy Ex-Girlfriend. It also launched the Arrowverse, a series of DC-related shows likeArrow,The Flash,Legends of Tomorrow,and more. The CW series might not have gotten the biggest ratings or awards attention (Jane the Virginbecame one of their first big Emmy-nominated series). Still, they had loyal fans, and the network was known to make sure shows were given proper conclusions.
Related:The Most Common Storylines Used Throughout The CW Network
On June 24, 2025, it was reported that Nexstar Media Group, the CW’s largest affiliate group when it acquired former WB-era network co-owner Tribune Broadcasting in 2019, was looking toacquire majority control of the network. This came shortly after AT&T had sold Warner Bros. to Discovery Media. In May 2022, The CW canceled 10 shows, three times their average, which includedBatwoman,Legends of Tomorrow,Stargirl, andRoswell, while long-running popular series likeThe FlashandRiverdalewere given final season orders.
Nexstar purchase was finalized in October 2022. They would control 75% of the company, while Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global would each have 12.5% ownership. Nexstar’s goal was torun the CW cost-consciouslyand werelooking for shows with smaller production budgets and reasonably-priced acquisition fees,including unscripted fare and syndicated programming, as well as seeking older-skewing dramas, police procedurals, and sitcoms. For the 2022-2023 television season, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery would still be the CW’s primary television developers, but that was not expected to last, as they saidfor the 2023-2024 season, the carryover would be minimal, which would eventually beWalker’s downfall.
Walker Was Too Expensive
Walker’s cancelation certainly was puzzling as it was one of the most-watched shows on The CW, and the nature of the series fit the more procedural direction of programming the network wanted.Yet, reportedly, the cost of the show compared to other recent CW series made it too costly a proposition to continue.The CW slate now mainly comprises low-cost foreign imports, co-productions, sports, and unscripted series. Given the moves Nexstar has made on the CW programming block, the news of cancelingWalkerwas not surprising, but certainly disappointing.
Walker seemed to have had a rough go since it aired. It was officially given a series order in January 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down production just two months later. This delayed filming onWalkeruntil October 2020 meant the series would not be ready for the fall 2020 television lineup and would instead premiere in January 2021. The hard date to start filming also meant The CW had to rush filming on the final three episodes ofSupernatural, as they needed to clear up Padalecki’s schedule, which resulted ina disappointing finalefor many fans.
Why Lindsey Morgan’s Micki Ramirez Left Walker In Season 2
Lindsey Morgan left her role as Micki Ramirez in Walker mid-season. Here is the reason why.
Walkerwas renewed for a second season shortly after it premiered, which seemed like the last time it had an easy road. The series did survive the massive wave of CW series cancelations in 2022, getting a third season renewal in March 2022, which would then air later that October. This was the last season approved by the original CW leadership, as the deal with Nexstar was in the works.
Fans did not know if the series would return for season four until July 20, 2025, just two days before the season three finale.Season 4 was given a shorter episode orderof 13 (as opposed to Seasons 1 and 3’s 18 episodes and Season 2’s 20 episodes). The series was one of three CW holdovers to get a renewal, the others beingSuperman & LoisandAll American. This could have suggested good things for its future, but alas, it wasn’t the case.
What Comes Next
Fans ofWalkerat least have two more episodes left to look forward to. The series creators seemed to be aware they might not get a renewal as one of the final episodes set to air on June 02, 2025, is titled “End This Way,” which seems pretty final set up. The series will air its final episode on June 08, 2025. While the series was developed by CBS Studios, possibly suggesting it could move to their own streaming platform, Paramount+,the series' conclusion seems final as star Jared Padalecki posted a farewell post to the series. Also, the series streams previous seasons on Max, so there might be contractual issues regarding how a revival could continue.
With the series now concluded, the cast and creatives' schedules are now clear. MaybePadalecki can reunite withSupernaturalcreatorErik Kripke onThe Boys, as his formerSupernaturalco-stars Jensen Ackles and Jeffrey Dean Morgan have. Walker is a series that seemed to face uphill battles from the moment it was greenlighted, from the COVID-19 pandemic to corporate restructuring to new network owners, but in the end, it delivered 66 episodes of a television show that developed a strong fanbase and gave new life to a seemingly dead franchise, if only for a short time.
