Walker star Jared Padalecki and showrunner Anna Fricke during the series finale

SPOILER ALERT! This article contains details about the series finale The CWs Walker.

If it were up to series star Jared Padalecki and showrunner Anna Fricke, Walker would continue to air on The CW. But if it were to end, they’d be happy to send it off with the Season 4 finale on Wednesday night.

“I am heartbroken. I love the show. I love the cast and crew. I am and will be forever grateful for the four years we had together and for the friendships and relationships I have But right now it’s tough,” Padalecki told Deadline of the series ending. “I know people will be able to watch it and watch it again, but it’s okay. definitely miss me.

Walker was officially canceled in May, and Fricke said they were unaware of the series’ fate when writing the finale. Since “there’s always a risk in network television,” she explained that she was trying to bring enough stories to a satisfying conclusion while still leaving avenues to explore in a potential season 5.

This season, Walker struggled with an empty nest as Stella (Violet Brinson) and August (Kale Culley) began branching out. After four seasons of trying to find a work-life balance, he finally takes a step back from his Ranger duties to spend more time with his family and informs new lieutenant Cassie Perez that he will be taking a leave of absence .

“It was really about getting the family to a good place.” They’re on their next chapter,” Fricke said. “That moment where the family leaves together, the kids, Walker and Geri, kind of feels like a kind of closure. In a perfect world this would have continued and there would have been more stories and more complications, but they seem to be in a good place.

Padalecki commends the writers for where they left Walker, because “that’s how I feel right now,” he says.

“I have been doing this job for 20 years. There has never been a week of new television where I haven’t been #1 on the call list for an hour-long show. I’m still grieving, and probably will for a while. But I’m really excited to spend more time with my wife, our kids…the rest of my family, my friends. So I’m happy for Walker, I think,” he said. “I’m disappointed that he doesn’t get the next job, because I know he loves being a dog with a bone and doing his work, but I’m so happy that he can take this break, reset and spend time with his loved one. those. »

As the cancellation decision loomed, Fricke revealed that the network gave him the opportunity to make changes to the final episode to give audiences more closure, but she chose not to.

“It didn’t sit well with me trying to wrap up the entire series with just one revised scene,” she explained. “It seemed too rushed and rushed, and it would have seemed tacked on. We therefore chose to leave the finale as is.

However, she did accepted the network’s offer to air an extended version of the episode, which allowed for a few extra scenes that she thinks viewers will enjoy, including a rare scene with the entire Walker family.

“It was the last family scene where everyone was together,” she recalls. “It took forever to get it because everyone was emotional…it wasn’t a pivotal scene, or anything like that. It was just a fun energy with them all there, which was always my favorite. So I’m really happy that it came back.

Coincidentally, Padalecki also remembered that scene fondly, telling Deadline “it was just like a nice goodbye on camera and off camera…I’m excited for it, because you feel the love that we we all have for each other.”

At least, Fricke jokes, no one was kidnapped or about to die when the credits rolled. On the contrary, the elements left to the viewers’ imagination are largely positive, such as Walker’s marriage proposal to Geri (Odette Annable).

In the episode, there’s a quick shot of Walker admiring the engagement ring in her box before putting it in her pocket and meeting her family outside. She said including the proposal itself would have seemed “too soon.”

“Walker said this to Emily in a flashback. She said, “What will you do if I leave?” And he said, “Marry Geri and work at Sidestep.” And it was always kind of a joke about what the end of the series would be,” she said. “But in my mind, I didn’t want to go through with a proposal…I don’t think they’re there yet.”

If there’s one thing Fricke is most disappointed not to have the opportunity to explore, it’s James Van Der Beek’s arc as Walker’s new neighbor – a full circle for the showrunner, whose first television job was on Dawson Creek.

In the episode’s final moments, Van Der Beek arrives home as Walker and his family go on vacation, and while the moment is fleeting, it hints at a deliciously dramatic storyline for season 5.

“It was going to be cool. We had big plans for season 5,” Fricke said. “Well, maybe there will be a movie.”

Well, whatever iteration of Walker may or may not come next, Fricke adds that she has a lot of ideas to explore.

“Even from the first whisper that this might be the end, the producers were all wondering, ‘How can we continue?’ » What do we get out of it? What do we do ?’ “, she said. “I think it’s great characters and a great world and I love working with the Austin team, so we put a lot of thought into it.

When asked if she could divulge any of her ideas, she replied: “We always wanted to do the The Shadow of the Falcon history. I would definitely follow any of these characters. I really always wanted to see more of one of these. To be honest, I would follow any of them anywhere.