Walker has been an integral part of Yellowstone since the neo-Western drama’s beginning. As the Paramount Network show takes place on a ranch, it traces the journey of various cowboys and ranch hands, aside from the struggles of the Dutton family.
Walker, played by real-life singer Ryan Bingham, made his debut on the show at the end of season 1, and his importance only increased in the subsequent installments. Walker is a former convict hired by Rip Wheeler as a ranch hand for the Dutton Ranch.
The cowboy is also an aspiring singer who loves to play guitar, which adds further depth to his character. From being chosen to work at Yellowstone to moving back to the 6666 ranch, Walker has had an interesting journey on the show.
Walker’s character journey on Yellowstone
Walker is a former cowboy from Texas’s 6666 Ranch who struggles to fit in at Yellowstone. He wants to live on his terms, but the Dutton Ranch has its own strict rules that do not leave much room for independence.
Walker arrives at Yellowstone with plenty of experience, but he is unaware of the darker side of the Dutton Ranch. From the start, his attitude and behavior clash with the other ranch hands. He avoids some of the dirtier jobs, does not jump into fights, and speaks up against the ranch’s rules.
Walker’s attitude makes Rip Wheeler, the Dutton family’s main enforcer, frustrated and suspicious. Rip sees Walker’s behavior as a threat to the ranch’s secrecy and loyalty, and he is ready to kill Walker to keep him from talking.
However, instead of killing him, Kayce, John Dutton’s son, drives Walker out of Montana and tells him never to return. However, Walker’s story does not end there. Rip and Lloyd spot him singing at a bar after some time, and he gets a second chance at the ranch life.
Walker is eventually put to the test when Rip tells him to cut off rancher Wade Morrow’s brand to prove his loyalty to the Duttons. Walker does it and starts getting involved in the violent and intense life at Yellowstone, a life he never fully wanted.
Meanwhile, he also has a short fling with Beth Dutton, Rip’s longtime love interest and later wife. Rip is already wary of Walker, but now he has even more reason to dislike him. To make things worse, Walker later gets involved with Laramie, a woman who had been seeing Lloyd, Rip’s closest friend on the ranch.
This causes huge friction between Walker and Lloyd, building up to a violent showdown. In a fit of rage, Lloyd stabs Walker, almost killing him. But instead of throwing him out, Rip forces the two men to face off in a brutal fistfight.
Throughout his time at the Dutton ranch, Walker tries several times to leave but keeps getting pulled back. At one point, after helping cover up the death of a journalist named Sarah Nguyen, Walker feels devastated by what he has done and begs to leave.
However, the Yellowstone Ranch does not let go of people that easily, especially those who know its secrets. Even though Walker does not agree with the Duttons’ violent ways, he respects the ranching life.
When he meets Jimmy Hurdstram, a younger cowboy also struggling to fit in, Walker warns him about leaving the 6666 Ranch. Walker regrets his own choice to leave, realizing that the freedom he wanted might not be as easy to find.
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Eventually, Walker ends up back in Texas, at the Four Sixes Ranch, as he joins Rip, Teeter, Ryan, and Jake, who travel to handle a cattle disease. Now that Rip has traveled back to Yellowstone to support his wife in the succession war, Walker might have a bigger role to play as a cowboy.
Yellowstone season 5 airs new episodes on Paramount Network on Sundays at 8 PM ET/PT.
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