THURSDAY, JANUARY 5

WALKER INDEPENDENCE

"Pilot" - (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (TV-PG, DV) (HDTV)

SERIES PREMIERE - In the late 1800s, Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent and tough-minded Bostonian, embarks on a journey out west with her husband Liam (guest star Brandon Sklenar), when her husband is murdered before her eyes. After crossing paths with Calian (Justin Johnson Cortez), a curious Apache tracker, Abby arrives in the town of Independence, Texas, where she encounters diverse and eclectic residents running from their pasts, chasing their dreams, and keeping their own secrets, including Kate Carver (Katie Findlay), an idiosyncratic burlesque dancer with perhaps too keen an interest in Abby's origins, and Kai (Lawrence Kao), a soulful Chinese immigrant who runs a local restaurant/laundry and offers Abby friendship without agenda. Abby also literally runs into Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr), a slippery rogue, thief, and con artist with a dented heart of gold who quickly eyes Abby as a mark, until she turns the tables on him. In seeking justice for her husband, Abby encounters Independence's noble deputy sheriff, Augustus (Philemon Chambers), and his new boss, Sheriff Tom Davidson (Greg Hovanessian), who she has reason to believe is a very bad man indeed. Abby and Hoyt soon find themselves precariously aligned, both seeking to uncover the truth about the identity of Abby's husband's killer, and vow to save Independence - a frontier boomtown where nothing is what it seems. The episode was written by Seamus Kevin Fahey from a story co-written by him and Anna Fricke and directed by Larry Teng (#101). Original airdate 10/6/2022.