This is one of the BEST opening scenes of a Walker, Texas Ranger episode
The best way to keep a viewer watching for the entire duration of an episode is to get their attention in the first three minutes. This is something Walker, Texas Ranger had no issue with. The first few minutes before the theme song plays always give viewers a feeling of what the episode will be about.
One of the '90s series' best episode openers, or opening scene, is in "Son of Thunder, Pt. 1" where Walker goes on a hot air balloon ride to save Mrs. Malloy, the wife of Reverend Thunder Malloy, who is held hostage by a criminal the police was chasing.
Let's take a look together.
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And so we begin...
The episode opens with a beautiful view of the sky, which means something heartwarming will be next, right? No, not in Walker's world!
The next thing viewers see is a road, and the lovely sound of background music is interrupted by the loud engine of a car on a high speed chase.
The drama continues...
The bad guy is MOVING! He's getting away from the police by any means necessary. At one point, he swerves and runs into one of the cars, causing it to explode. He's unstoppable. Well, after he makes a turn, Walker is right behind him, like literally on the tail of his vehicle.
Yet, he still manages to get away and sees a family boarding hot air balloons, knocks out Reverend Malloy, and holds his wife hostage as the balloon takes off.
A man with a plan...
Walker hops on a different balloon with one of the cops, who is afraid of heights. With his quick thinking, Walker suggests getting their balloon over the bad guys' so he could jump on it. This is after shots were fired from both.
He jumps...
And off he goes, risking his life to save another. That's our Ranger!
He lands!
While the cop is like, "Oh no, Walker, please make it!" Walker is like "I got this!" (they didn't actually say this, but that's what it felt like).
Walker landed perfectly on top of the other hot air balloon, and the bad guy had no clue where he went.
Now it's time to slide...
Sticking the landing is cool, but sliding down a moving balloon in the sky and trying to get into the basket? That's the hard part. Well, not for Walker.
Almost there...
Surprise, surprise!
No match for Walker
Did this bad guy really think he could outsmart Walker? Yes. Did he actually outsmart Walker? Nope.