After a bit of a hiatus, Walker is finally back for its fourth season on The CW, continuing the adventures of rugged Texas Ranger Cordell Walker and his family in the Lone Star State. Though Walker's home life is as joyous as it's been since the start of the series, the specter of an unresolved serial killer case looms heavily over him and his superior officer, Captain Larry James, when the murderer resurfaces. With this new threat on the horizon, Walker finds himself defending his family as the danger becomes an especially personal one for the Texas Rangers while they maintain the peace.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Walker star and executive producer Jared Padalecki lays out the stakes for Season 4, teases what fans can expect this season and reflects on if audiences will ever see him reprise his iconic role as Sam Winchester from Supernatural.

CBR: Cordell Walker usually has it rough in the Walker season premieres, either haunted by the murder of his wife Emily or tortured in Season 3. How was it exploring a happier dimension to Walker at the start of Season 4?

Jared Padalecki: My favorite part about movies is it's a two-hour escape, whether it's a James Bond movie or an Avengers movie, you've spent two hours outside of your life. My favorite part of TV is that, if it's done well, it's kind of about your life. As an adult, there are seasons in your life. There are good times and there are bad times and, often, we've caught Cordell at his bad times, but then the other shoe drops.

I think that makes good television, so it was fun to start a season where I wasn't being tied up, splashed with water and zapped with electricity or having to go through the loss of my wife. I really enjoyed this start. Knowing how Season 4 ends, I think it sets up Season 4 for the rug being pulled out from underneath Walker just when he thinks everything is safe.

The last time we spoke, you talked about enjoying working with Coby Bell. This season, Walker and Captain James are tracking a serial killer from their past, The Jackal. How is it working with Coby in these more raw and darker scenes than usual?

I couldn't say enough great things about Coby. He's such a great guy, a great father, a great husband and a great actor. He comes to set and, even though we've been working together for almost the end of four years, he always brings something that surprises me. He's so steady and reliable, and then he'll bring something, and I'll go "Oh s---, I didn't know you were going to do that!" It brings a whole other element and level to the scene and to my character, Walker selfishly.

Something that happened on Supernatural a lot with me and Jensen [Ackles] is that the characters shared grief. We explored that basically every season from [Seasons] 1 to 15. With this season specifically, Captain James and Cordell Walker get to share their grief on-camera for all to see because of what they went through when they were partners, both just Rangers, so we're delving into that. I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, but we do have some flashbacks of Cordell and James back from when The Jackal was running their streak of horror five years prior. That gives a nice insight into why Ranger James became the Captain James that he is.

Between Season 3 and 4, ownership of The CW changed and there were the entertainment industry strikes. With that much time away from the show and the character, what insight did that offer coming back?

We knew we were coming back for Season 4 and that was a huge deal, so Cordell never left me and the storyline never left me. I will say, performance-wise, more life happened and everything is going well and everything for Walker is going well. But then, it was like "Oh, this has changed. Now, there's a strike. Now, there's another strike." I think one of the great lessons from Walker is one of the great lessons I get from life in general, which is man plans and God laughs, and to be ready for the seasons – seasons of life, not seasons of TV shows.

There's good, there's bad, and you've got to be prepped for both. You've got to weather the storms and enjoy the weather while it's there. I think Walker has aspects of that he has trouble with. He's great at weathering the storm when stuff goes wrong, but sometimes when things are going well, he has a bit of a tough time accepting it. I think what I, Jared, learned in the last 12 months is what Walker needs to learn on the show, that things are okay right now, and it's okay to be okay, and he works on it.

I was disappointed to see the cancelation of Walker: Independence and The Winchesters since Walker Season 3. I was happy to see Justin Johnson Cortez in the Season 3 finale, though. Any chance we'll see more of Justin this season?

Again, I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, but Justin is back this year. Justin is a part of the Walker family this year again. We see some familiar faces from the past and Justin is one of them, and we couldn't be more thrilled.

The real heart of Walker isn't the crime stuff, it's family. How has it been working closely and growing closer to this surrogate family that you've built for yourself in Austin for four seasons now?

You got it right on the dot. What you just said is a conversation that Anna Fricke and I had before the pilot was ever even written. This is not a show about what bad-guy-of-the-week I can roundhouse kick, then we end on a high-five. It's about family and families are messy and go through things. It's really easy to be there for one another when things are going well, when everything is well, we all have jobs, and we go out to dinner. It can be trying, because we're all going through our own trials and tribulations, to have enough time to be there when things aren't going well.

You spend four years with a group of adults who all have spouses, girlfriends, children or homes. We've had Snowpocalypse, Icepocalypse, COVID and strikes. We've all seen each other through some version of ups and downs and been able to be there for each other and it echoes on-screen. I have found that life imitates art over the past 25 years or so of being in this industry. I feel a deep connection with each of my cast members and crew as well. It's been a blessing and humbling to be part of a community that I never knew I needed.

Would you be open to returning to Sam Winchester? I feel like there are more stories for that character and, with The Winchesters done, it's a weird time to be a Supernatural fan with no new Supernatural on television for the first time in almost 20 years.

It is weird, right? It's weird for you to say that and weird for me to realize it. The simple answer to your question is 100%. I will play Sam Winchester again. Jensen will play Dean Winchester again. It's more of a timing and availability thing. In hindsight, Jensen and I have always said "always," if we ever have the option. I think in the last two or three seasons of Supernatural, when we realized somebody might want more, we said "2025. In 2020, we're ending this. Let's get together in five years and see what Sam and Dean are up to."

I'm going to see him in a few weeks to talk to him about it again. We've talked about it a few times. He and I are both champing at the bit to see what these boys have been up to and what else good they can do in this world or the next. I'm excited about it. My only contingency about it is, with Jensen and I being so protective of the show and the characters, the story has to be absolutely right. I don't just put on flannel and big coat, get in an Impala and say "Dean!" That won't work for Jared. It needs to have a purpose, as Sam and Dean always did.

Walker Season 4 is now showing on The CW. New episodes air every Thursday and are available to stream the next day on The CW App.