Rainbow's End is the 10th episode of the 6th Season of Walker, Texas Ranger. It aired December 6, 1997.
Racehorse owner James Lee Crown seeks to bolster the value of his horses by making sure they win all their races and will do almost anything to make sure those victories happen, and his usual means is by cheating. After he murders a rival horse along with its owner and trainer (the latter of whom was secretly working for him) for beating his horse in a race (and thus devaluing it), he sets his sights on the titular racehorse, who is owned by a close friend of Walker's. Walker has to stop Crown before he makes Rainbow his next target, all the while trying to get it to race in the Texas Derby.
Tropes seen in this episode:
- Asshole Victim: Lee Kincaid.
- Big Bad: James Lee Crown.
- Character Title: The title character is a thoroughbred racehorse.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: It pretty much serves as the premise of the episode. Crown seeks to bolster the value of all his racehorses by making sure they win all their races, and cheating is his only means to win, even if it means killing off his opponents.
- Despair Event Horizon: Jo gets it twice:
- The first time, when Max is jumped by Crown's men while she is out checking on Rainbow's End at the track, and then returns home to find him unconscious. Being very protective of her father, she is, at first, considering quitting the race, but Max tells her when his bull-riding injury left him handicapped, Walker told him to never give up, and they tell her the same thing.
- The second time after the race, the poison that Crown and his men spiked in Rainbow's food takes full effect and he appears to be near-death, leaving her in tears and begging him not to die. After Walker arrests Barber for poisoning the horse's food (who would go on to confess his involvement in Rainbow's and Max's attempted murders, as well as the Calhoun murders), and later, Crown, Rainbow luckily survives.
- Disney Death: Barber, disguised as a stableman, poisons Rainbow's End's food so hopefully, he wouldn't have a chance to defeat Samurai in the race, but Rainbow's End still wins it by a nose, just in time for the poison to take full effect. Walker arrests Barber after he is identified by a security guard, and then, arrests Crown after Barber confesses his involvement in Max and Rainbow's attempted murders, as well as the Calhoun murders. Rainbow survives the poison and wins the Texas Derby.
- Exact Words: When Max is released from the hospital, Crown decides not to take any chances and orders Barber to poison Rainbow's End's food before the race. After knocking out a stableman and stealing his uniform, Barber put in the whole vial. Crown didn't want to take any chances, and Barber was just following orders.
- Extremely Protective Child: Jo to Max. It starts when she and Walker confront Crown and his men one afternoon at the track before they could beat him up, then finds him lying unconscious in the stable when she comes home from the track after Crown's men jumped him. This nearly drives Jo to quit the race, but Max and Walker tell her not to. Also, Max only suffers a black eye and a broken arm.
- Handicapped Badass: Max Elson. He is a one-time former bull-riding champion, which explains why he is now confined to a wheelchair and he hopes he'll be able to walk again someday. He also has some hardships to face due to his handicap, and it's the possibility of having his ranch foreclosed if he doesn't make enough money; the only way he can make enough cash is for Rainbow's End to win the Texas Derby, and Wes Calhoun's widow, Sally Calhoun, agrees to be their $50,000 sponsor. He was also able to put up quite a fight when Crown's men jumped him while Jo was out, having only suffered a black eye and a broken arm. He demanded to be discharged from the hospital in time to watch his daughter's match race with Crown's horse.
- Inside Job: While serving as the trainer for Gallant Boy for six years, Kincaid started secretly working for Crown at some point and was starting to have Gallant Boy to throw races, leaving Samurai to take the lead, but Calhoun realized that Gallant Boy was being pulled back (but didn't know of Kincaid's involvement at the time) and threatened to have the jockey's racing license revoked if it happened again, forcing the jockey to win to save his career. Needless to say, Calhoun is not happy that Kincaid betrayed him when Crown shows up to kill him, but it doesn't stop Crown from killing Kincaid, as well.
- Missing Mom: It is unknown of what happened to Jo's mother.
- Mooks: Barber and Holt.
- Mugged for Disguise: Barber knocks out one of the stablemen and steals his uniform and ID badge to infiltrate the track and poison Rainbow's End's food. Just as the race is about to start, the poison takes effect, leading Walker and Trivette to suspect something is wrong. The two then find the real stableman alive, but unconscious, but are too late to stop the race, although Rainbow still manages to defeat Samurai by a nose. After the race, a security guard identifies Barber as being a fake stableman, at which point Walker chases him down and arrests him. Barber confesses his involvement in Rainbow's attempted murder and the Calhoun murders after being interrogated by Trivette, at which point Alex requests an arrest warrant for Crown.Trivette: Guy wouldn't shut up, and Alex is putting it together.
- Please, Don't Leave Me / Please Wake Up: Justified with the former trope. Jo to Rainbow's End when the poison Crown and his men spiked in his food takes full effect after Walker arrested Barber for doing so. Rainbow appears to be dying because of the poison, but in the end, after Walker arrests Crown, he miraculously survives.
- Sadist: Crown, of course. He doesn't take kindly to anyone who fails him, which is why he offed Kincaid after the race while killing Calhoun and Gallant Boy.
- Special Guest: John Beck as Max Elson, Lea Moreno as Jo Elson and Randolph Mantooth as James Lee Crown.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Barber, one of Crown's men, knocked out the real stableman to infiltrate the track and poison Rainbow's End's food. It still doesn't stop him from winning the race against Samurai, but the poison does take full effect after the race is over.
- Title Drop: The episode focuses on the titular racehorse.
- Victim of the Week: Wes Calhoun, Lee Kincaid, Gallant Boy, Jo and Max Elson and Rainbow's End. Crown murdered the former three after the race at the start of the episode, Max was beaten to a pulp by Crown's men when Jo was out checking on Rainbow, but only suffered a black eye and a broken arm, and Rainbow's End nearly died because of the poison Crown spiked in his food.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't know what happened to Crown and Holt after Walker arrested them for the Calhoun murders and almost killing Max and Rainbow's End. We can only assume Crown got life in prison or the death penalty. As for Holt, he either testified or didn't cooperate.
