Recap / Walker Texas Ranger S6E22 "The Soul of Winter"

The Soul of Winter is the 22nd episode of the 6th Season of Walker, Texas Ranger. It aired April 25, 1998.

When Rodney Summers, a young parishioner for the First Christian Church of Dallas, is shot by a group of white supremacists known as the Sons of the Reich, the Rangers and the Sons of Thunder spring into action. When they find out that their leader, Stan Gorman, is an old nemesis of the church's newly-appointed pastor, Roscoe Jones (since the death of Trent's father, Thunder), and has revenge on his mind after the latter put him in prison a long time ago, they quickly piece together that Summers was murdered by mistake and Roscoe's son, Adam, was the intended target, and the motive behind it was for Roscoe to resign as pastor. While Roscoe and his parishioners face intimidation and death threats from the SOR, the Rangers and the Sons of Thunder seek to connect Gorman's involvement in Summers' murder to put him and his entire organization away for good.

Written by Gordon Dawson
Directed by Michael Preece

Tropes seen in this episode:

• A Nazi by Any Other Name / Right-Wing Militia Fanatic / Those Wacky Nazis: The Sons of the Reich, led by the Big Bad Stan Gorman, are a Neo-Nazi group serving as the villains of the episode.
• As Himself: While on tour with his band, Collin Raye shows up to provide the entertainment at the First Christian Church of Dallas charity fundraiser for the repairs on the Pilgrimage Baptist Church when Stan Gorman and his men burn it down during choir rehearsal (luckily, the parishioners survived and will be congregating at FCCD for the time being). His name, however, does not show up during the episode title card intro and closing credits.
• Badass Preacher: Roscoe falls under this trope along with Thunder Malloy. Along with his ex-military background in the U.S. Army, having served as a chaplain at Fort Hood along with Thunder, Roscoe may be willing to take on Stan Gorman during the final fight, but he'd rather let the Lord do it for him on his judgement day.
• Big Bad: The leader of the Sons of the Reich, Stan Gorman.
• Designated Bullet: Subverted; the Sons of the Reich's intended target was Roscoe's son, Adam, but the bullet killed the wrong person. The victim in question, Rodney Summers, was killed in a case of Mistaken Identity. Both boys were late for Roscoe's sermon due to them delivering food baskets to needy families.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Carlos picks up a piece of Stan Gorman's literature after breaking up the chaos Gorman's men caused at Eastside High (the high school attended by Adam and Tommy), the Rangers find out Gorman knew Roscoe when they were stationed at Ford Hood together along with Trent's late father, Thunder. Trivette is hit with this when he finds out this information, and Roscoe is also hit with it when the Rangers, Carlos and Trent apprise him of the situation and question him if he knew Stan. From there, details of Roscoe's and Gorman's backstories come to light to which the former deduces that Adam was the intended target instead of Rodney Summers. Roscoe demands that Adam be brought home immediately after the fact, at which point he explains how he put Gorman in prison. During this time, Trent and Carlos stop Gorman's men before they could kidnap Adam and Tommy.
  Trivette: All right, and they even have their own website. It's incredible. You can donate to the cause with a credit card. Buy your T-shirts, hats, emblems, jackets, Nazi insignia, banners, instruction manuals... Virtual cyber-supermarket of hate.
  Walker: Does it say who's behind it?
  Trivette: Not yet. Let me see here. All right, here we go. "The new Fuhrer for the '90s: Stan Gorman." Huh. Wrote a book. How about that? Our America. Fifty bucks. Membership in the Sons of Reich with every purchase.
  Carlos: Incredible.
  Trivette: Not really. Hate sites have more than doubled in the past year. This one came on-line... September.
  Walker: That's about the same time the hate crimes started. See what else you can dig up on this Gorman character.
  Trivette: All right. [it's not long before he digs up how Gorman knows Roscoe] Hey, didn't Roscoe say he met Thunder Malloy when they were Army chaplains at Fort Hood?
  Walker: Yeah, why?
  Trivette: You're never gonna believe this.
  [later at the church when the two Rangers, Carlos and Trent apprise Roscoe of the situation]
  Roscoe: Stan Gorman?!
  Trivette: Leader of the Sons of the Reich.
  Trent: What's going on? Do you know him?
  Roscoe: Adam! Get up to that school and bring him home right now!
  Trent: What?
  Roscoe: Don't ask questions, just do it!
  Trent: Okay.
  Carlos: I'll go with him.
  Walker: What's this all about, Roscoe?
  Roscoe: Walker, the bullet that killed Rodney Summers was meant for my Adam!
• Faux Affably Evil: Stan Gorman.
• From Camouflage to Criminal: Stan Gorman, of course, which provides the backstory of how Roscoe and Thunder knew him. He once held the rank of a sergeant during his time at Fort Hood, but he had a hard time taking orders from a black man, and that black man in question was one of Roscoe's best friends, Gary Crowder, who held the rank of artillery captain. Crowder bumped Gorman down to private and kept him in the stockade for 30 days after he threw a punch. Gorman vowed revenge after the fact, and a week after his dishonorable discharge, he shot Crowder and Roscoe when they went to a late-night movie in San Antonio. Crowder didn't make it, but Roscoe survived and his testimony landed Gorman a life sentence in Huntsville, only for him to be released three months prior to the episode.
  Roscoe: All these years, you know... I had almost completely forgotten about Stan Gorman.
  Walker: Well, I guess Stan Gorman hasn't forgotten about you.
• Graffiti of the Resistance / Icon of Rebellion: About a day after Rodney Summers is killed, Roscoe is alerted by Deacon Rivers to the graffiti the Sons of the Reich painted on the exterior walls of the church. Roscoe, being his usual God-fearing self, tries to keep a cool head after Rivers shows him the graffiti.
  Deacon Rivers: What are you gonna do?
  Roscoe: Call the police, buy some paint, cover it up and carry on.
• House Fire: In this case, it's a church fire. After the Rangers fail to find the gun that was used for Rodney Summers' murder at the Sons of the Reich Headquarters, Gorman and his men light up Molotov cocktails and burn down the Pilgrimage Baptist Church while choir rehearsal was taking place. The PBC congregants survive and Roscoe decides to hold a charity fundraiser for its repairs, as well as let the PBC parishioners use the First Christian Church of Dallas for their sermons for the time being. Walker, Trivette, Alex and CD are also more than happy to contribute their help to the cause: Alex knows the man with the Tarrant County School Bus contract so he could donate plenty of buses for the PBC parishioners to get to FCCD, Trivette works on the event's flyers and tickets with the new graphics package he purchased for his computer, while Walker's "Kick Drugs Out of America" students pass them out and sell them, and C.D. plans to contribute the best chili the likes of which nobody has ever seen. Additionally, Walker also books Collin Raye as the entertainment.
• It Is Not Your Time: Discussed when Walker, Trivette, Carlos and Trent find out Thunder and Roscoe knew Stan Gorman when they were stationed at Fort Hood, and Roscoe quickly pieces together that Gorman was responsible for killing Rodney Summers when he was trying to kill Adam, and during this time, Carlos and Trent stop Gorman's men before they could kidnap Adam and Tommy. A week after Gorman was dishonorably discharged, Roscoe and his old friend, Gary Crowder, went to see a late-night movie in San Antonio, and when they got outside to the parking lot, Gorman shot them both and left them for dead. Roscoe survived, but Crowder did not.
• Just Got Out of Jail: Stan Gorman was released from prison three months prior to the episode, and if Walker, Trivette, Carlos and Trent have any intent on sending him back for good, the only thing they can do is prove that he killed Rodney Summers, when he intended to kill Adam instead.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Alex usually falls into this trope all through the series. During the final confrontation with the Sons of the Reich when they crash the Pilgrimage Baptist Church repair fundraiser at the First Christian Church of Dallas with a burning wooden cross they created, Alex and C.D., at first, hurry back to the tent to contact Walker and Trivette of what's going on, but they and Carlos show up in a final fight, which Tommy and Trent also join in. After all the Sons of the Reich members are knocked out, one still standing gets socked by Alex.
• MacGuffin: The gun used for Rodney Summers' murder. Armed with a search warrant after Gorman's men tried to kidnap Adam and Tommy, the Rangers couldn't find it at the Sons of the Reich Headquarters, but after the cars belonging to the parishioners of the First Christian Church of Dallas and Pilgrimage Baptist Church were blown up with C-4, this leads Walker to believe Gorman has a huge arsenal somewhere in the Dallas area. Trivette eventually finds out that one of the members of SOR, Sonny Kline, was a cellmate of Gorman's at Huntsville and got out the same time he did, and rented a farm 70 miles south of Dallas. The Rangers get the break they need, arrest the thugs in the warehouse and eventually find the gun used for Rodney Summers' murder. Gorman is nowhere present, since he's on his way to FCCD to crash the fundraiser with a wooden cross waiting to be burned that his men created.
• Manly Tears: Discussed after the parishioners of the First Christian Church of Dallas and Pilgrimage Baptist Church, as well as Roscoe, all have their cars blown to smithereens by Gorman. Trent mentions the last time he saw Roscoe cry was at his father's funeral. It's not long before Walker gets a call from the Governor requesting he handle the Sons of the Reich investigation.
• Mistaken Identity / Murder by Mistake: During the cold open of the episode, Stan Gorman's men killed the wrong kid. That victim was Rodney Summers, but the intended target was Roscoe's son, Adam, and the motive behind it was to get Roscoe to resign from the church. Both boys were late for Roscoe's sermon due to them delivering food baskets to needy families. Rodney's murder sets off the episode's plot.
  Sonny Kline: Good news is, we made the paper again. The bad news is we killed the wrong kid outside the church.
  Stan Gorman: I imagine having to scrape that kid off the church's front porch just ruined the good Reverend's Sunday. Before I'm done, Roscoe Jones won't have a church, a son or a heartbeat.
• Molotov Cocktail: Gorman's men use these to burn up the Pilgrimage Baptist Church during choir rehearsal. The parishioners inside, luckily, survive, having fled the building during the fire.
• Papa Wolf: Roscoe to a T. After the Rangers apprise him of Gorman's men passing out their literature at Eastside High School (the high school Adam and Tommy attend), only to be driven off by Carlos (where he then picks up his literature for Trivette to examine), he quickly concludes that Adam was the intended target rather than Rodney Summers. He had to send Adam away to ensure his safety after he and Tommy were nearly kidnapped by Gorman's men before they were rescued at the last minute by Trent and Carlos.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Call Backs to World War II and how the Sons of the Reich worship Adolf Hitler, as well as the Ku Klux Klan, when the organization crashes the charity social at the church with a burning cross they created, only for the prayers of the First Christian Church of Dallas and Pilgrimage Baptist Church parishioners to blow out the flames near the end after Gorman and his men are beaten.
• Special Guest: Marco Sanchez as Detective Carlos Sandoval, James Wlcek as Trent Malloy, Shane Meier as Tommy Malloy, David Kirkwood as Deacon Rivers, Jordan Marder as Spire (Stan Gorman's Second-in-Command Goon), RD Call as Stan Gorman (the Big Bad of the episode), Paul Winfield as Pastor Roscoe Jones and Collin Raye as himself.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Armed with C-4 and remote-controlled detonators, Gorman's crew blows up several vehicles belonging to the parishioners of the two churches, including Roscoe's.
• Victim of the Week: Rodney Summers.
• Waking Non Sequitur: Subverted and exploited after a long night of investigating, this exchange between Walker, Trivette, Carlos and Alex occurs after Trivette gets the break they need in finding Stan Gorman's arsenal, as well as the gun used to kill Rodney Summers:
  Trivette: All right, Sonny Kline and Gorman were cellmates at Huntsville. Sonny rented a farm 70 miles south of here when he was paroled.
  Carlos: [claps] Way to go!
  Walker: Alex, can you...
  Alex: I know, I know, I know. "Alex, can you wake up a judge?".
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After Stan Gorman is defeated and led away in handcuffs, it is unknown what happens to him afterwards. We can only assume after the murder of Rodney Summers and almost kidnapping Adam and Tommy, he got life in prison or is facing the death penalty.
• The X of Y: The episode's title, "The Soul of Winter".