livegirls.now is the 17th episode of the 7th Season of Walker, Texas Ranger. It aired February 27, 1999.
Models are being kidnapped and auctioned off into sex slavery, and when Trivette's new girlfriend, Kristin, becomes the most recent disappearance, he and Walker have to find her and the other women before they are sold.
Tropes seen in this episode:
- all lowercase letters: The Episode Title Card, just before the guest cast and crew members' names show up. Justified, considering the name of the episode is in the form of a website name.
- Big "NO!": From Iverson. After he makes unwanted advances towards one of the women and Kristin intervenes, Harris and the others intervene and threaten to cut off his hand with a meat cleaver. They just slash open his wrist. Iverson was warned in the beginning not to do so!
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The website models.art, while Trivette meant to type in modelos.art after a recent drug bust unrelated to the main plot. Tying in the wrong website soon becomes instrumental for the Rangers when they have to track down a sex slave ring after Kristin turns up missing.
- Kristin's necklace. Her father gave it to her before he died and she never takes it off, not even when she takes a shower. Rolf wanted her to take it off during one of her photo shoots. The next day, Trivette goes to Kristin's apartment to pick her up for lunch, but she turns up missing with the front door opened and all her stuff packed, and the only thing left behind is the necklace. Trivette later returns it after he and Walker rescue her and the other women and apprehend the slavers.
- Fake Identity Baggage / The Infiltration: The only way Walker, Trivette and Alex can track down Kristin's kidnappers is by getting into the auction and tracing their location. Trivette takes on the job of being one of the bidders, and they needed the code from Rolf to get in after Walker arrested him and Bruno. Trivette's cover is Kim Soo Park, a Korean industrialist who is currently serving 10-20 years for espionage; the arrest was scrubbed off his record so the kidnappers don't know what's going on. The trace is a success, but it hits a snag due to the kidnappers catching on to the ruse.
- Foreshadowing: During the cold open, a case unrelated to the episode's main plot has the Rangers performing a drug bust and finding the goods in a statue. When Trivette takes a picture of said statue and scans it, the website models.art comes up when he meant to type in modelos.art. Accidentally typing in the wrong website domain comes in handy for the Rangers later in the episode when Kristin is kidnapped along with several other models and must rescue them all.
- Girl of the Week: Kristin to Trivette.
- Implied Death Threat: After Walker arrests Rolf and Bruno, he and Alex interrogate Rolf about the photos he took ending up on the website Trivette discovered by mistake. Rolf could be looking at life in prison if he refuses to talk, but if any of the kidnapped women, including Kristin, turn up dead, he could be sent to Huntsville, which means execution by lethal injection. Rolf eventually cooperates and gives them the code Trivette needs to get into the auction and save Kristin.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After the kidnappers are arrested, the State Department comes down hard on the Prince with the full weight of the law, Mr. White was captured in Europe and all the other bidders are under investigation.
- Model Scam: The basic topic of the episode wherein would-be aspiring models are sold into slavery.
- One-Word Title: The episode's title is based on a website URL.
- Ransacked Room: The sneaky way is played out when Trivette shows up at Kristin's apartment to take her to lunch. When he arrives, the front door is open and all her stuff is packed and the only thing left behind is her necklace. When Trivette tells Walker what happened, Walker develops a hunch about the website they searched earlier while working on the unrelated case, models.art. Sure enough, Kristin's photo shows up!
- Self-Destruct Mechanism: The kidnappers were expecting Walker and Trivette to come and leave a bomb in the warehouse shortly after they flee. Walker quickly discovers the bomb and he and Trivette escape in time.
- Special Guest: Philip Casnoff as Harris (one of the kidnappers), Larry Joshua as Iverson (one of the kidnappers), Christian J Meoli as Rolf Gaines (the photographer involved in the kidnappings), Larry Manetti as Shelby (a police informant from a case unrelated to the main plot who tipped off his boss) and Gretchen Palmer as Kristin.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Walker, Trivette and Alex successfully trace the location of where the women were held, but Harris, Iverson and all the rest of the gang had already fled along with the women, including Kristin, since they caught on to their cover. They were expecting Walker and Trivette to come, so they've planted a bomb in the warehouse. Walker quickly discovers it and the two escape the building in time before it explodes. Luckily, a phone survived, and they use the phone company to figure out where their last phone call was made, leading them to an airfield where the gang is attempting to flee.
- Victim of the Week: Kristin and several other models.
