Alex Cahill is prosecuting cop killer Benny Carl Devlin (Ray Lykins), she gets a veiled threat from former Cuervo County sheriff Dewey Baker (Leon Rippy) – the first person she ever put away, because he routinely beat up suspects; he also terrorized anyone who complained about it.
Villain: Dewey Baker In Tokyo, powerful Yakuza director Mitsua Usagi (Danny Kamekona) is murdered by Karl Jaeker (John S. Davies) - the personal assistant of Congressman Leo Cabe (Andrew Robinson of Dirty Harry fame).
While Walker and Trivette transport the unruly Kat to testify in the out-of-state murder trial of Trigger Jenks (Gregory Scott Cummins) a gun smuggler who had in the past murdered a Ranger Captain who mentored Walker, Trivette struggles with his feelings for the dangerous woman who is being hunted by the now freed Axel and his gang which has been taken over by Trigger, who has ordered the reluctant Axel to kill his girlfriend, Kat to keep her from testifying against him.
Dr. Victor Slade (Ken Kercheval), a veterinarian investigating the strange deaths of local animals is killed in what appears to be a drunk driving incident, and his daughter Ally (Cali Timmins) teams up with Walker and Trivette to prove otherwise.
A renegade vigilante Samuel J. Bodine (Sam J. Jones), a failed Texas Ranger applicant challenges Walker with his attempts to capture several escaped criminals, but he inadvertently endangers innocent civilians in the process.
Meanwhile, Evie (Kim Myers), a young woman who works in the Ranger Office falls in love with a man named Tommy Williams, who unbeknownst to her, is actually the renegade vigilante Walker's looking for.
Villain: Emilio Durazo Using a psychic to help locate a kidnapped 8-year-old girl earns Trivette ridicule from his fellow Rangers, except from Walker and C.D., who support his decision; but will it pay off?
But the vacation turns sour when local ruffians grow tired of the Rangers' presence and take desperate measures to conceal their drug trade.
Notes: Running Wolf, a malevolent medicine man (Billy Drago) resurrects after the desecration of his burial ground, and Walker must confront his past demons if he hopes to stop the spirit before he gets revenge.
Along with the DNA evidence, Ernesto provides an alibi to Walker and Alex that he fell in love with a Congressman's daughter who was recently accepted to Harvard Law School and was seeing her the night of the rape and was afraid of upsetting her father.
The thief turns out to be ex-Marine Randy Shrader (Marshall R. Teague) who betrayed and abandoned his unit during the war in Vietnam, leaving the men (including Walker) for dead.
Note: Joey Prado (John Haymes Newton), the world kickboxing champion and a protegé of Walker's is working to defend his title against arrogant up-and-coming hotshot Bart "The Destroyer" Valen (Tim Griffin).
Bart's manager and older brother Frank (Gary Hudson) also happens to be Joey's predecessor as world champion, but had lost the title after he was discovered to have been using steroids and almost killed the sports reporter who exposed him, with the latter act also landing him in prison for several years.
After he and Bart goad Joey into losing his temper at a press conference, Frank decides to further shake up and discredit him by framing him for illegal drug possession.
Matacio is grooming his ten-year-old son Nicholas (Joseph Ashton) to take over the family business, while plotting to kill his ex-wife Dana (Mary Chris Wall)...lest she testify against him on the Rangers' behalf.
Walker tries to get him to become a police officer, but this proves difficult because of Trent's refusal to carry a firearm (because of a childhood incident with a revolver that resulted in the death of a friend).
When Alex's former lover, who's also the defending attorney in her current trial, turns up dead beside her in bed, she's accused of his murder and sent to a women's prison that's packed with inmates who hold a grudge against her, though her cellmate, who was put in there due to a botched defense, is able to protect her.
Joey finds himself in the precarious position of having to deceiving his former friend by convincing him that he is a criminal and earning his trust in order to gather enough evidence to take down both Victor and his boss.
Then her Marine brother Corporal John Wesley "JW" McLain (Stephen Quadros), to whom she sent proof of Garret's wrongdoing, goes AWOL to launch a vendetta against the drug lord.
Now Walker, Trivette, and Parrish must keep the McLains from taking the law into their own hands to avenge their sister, while at the same time gathering sufficient evidence to bust Garret for his crimes.
The Rangers ask their ne'er-de-well friend Charlie Brooks (Kiser in a dual role) to help them catch a crime boss for whom the Iceman was working for.
Notes: Children visiting the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame get treated to Walker telling a story about the Old West's legendary Hayes Cooper.
He then sets his sights on fixing an upcoming race by targeting another rival horse Rainbow's End, which is owned by one of Walker's friends (John Beck).
Walker must stop Crown before he reaches the horse and his friend's daughter (Lea Moreno), all the while getting Rainbow prepared to win the Lone Star Derby.
Following Summers' murder, the violence and intimidation from Gorman and his men escalates when they terrorize the other congregants, almost abduct Adam and Tommy, and then burn down another church, prompting Roscoe to organize a charity fundraiser for its repairs with Collin Raye headlining the event.
Wanting to stay straight for his family's sake and repair his strained relationship with his son Tommy (who previously appeared in Season 3's "The Covenant"), Joe asks Walker and Trivette for help, and has a plan to identify and take down the leader of the group.
Caleb Hooks, an old enemy of Walker's (from Season 4's "The Avenger"), continues to seek revenge for the death of his brother Randall...this time by imprisoning Alex and Trivette in a gradually-filling water tank.
Sydney poses as a singer to investigate a corrupt club owner (Steven Bauer), while Walker seeks to end the conditions that led to a middle-schooler's (Paul Robert Langdon) suicide.
Meanwhile, Gage finds out that a little boy (Robert Bailey Jr.) is being tempted towards gang life by his brother's (Norris Young) influence and decides to be a positive role model to help steer him away from it.
A young woman (Katie Wright) leaves her baby with Alex after her husband (Robert Floyd) is killed by a gang of thieves he assisted in a home invasion gone sour, having only served as the lookout and getaway driver.