Mark Sheppard on his Walker: Independence return: 'I love this show'

Warning: This post contains spoilers from the Jan. 26 episode of Walker: Independence.

Mark Sheppard couldn't stay away long.

After Walker: Independence said goodbye to Sheppard's character Hagan at the end of episode 6, this week's episode saw him walk right back into town... and just in time for a sand storm that trapped him inside the saloon with Kate (Katie Findlay), Hoyt (Matt Barr), and a few others.

"Our director of photography, Brook Willard, had this amazing palette with the storm," Sheppard tells EW exclusively. "The tone of the episode was fantastic because everybody had to be locked in. It gives us a chance to get a little bit more into the personal as we're all locked in together."

And for Sheppard, a return was a no-brainer, particularly given how Hagan left things the last time around. "My biggest thing was in episode 6, there was a big lie. The Davidsons were going to kill Kate, so I sold Hagan's and supposedly moved on," Sheppard says. "But I don't think Hagan was capable of leaving it unresolved, so the return was a beautiful idea from the writers to put an ending to what we left unresolved."

As far as episodes go, Sheppard couldn't have asked for a better return, getting to spend the entire episode with Findlay. "Katie is a magical human being whom I truly adore," Sheppard says, adding with a laugh, "Putting us on set together is not always the most productive thing."

And when it comes to productivity, there's a lot to get done in order to properly shoot a card game. "A card game is incredibly complex to film. It's like filming a gunfight, you have to know where you are in every single part in order to efficiently shoot it," Sheppard says. "[Director] David [McWhirter] did a fantastic job, and our teams did an incredible job so we knew what was going on. And there's nothing better than watching Matt Barr take his clothes off at a poker table."

Although Hagan ends the episode by mentioning maybe opening a hat shop — yes, his hat is a throwback to Romo's cane on Battlestar Galactica, Sheppard says — don't count Hagan out completely just yet. "I love this show. If we do go to a season 2, I'd hope that Hagan would have a return," Sheppard says. "It's still called Hagan's, that's all I can say. I'm not gonna leave that, I'm having too much fun."

Reflecting on his career, Sheppard adds, "I've been so lucky with Battlestar and Firefly and Supernatural to work with people, behind and in front of the camera, trying to make the best entertainment possible. This show is done with such heart and such care. You couldn't wish for a better cast. I think this show deserves to go for at least five seasons. We can always try and break Supernatural's record," he says with laugh. "I hope there's more to come. And you know, hey, I get to work with the Moose again, so it's kind of cool."

Walker: Independence airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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