Lindsey Morgan reveals the reason why she she left CW's Walker in season 2

Lindsey Morgan, who played the wisecracking Texas Ranger Micki Ramirez for nearly two seasons on the now-canceled CW's Walker, opened up about why she had to leave the series just when her character started to take off and she accomplished her goal of becoming a lead. Deciding to step down from her dream wasn't the easiest thing since Morgan strived hard toward it.

Before becoming Micki, Morgan starred in another hit CW series, The 100, and portrayed one of my favorite characters, Raven Reyes. In Raven, I could see my reflection, encompassed with the same determination to achieve the odds while combating a disability that impacts life daily and with a snarky attitude.

Her role in Walker was another groundbreaking character. Micki was one of the few women Texas Rangers, and the platonic chemistry between her and Cordell Walker, portrayed by Jared Padalecki, was phenomenal. It was a deep and appreciative friendship that only enhanced the characters' personas and made the Western drama more engaging.

To Morgan to have to leave Walker was heartbreaking as fans loved Micki and her arc. Walker wasn't the same with her, and her reason for exiting the show in the midst of season 2 was just as painful.

Lindsey Morgan addresses why she left Walker

In Tommy DiDario's latest "I Never Said This Before" podcast, Morgan reflected on why she left Walker unexpectedly and how it emotionally affected her.

"I ended up finding out I had a spinal injury which was affecting my nervous system and like my brainstem. "

Morgan has always been vital in her health journey, as she is physically fit and follows a sensible nutrition plan, among other things. So, when she was diagnosed with the injury (which is very serious), she was shocked and caused a high level of anxiety. Morgan had no idea that she had the injury, but she began experiencing unusual changes to her health, and she kept working.

As she recalled her journey, Morgan realized her errors and why she wasn't healing.

"Looking back, I realized my mistake in the sense that, like an athlete, I was working, working, working, [and] outputting, outputting, outputting, outputting, but I wasn’t recovering. All my dreams were coming true, and I was a mess. Me, personally, was not in a good place. My anxiety was through the roof. I feel like I did not do good work. And looking back on it now, it was because I was so stressed out in my body — mentally and physically. I was a mess. I couldn’t figure out why. I have all of this responsibility on my shoulders, and I felt like I was failing everyone — and myself."

Morgan had two options from doctors to choose from: One is being on a lifetime medication to ease her symptoms and quite possibly feeling the side effects, with a risk of addiction, or the second one making drastic changes to her health with no stress or working sixteen-plus hours a day, which Morgan has been doing for nine years.

She chose to put her health first, although she felt she failed at her dreams and let others down, including Padalecki and the Walker team.

"I felt like I failed, and that was hard for me because I, like I said, I'm somebody that really
pushes themself and has really high standards, and I never want to let anyone around me down, you know what I mean. So like, I felt a little bit like I let Jared down or let the show down, and that was the hardest part for me because it still makes me emotional, which I know is silly because I was doing what I needed to do to take care of myself and that's more important."

It's never easy to leave something you love and worked hard for behind, but Morgan had to do what was best for her. Although her tenure on Walker was short-lived, Morgan made a wonderful impression on the series as she brought her sass and wit to Micki.

Morgan's departure was sad for us fans, but at least we got to witness her talent again and remember the life she brought to Walker.