‘Tracker’ Season 2 Premiere Recap: A Missing Family Distracts Colter Shaw From a Painful Anniversary
Tracker Season 2 hits the ground running with an alluring new mystery and one of the deadliest cases yet. “Out of the Past” catches us back up with “rewardist” Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley), his lawyer friend Reenie (Fiona Rene), handler Velma (Abby McEnany), and hacker Bobby (Eric Graise) as they work against the clock to find the missing family of a man named Craig King (Erik Gow) in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The CBS and Paramount+ procedural drama series also kicks off its second season with a new character dynamic between two of the regulars and a new love interest for Colter.
An Entire Family Goes Missing in ‘Tracker’ Season 2
There are red flags all over this case that Colter, skilled as he is, does not immediately connect. To be fair, it’s not every day that four people get out of a minivan and go missing together. When Colter arrives on the scene to find Craig’s brother, wife, and their two kids, he meets U.S. Marshal Jenny Martinez (Enuka Okuma). She warns him to not interfere with the crime scene and ongoing grid search. It’s not uncommon for law enforcement to be irked by Colter doing his thing. And it does at least tip him off to the fact that this is no ordinary disappearance. But something is off.
Colter does not take Martinez’s advice. He continues investigating the area anyway. A mysterious man (Matt Long) wearing an identical U.S. Marshal jacket stumbles out of the woods. Colter notes that he’s wearing the wrong kind of shoes to be conducting a grid search. But his curiosity about the man ends there. He simply assumes that the guy is Martinez’s partner, Jeremy Boyd. That’s unfortunate, because everything about “Boyd” and Colter’s encounter is suspicious. He’s careful not to answer any questions and let Colter do the talking. The alleged Marshal easily manipulates Colter into telling him everything he knows about the case and where the family may be. Anyone who has watched Columbo could tell you that the person trying to get information out of the investigator is the suspect.
Meanwhile, Bobby looks into the father’s recent lottery win and gambling problem but comes to a dead end. He paid his debts. There’s no reason for lone sharks to be after them. He also discovers that the guy’s wife, Connie (Lindy Booth), has no internet footprint past a certain date. That indicates that the mother is under witness protection and the target. Colter hangs up and finds the couple’s two children. They tell him that their father went to dispose of an iPad, and their mother left them alone to find him shortly after. Martinez arrives and takes the kids to safety.
Colter tracks the tablet to a gas station, where the dad is injured. He draws his gun as he enters and fights off some scary-looking mafia guys. (He must know the conceal and carry laws for every state.) He then finds Connie and promises to take her to her children. Sure enough, she has been living under a protected identity after testifying against her ex-husband and the Garner crime family — but then, her new husband won the lottery, and their picture was in the paper. One moment of carelessness led her past to her doorstep. (Wouldn’t you notice someone taking your picture after avoiding it for years? Whatever. Everybody makes mistakes. She still doesn’t deserve what happens to her.)
But as Colter drives Connie to her brother-in-law’s house, a dangerous wrench is thrown in an otherwise successful tracking. Reenie calls to tell him that U.S. Marshal Frank Boyd was found dead in the woods hours before he arrived on the scene. Wouldn’t you know it, the man posing as Boyd was actually Connie’s ex-husband and a dangerous killer, Kirk Garner. Kirk shows up at Craig’s house, stabs him, and takes the two kids hostage — the eldest of whom is his biological son. After a few tense moments, the U.S. Marshals swoop in, take Kirk down after Colter gets him to let the kids go, and the missing family is finally reunited. And Martinez, like every woman who meets the handsome hero on this show, is ultimately charmed by Colter’s efficiency and selflessness. Colter refuses the reward money and Reenie convinces the family to set up a charity instead. She’s so proud of herself that she playfully demands Colter increase her fee. With what money, Reenie? As you just established, he didn’t get paid this episode!
Reenie and Velma Team Up in ‘Tracker’ Season 2
Colter’s former handler, Teddi (Robin Weigert), is out of town helping her mother and therefore out of commission this season. (Weigert departed as a series regular after Season 1.) Her spouse and Colter’s other handler, Velma, alludes to some potential marital trouble. She says she was helping Teddi with her mom but felt like she was “in the way” and came home. Hopefully, more will be revealed there. Until then. Velma passes the time by helping Reenie set up her new law office. This gives each of them rare insight into Colter’s operation. They usually come into the tracking at different periods. It’s really nice to see the Tracker supporting cast bond. Once the case is closed, however, Colter opts out of joining the office-warming party, because…
A Cold Case Haunts Colter in ‘Tracker’ Season 2
At the beginning of the episode, Colter breaks into a fairly innocuous house. While he’s doing some light investigation, the owner comes home. Colter waits for him in the dark, supervillain-style. Their brief conversation reveals that the two men know each other, the occupant’s name is Frank (Ryan Dorsey), and that it’s the ten year anniversary of the disappearance of a girl named Gina Pickett. She disappeared from a parking lot, and Colter is desperate to prove that Frank was involved. He has been checking up on him once a year, but this is the first time he’s come inside the house. Colter questions the man about a bag of dirt he has in the freezer, to which Frank claims that it’s being tested for toxins. The confrontation is briefly physical before Colter leaves, promising to return in a year. Then, at the end of the episode, Colter goes to visit Gina’s sister Camille (Floriana Lima). The two are close — close enough that Colter and Camille have casual sex to turn their brains off and forget about the anniversary. Why is this the case that got away? Has the Colter/Reenie ‘ship hit an iceberg? We shall see.
