After 2 Seasons, Tracker Finally Explains Colter Shaw’s Biggest Mystery

Justin Hartley’s Tracker follows Colter Shaw, a man who roams the country, helping to locate missing people. Colter’s team includes a tech genius hacker to access surveillance cameras, phone messages, and GPS location data. Initially, it was Bobby, but he disappeared for a few episodes, with Randy stepping in to fill that role.

The more Colter worked with local law enforcement to find missing people or solve cold cases, the more it strained credulity that none of the detectives acknowledged the illegal manner in which Colter got information. In the latest episode, the detective with whom Colter was consulting addressed the unlawful means that the rewardist uses.

Tracker’s Bobby and Randy Illegally Hack Phones and Cameras

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Since Tracker‘s first season, Colter has relied on a hacker to get him vital information to locate who or what is missing. Bobby was originally Colter’s tech guy, providing him with text message conversations, GPS maps detailing location history, surveillance camera feeds, and more. In season two, another hacker joined the team. The data Bobby and Randy supplied led to major clues to crack Colter’s case wide open.

As the show progressed, the unlawful hacking became commonplace in Colter’s investigations. When Colter works alongside law enforcement or is hired by them to consult on a case, Colter still uses Randy or Bobby’s services. Very often, Randy would break down what he learned from the digital breadcrumbs he followed over speakerphone and in earshot of the police.

In one season three episode, “First Fire,” Colter and a local law enforcement officer, Detective Dundee, were searching for an escaped criminally insane prisoner. During their investigation, Colter discovers the dead body of a nurse who worked at the detention center. When Randy calls in to tell Colter and Dundee about the clue he found, he says, “I hacked the sensor camera on the electric vehicle that you spotted next door.” Randy also admits to hacking prison records to obtain visitor logs for the missing fugitive.

While some detectives have been reticent to accept the survivalist’s help, seeing him as an opportunist who would only get in the way, they eventually come around after Colter notices details everyone else missed. As they work together, they will typically encounter a digital wall in front of the information that they need. The cop will often say something about getting a warrant, but Colter will assure them his guy is faster.

The local LEOs never question the source or worry about using information obtained illegally, shifting from opposing civilian interference to looking the other way. If the case had to go to trial, any evidence acquired would be the fruit of the poisonous tree and likely inadmissible. With the legal eagle, Reenie, on the team, it’s something Colter should know. While it strains credulity that every cop would overlook criminal activity, it’s made worse by the fact that it’s never even acknowledged.

In ‘Eurydice,’ Tracker Finally Fixes This Plot Hole

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In Sunday’s episode, “Eurydice,” a recovering alcoholic hires Colter to find her missing daughter, who vanished a year ago. The police hadn’t conducted much of an investigation and thought it was the little girl’s mother, Sierra, who killed her in a drunken stupor. When Sierra found her daughter’s blood-stained dress hanging in her backyard, she called Colter for help.

The local detective, West, wasn’t interested in Colter’s help and arrested Sierra for murder now that there was evidence linking her to the presumed killing of Aubrey. Colter continued his investigation regardless of Detective West’s belief that the case was solved. Colter finds a teenage boy who had hung the dress in Sierra’s yard after discovering it on his own property.

Detective West finally believes Colter, and they discover evidence that the little girl could still be alive. The dress that Aubrey was wearing that night was buried under belonged to a man who hadn’t been seen since her disappearance. They needed to access his call history and credit card information to find out where he took the girl. West was going to get a warrant for the information.

Colter says that it will take too long, and he has a guy who can do it quicker. Understanding the high stakes of the case, Detective West replied, “Whatever you’re about to do, I don’t want to know about it, but if it gets a faster result, I can look the other way.” Detective West finally acknowledged the illegality of Colter’s methods. When Colter gets the location of the missing man’s last call, he goes solo to the coordinates with Detective West maintaining his plausible deniability.

While Detective West did overlook how Colter got the information, recognizing that it was not legal or admissible in court, he addressed the plot hole that created a huge logic issue in the show. Colter finds the dead body of the missing man, and its location points to an unexpected new suspect. Since discovering a dead body is something that Detective West couldn’t ignore, no matter how it was found, his case will likely not be harmed by the way Colter unearthed the skeleton.