After ‘Tracker’s White Whale, It’s Time for the Show To Answer One of Its Biggest Questions

With the long-awaited return of Tracker Season 2, the mid-season premiere, “The Disciple,” answered all of our major questions about the mysterious disappearance of Gina Pickett (Lina Lecompte). After a decade of searching, Colter Shaw’s (Justin Hartley) “white whale” of a case has finally been solved — and we couldn’t be happier. While it may have been a quick resolution, the capture of the Teacher (Nicholas Lea) and the discovery that Gina is, in fact, deceased is something of a relief for all those involved. But now that Colter has gotten closure on the case that has haunted him for a decade, it’s time that Tracker finally re-directs its attention to a mystery that has haunted him for far longer: who killed his father?

‘Tracker’ Has Finished Its Latest Mystery, Now It’s Time To Reexamine Colter’s Previous Conspiracy

Back in Season 1, Colter was continually encountering new information about the Shaw family. Between his mother’s potential affair, his father’s government connections, and reconciling with his brother, Tracker has carefully set up an expansive mythology behind Colter’s upbringing that has yet to be fully disclosed. We know that Colter and his siblings — Jensen Ackles‘ Russell Shaw and Melissa Roxburgh‘s Dory Shaw — were raised as survivalists. Hence the show’s title, this is why Colter is so good at what he does. Between finding people, holding his own in armed combat, and solving unique puzzles, there is a reason that Colter’s career as a “rewardist” feels as if it’s been tailor-made for him.

However, just as the Jeffrey Deaver novels offer a bit of mystery regarding Colter’s past, so too does the Tracker series. Unfortunately, it hasn’t offered much in the way of answers. When Season 1 ended, we had far more questions about the Shaw family than before, and what was even stranger is that “The Storm” didn’t feel particularly like a season finale. There were no major revelations or reveals, or pushes concerning the plot, and certainly no decisions on Colter’s part to further examine his roots. By the time Season 2 came around, the premiere, “Out of the Past,” threw us head-first into the Gina Pickett plotline with no explanation as to why Colter never mentioned this before. In fact, Tracker in general has been fairly non-committal about when and how it is going to answer these questions regarding the Shaw family, but it’s about time this story came to a head.

The Shaw Family History Has Yet To Be Fully Revealed on ‘Tracker’

Knowing that both Russell and Dory are set to return later this season, Tracker needs to jump back into the Shaw storyline in full force. While Colter has made it clear that he aims to separate himself from some of his family drama, the audience has been given too many hints and clues as to what Ashton Shaw’s (Lee Tergesen) death was all about for it to not be explored further (and in a timely manner). In “Beyond the Campus Walls,” Dory reveals that their parents worked for the United States government before they went off the grid, and in “Off the Books” and “Ontological Shock,” Russell’s own military connections seem to imply something about their father’s. Additionally, in “The Storm,” the Shaw’s family friend, Lizzy Hawking (Jennifer Morrison), reveals to Colter that her father and his mother, Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson), were engaging in some sort of secret affair. Yet, that information has gone nowhere thus far.

At this point, Colter no longer believes that Russell killed their father, as he did before at his mother’s insistence. He can’t trust his mother anymore, but Russell doesn’t have any clear answers either. Dory wants to stay out of all of this as much as possible, and up until now Colter has been largely happy to do the same. With new allies like Keaton (Brent Sexton) now around, with access to government databases and other resources that Colter hasn’t had up his sleeve, it should be much easier to uncover the truth about his father’s apparent murder. More than that, whatever government conspiracy his parents were a part of will ultimately fall on his and his sibling’s shoulders, and it would behoove them to find out more about it before it’s too late.

“Their relationship has evolved.”

Colter Shaw Deserves To Know the Truth About His Father’s Death

Of course, the main reason that Tracker needs to address these Shaw-related mysteries (aside from satisfying our curiosity) is that Colter himself needs real closure. It’s clear that his upbringing and his father’s death had a profound impact on our hero, and it’s why he is so often closed off to those around him. He keeps everyone at a distance, and while he genuinely cares for his friends and allies like Reenie (Fiona Rene), Bobby (Eric Graise), and Velma (Abby McEnany), he largely refuses to engage with them socially out of fear of getting too close, too attached. Perhaps solving not just Gina’s disappearance, but his father’s murder as well, will give Colter the push he needs to move on from his trauma, and develop into a stronger man than his father.

Following the mid-season premiere, Justin Hartley teased that the family plot will start again in the back half of Season 2, and we’re hopeful that’s really the case. Because it was such a heavy part of Season 1 (though this is not a serialized show), it stands to reason that threads will be woven into Season 2 as well. With Colter no longer held back due to the mystery of Gina’s disappearance, and with Camille Pickett (Floriana Lima) now leaving the country altogether, our hero can finally dive back into solving his own family drama, revealing once and for all what happened to Ashton Shaw.

Tracker airs Sundays on CBS and is available the next day for streaming on Paramount+.