This week’s Tracker episode, the penultimate episode of Season 2 titled “Rules of the Game,” not only shed more light on the whole Leo Sharf (Pej Vahdat) plotline, but it also finally takes the time to address the major bombshells we were left with back in Season 1. In the first season finale, “The Storm,” we learned a bit more about some of the intimacies of the Shaw family. Yet, most of Season 2 has ignored this plot completely, instead focusing on a new recurring plot in the first half and all this Sharf business in the second. But after “Rules of the Game,” we need some answers — and we needed them yesterday!
‘Tracker’ Season 2’s Penultimate Episode Finally Addressed Season 1’s Finale
Picking up where Season 1 left off, this penultimate episode opens with Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) meeting up with his sister, Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), to retrieve the box of their father’s things. In “The Storm,” the Shaw’s family friend Lizzy Hawking (Jennifer Morrison) disclosed that her mother and Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen) had an extramarital affair, and that Ashton left a box of his files in their home. In “Rules of the Game,” Dory explains that Colter likely won’t find anything there, as she herself has been over it. However, she does admit that their father was certainly onto something in his research (the same research he did for the government). Even so, she warns Colter about obsessing over the truth since they all know where that ends. The two siblings finally address the issue of their father’s infidelity and make passing reference to not telling their mother, Wendy Crewson’s Mary Dove Shaw, anything about the box. At the end of the episode, Colter finds a phone number hidden in his father’s journal. When he tries to call it, the line has been disconnected.
Frankly, Tracker should have been addressing these ideas earlier this season. The second episode of Season 2, “Ontological Shock,” brought back Russell Shaw (Jensen Ackles), and seemed to open further doors regarding the mystery of their father. The problem was, we instead pivoted to Colter’s “white whale” case regarding the missing Gina Picket (Lina Lecompte). While that whole plot, culminating in the midseason premiere, “The Disciple,” was an excellent addition to the series, it took our focus away from the show’s larger mythology. In “Rules of the Game,” Colter tells Dory that someone in the U.S. government knows about their father, referencing his adventure with their brother earlier that season. The problem is, there is nearly an entire season between that revelation and now (not to mention what we learned in Season 1). This makes all the specifics regarding Ashton Shaw’s death and Colter’s upbringing a little fuzzy, and even “previously on Tracker” sequences don’t fill in all the blanks. It feels like Tracker is stalling this plotline out, which is a bit strange considering how important the flashbacks to Colter’s childhood in the first season were to the narrative.
‘Tracker’ Is Best With Standalone Cases, but the Backstory Can’t Always Take a Backseat
While it was great to see Dory back (even if just for a scene), we needed her, Colter, and Russell all to team-up and finally tackle this issue head on. More than anything, Colter and Dory’s scene in “Rules of the Game” felt like a recap of events from Season 1 (and Season 2’s “Ontological Shock”) more than any real progression. It felt like the show was saying, “Hey, remember this tease we left you with forever ago? Yeah, we’re finally getting back to that.” While Tracker has had a killer second season when it comes to standalone cases, this is where the show has been suffering the most. Aside from the cold case Colter investigated earlier this year (which felt like a necessary side quest), the show is terribly non-committal when it comes to any long-term backstory. Because of that, it almost feels like we’ve gotten strung along. The fact that none of the cliffhangers from the Season 1 finale were addressed until now (and we still don’t have any real answers) is simply baffling.
Don’t misunderstand, slow-burn mythologies can be great. Look at The X-Files or even the early years of Smallville or Supernatural. These shows prove that it’s entirely possible to build up a series mythology over time while simultaneously establishing the leading characters. Standalone episodes are a lost art, and each new and exciting case is part of Tracker’s charm. But there is a huge difference between slow progress and treading water. Season 1 only contained 13 episodes, while Season 2 had 20 to work with. Considering that the first season never failed to expand on or pepper in elements of Colter’s past and upbringing, it seems quite odd that Season 2 didn’t follow suit. When the season started, it felt like we were on the right track, but in the whopping 17 episodes (more than the entire first season) between Russell’s last appearance and Dory’s return, we’ve only been given a few small comments about the larger Tracker story. For casual viewers, it would be quite easy to forget most of what we learned last season considering how much time has passed.
