
Right from the start, “The Grey Goose” lays out connections to Colter Shaw’s (Justin Harley) past cases, with a “previously on” that brings back Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas) and Detective Brock (Diana Maria Riva), as they team up with Colter to try and find Brock’s missing niece, who an escaped felon has taken hostage. This core case does a great job of utilizing all of Team Tracker (even Velma makes an appearance, even though she doesn’t find the case for Colter), letting Colter use his special skills, and taking a twisty route to the final showdown.
However, the most exciting parts of the episode lie in how it connects to the larger story. Not only does Colter spend the night with Billie, which gives him a little more depth than just his heroics, but it seems to be setting up Bobby’s return in a potentially exciting way. If the same case had played out without these connections, it would still have been enjoyable – and provided plenty of little connections to Colter’s case with his family – but it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as exciting.
Bobby Finally Gets A Mention (& It Feels Like It’s Setting Up Something Bigger)
Bobby Is Undoubtedly In Trouble, Which Is Great News For The Show
Toward the start of “The Grey Goose”, Colter is on a call with Randy (Chris Lee), the Bobby-replacement who has been doing all of Colter’s hacking in recent episodes. Randy was introduced as Bobby’s cousin, so it makes sense that Colter asks if Randy has heard anything from him. The full story isn’t covered, but their conversation reveals that neither Randy nor Colter have heard from him, and while Randy sees this as normal, Colter is evidently getting a little bit worried. They also mention that it is Bobby’s friend’s funeral that day, a friend who was like a brother to him.
In any other show, this could be taken as nothing more than a nod to the character, reminding the viewer that he still exists offscreen, but this is Tracker, where no conversation is casually thrown in. The whole point of the show is to find missing people, and this very clearly suggests that Bobby is now missing. Obviously, Colter is going to have to find him. As a bigger arc for the end of the season, this is exactly what I was hoping for.
Returning Characters Also Connect To Bigger Arcs
I Am So Happy That Both Billie & Brock Have A Part In Colter’s Bigger Story
This week features two more people from Colter’s past: Billie and Detective Brock. Brock has a bigger part to play in the episode, but a smaller one for the series as a whole. She’s a great cop character for Colter to team up with occasionally. Here, she does something truly impressive by legally deputizing him for the case so he can do his job legally — for once! A lot of her storyline seems to exist to remind Colter that just because someone is family, they might have all kinds of secrets. It’s a nod to Colter’s own family history, but not an unwelcome one.
Billie And Detective Brock’s Previous Appearances | ||
Billie | Season 1, Episode 6 (Lexington) | Billie is introduced as a fellow rewardist who has a history with Colter, as they team up to find a missing racehorse. |
Billie | Season 2, Episode 3 (Bloodlines) | Billie and Colter team up a second time in Billie’s hometown, to find a missing basketball player. |
Detective Brock | Season 1, Episode 9 (Aurora) | Brock and Colter team up to find a girl who has been missing for 3 years, presumed dead by suicide. The case is Brock’s ‘white whale’. |
Billie, meanwhile, has appeared twice before, and it seems very likely that she’ll be back again. For one thing, Sofia Pernas is Harley’s wife, which also makes watching them spar onscreen particularly amusing. Hartley himself has spoken about how much he enjoys sharing the screen with her (per USA Today), so there’s little doubt that she’ll be returning.
I enjoy being around her. I’m having the time of my life with this show, I love it. To be able to share it with the people you love makes it even better.
Up Next: The Mercy Seat
There’s Plenty To Theorize About As We Head Into The Final Episodes Of The Season
Tracker is now in the home stretch for season 2, and the date of the finale has been revealed as May 11th. This means that there are five episodes left, and there are a lot of potential storylines to bring together.
Obviously, the Big Shaw Family Mystery has been consistently referenced throughout the season, but it’s extremely unlikely that this is going to be wrapped up in season 2, especially as the show has already been renewed for a third season. That doesn’t mean it will be ignored, though. It’s very likely that we’ll see some more nods to the mystery, and maybe even the next big secret will be revealed ahead of season 3.
At the time of writing, there is no synopsis for Episode 16, only a title: “The Mercy Seat”. So while there’s no telling exactly where Colter will go next, there is no dearth of options for our favorite rewardist!