Colter is experiencing some changes in Tracker Season 2 without Teddi Bruin (Robin Weigert). Colter’s on-call lawyer, Reenie Green (Fiona Rene), has taken on more responsibility, opening a criminal law firm, where Colter’s remaining handler, Velma Bruin (Abby McEnany), helps out. Velma finds Colter’s case in “Nightingale,” prompting one of the show’s best and highest-rated episodes.
Colter Shaw’s Case In Tracker Season 2 Episode 10 Explained
Colter is hired to find Angie Hansley in Tracker Season 2, Episode 10, a singer who went missing in Wolf Creek, Minnesota, after performing at a local tap house. The main suspect in her disappearance is Ben Kinderson (Jim Parrack), whose grandmother, Ava (Deborah Strang), hired Colter to get to the bottom of what happened and potentially save lives.
When Colter goes to investigate at Wolf Creek Tap, he gets a rowdy welcome from the local biker gang, who claim that Ben Kinderson tried to grab Angie as she was going out to her van, and that he killed two members of their crew and an off-duty cop when they tried to stop him.
Back at the Wolf Creek Tap, Colter hikes into the woods and finds a trail that leads him to Ben and Angie, who draw him out with a death whistle. At a cabin in the woods he built, Ben reveals to Colter that he was saving Angie after the bikers tried to kill her, with Hansley confirming his report.
Using one of his best weapons, his logic, Colter convinces Ben that he can’t run forever and that he needs to clear his name. Shaw and Kinderson then make a plan to break into the police station and steal security footage that can clear Ben’s name, and they leave Angie with Vic to keep her safe during their extraction.
The installment becomes one of the highest-stakes Tracker episodes when Colter learns that the bikers have kidnapped Vic and Angie, and they shoot and kill the older man. Still, Colter and Ben ultimately save Angie, convincing the Sons of Saturn that their leader was guilty all along, in a high-stakes stand-off that is one of the procedural’s best action segments.
What Makes Nightingale One Of Tracker’s Best Episodes
It’s also not a typical case for Colter, as the person he’s trying to find is allegedly guilty. That said, Colter connects with Ben from the beginning of the case, as his grandma is describing him. Ava tells Shaw that Ben’s father raised him in the woods and trained him to survive, fight, and hunt, mirroring Colter’s own experience.
Tracker Season 2, Episode 10, is therefore one of the show’s best episodes because it provides a look at Colter through the lens of another character. When Shaw finally finds Kinderson, he opens up, relating to Ben about how they’re both trained survivalists. It prompts Colter to explain his ethos to Kinderson before they have to outrun the cops.
When Colter opens up, Ben asks him if he has a hard time with people. Shaw relates, but says that he also believes that most people are good, which is a sentiment that Justin Hartley’s TV character conveys in Tracker over and over. Kinderson says that people are good “until they’re not,” but he comes around after Colter saves him.
When he comes to collect his reward at the end of the episode, Colter discovers that Angie and Ben are going on tour together, providing one of the show’s most heartfelt endings. Ben looks out for Angie throughout “Nightingale,” and watching them end up together after they quietly connect throughout is the perfect ending to an already near-flawless TV episode.
Nightingale Is A Perfect Example Of A Classic Tracker Episode
While the episode has a few more twists and turns like other Season 2 episodes, “Nightingale” is a great example of a classic Tracker segment, evoking Tracker Season 1’s episodes. The episode stays true to Colter’s core ways of operating, with a slightly more complex case but a similarly straightforward tone. The series has evolved, but Angie’s is classic.
Like when Colter was looking for Noah Kennedy (Hunter Dillon) in “Mt. Shasta” or Jackson Cheong (Donald Heng) in “Missoula,” Angie’s case is a clear-cut missing persons case, differing from more dangerous cases, like those in later installments. Still, “Nightingale” doesn’t compromise a single bit of action, delivering peak Tracker and arguably the most entertaining episode of the series.
