After an explosive and popular freshman outing, Tracker returned for a second season and continues to be a ratings darling and a hit with fans.
Colter Shaw’s travels and reward-seeking endeavors have been great fun, and the series has kept up with thoughtful and entertaining cases throughout.
But the cases have never been the problem with the series.
There is no mistaking what Tracker is about and who is at the forefront of the series.
It’s a Justin Hartley vehicle, and he is the star of the show, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s more than proven that he’s capable of being ‘the guy,’ and Colter is a fully formed character.
We know about various things from Colter’s past and what drives him to do what he does.
We’ve met many people with connections to Colter, and we see how he’s slowly broken down some walls to embrace more of the people in his life who care about him.
But those people in his life who care about him? We hardly know them!
On the one hand, you may think it’s not imperative that we know these people because this isn’t an ensemble piece.
This is Colter’s journey; everyone else is just along for the ride.
The issue with that thinking is that it’s hard to place characters you see quite regularly into a box where you don’t care about them, especially characters like Reenie, Velma, and Bobby, who are all both endearing and appealing.
The series introduces us to Reenie during Tracker Season 1 Episode 1 when she comes to bail Colter out of jail. The show immediately informs us upfront that the two have a past that doesn’t make Colter look very good.
From there, we see Reenie help Colter repeatedly, many times with barely any questions asked because she trusts him. The two are very different but share a bond forged through respect and understanding.
We’ve gotten to know Reenie more than any other secondary character, but there’s still so much we don’t know about her.
Most times, she’s off to meet Colter somewhere, or the show reduces her role to a phone call when there’s been ample time to spend with Reenie at her job outside of what she can do to help Colter.
I’m not asking for deep dives here, but there’s no reason we met Elliot once during Tracker Season 2 Episode 4, and then the next time we see him, he and Reenie are in a full-blown relationship, and we have no idea.
Velma spent all of the first season in her home with her wife Teddi, and then Tracker Season 2 let go of Teddi, only to have Velma basically move into Reenie’s office.
No one ever addresses Teddi’s departure outside of a throwaway line in the premiere.
Like Reenie and Colter, Colter and Velma seem to have a bond, yet the show refuses to tap into that or show much of their friendship.
What led to Velma being Colter’s handler? How is Velma dealing with her marriage issues? How does Velma feel about the job they do?
These are all my questions and something the show could easily answer if they spent the time developing these characters.
Bobby’s job is to be the technology connection Colter needs to make everything work. Bobby is as essential as anyone on the “team.”
He got his one hour to shine during Tracker Season 1 Episode 7, but since then, it has been crickets regarding learning more about who Bobby is at his core besides being exceptionally good at hacking.
Cousin Randy, whom we know nothing about, has now slid into Bobby’s place, and Randy is great, but where the hell is Bobby?
The series hasn’t felt the need to address that much, or how Randy knows just as much as Bobby does, or just anything about their family.
These are rich characters who all seem to have interesting backgrounds. They must to be in their line of work because it’s not necessarily usual.
He got his one hour to shine during Tracker Season 1 Episode 7, but since then, it has been crickets regarding learning more about who Bobby is at his core besides being exceptionally good at hacking.
Cousin Randy, whom we know nothing about, has now slid into Bobby’s place, and Randy is great, but where the hell is Bobby?
The series hasn’t felt the need to address that much, or how Randy knows just as much as Bobby does, or just anything about their family.
These are rich characters who all seem to have interesting backgrounds. They must to be in their line of work because it’s not necessarily usual.
Just like Colter has a complicated past, I’d venture to say what all these characters do.
While we’ve gotten a taste of some of that, the series’ refuses to elevate these characters beyond accessories for Colter to call upon has become increasingly frustrating as it shows no sign of changing.
Colter is the star. The cases are the stars. Hell, the Shaw Family drama is the star when Tracker remembers it.
But there’s a solid core group here that deserves to be more than cogs to get things from point A to point B.
No one expects them to take over the narrative, but seeing them fleshed out and treated as integral parts of this universe would be the least they could do.
What do you think, Tracker Fanatics?
Do you think the series has a problem with developing characters outside of Colter?
Or do you think things are fine the way they are?
Please drop your comments below so we can talk about it!
