We’re back in Tracker land, where everything mostly stays the same.
Colter is still in the airstream, living off coffee, eggs, and early morning runs, and someone needs rescuing.
There’s something nice about the predictability of it all, like meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while, but the minute you start chatting, it’s like no time has passed.
When I spoke to showrunner Elwood Reid ahead of the premiere, he did talk about some new things they were going to do this season, but Tracker Season 4 Episode 1 felt like the kind of hour we’ve become accustomed to over the years.
For a season premiere, it wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, nor did it really seem to set up anything for the rest of the season, save, perhaps, for Reenie’s love life, but Tracker also isn’t the kind of show that absolutely has to do that either.
With Tracker filming in Los Angeles now, rather than Vancouver, which it called home for the last three seasons, they immediately set a case in California with Sean, a missing single dad, who never made it home.
Most of Colter’s cases carry a sense of urgency, but this one felt especially daunting because of the kids. Two young kids were without their father, and they needed him home.
Sean seemed like a well-meaning guy from the outset, but it was clear he’d also gotten himself into trouble. It was easy to tell early on that he wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time or anything like that.
He got a mysterious text, lied to his kiddos, and was out the door in record time.
Props to Charlie for having the wherewithal to contact Colter, even though getting advice off Reddit could have been disastrous. He was lucky Colter was Colter, not some grifter random people on the internet recommended.
Our first pop-in with Randy saw him and Mel at some fancy new open-space office that looked extremely cold, sterile, and unwelcoming, which was a bit of a shock. Reenie’s old office had at least a little warmth, and fit Reenie’s vibe.
This place looked like one of those creepy office buildings set up in movies for fake companies, so it could be easily cleaned out when the police came knocking.
Finding out that Reenie and her crew are bunking at Maxine’s firm felt like an excuse for the series to bring Maxine back, which is fine, but what’s the goal here? Reenie’s a free agent, and she seems to like it that way, so why tie her to Maxine even more?
Reenie and Maxine’s friendship in Tracker Season 3 was cute, and it’s been nice to see Reenie do more than be Colter’s legal advice, so it feels odd to question this move, but I’m still doing it.
I’ve always been a huge advocate for the rest of Colter’s team to gain more depth, and perhaps this is the first step toward that by immersing them in a new world so they don’t feel so isolated.
This hour didn’t show that, but it’s still early!
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Anyway, without Randy, Colter would literally be so lost, because the ability to click a few keys and find out who someone last texted and what those messages said is paramount to solving a case. And then to find out where that person is currently located is something even the cops seemingly can’t do that fast.
Whoever Colter speaks to first rarely has anything to do with it, but they’re usually the first real idea Colter gets about what’s going on.
Once Colter found out that Sean had a secret girlfriend and she was in some danger, things got a lot more dire.
I’ve always liked that Tracker doesn’t treat Colter like a robot, especially in the ways he connects with the people he’s trying to help. We’ve seen him bond with family members or significant others to find their missing people, and even with the missing people themselves when he finds them.
Colter is good at what he does, but part of what makes him so good is that he can get in his 1990s Steven Seagal bag and beat up ten men with guns without breaking a sweat, AND he can relate to almost anyone.
“You had a bad childhood? Well, let me tell you about Echo Ridge.”
“Your dad is keeping secrets? Well, you never met Ashton Shaw.”
Colter saw a lot of himself in Charlie, a kid whose world was likely shattered when his mom died and who felt a strong need to protect his younger brother. Throw in his dad clearly getting himself into some trouble, and it was like looking in the mirror for Colter.
That being said, Charlie really lost his mind showing up at that welding shop!
Once Colter got confirmation of the secret girlfriend, it became a race against time, and is an episode of Tracker truly an episode of Tracker if Colter doesn’t come upon a random dead body?
I know detectives get SICK of Colter when he dissects a crime scene better than they do, but the idea that Sean and Stephanie killed her ex-boyfriend, left her car and phone right out front, and fled into the night was a very weak theory.
Now, the police didn’t have the additional information Colter had about Sean, and I’m glad the show acknowledged that through a conversation between Colter and Randy.
Sometimes Tracker introduces law enforcement types who come across as arrogant and unnecessarily obtuse, but sometimes they don’t have a Randy and a Reenie on speed dial.
A conveniently located camera will forever be Colter’s best friend, so why didn’t he have Randy hack it like he’d done a million times before?? It would have saved him $50!
Sean and Stephanie were kidnapped by some pretty big dudes who were not afraid to get their hands dirty, and Stephanie’s ex also working at the port meant this was all connected somehow.
Everything was leading to the port, and I love it when Colter does really badass things that aren’t just killing people.
Now, is it a little fantastical that no one saw his head peeking out from the bottom of that tractor-trailer in broad daylight, but I’ll allow it because it was a really cool sequence.
We’re also going to ignore how easy it was for Colter to find Sean when I’m pretty sure the Port of Los Angeles is an extremely big place with lots of security. Still, we’ve all been watching this show long enough to know you absolutely cannot think too deeply about some of these things, or you’ll get upset.
And we can’t be upset the first week back!
It still wasn’t clear why Sean and Stephanie were being targeted until Sean told Colter the bad guys wanted Stephanie to erase a container from the system, which meant the trailer was holding something illegal.
The reveal that the container was filled with people being trafficked by the Russian mob felt like a massive reveal that got drowned out by everything happening around it.
The reveal carries such significant weight, but the story doesn’t give it enough emphasis for the audience to fully grasp the atrocity, or even how much it raises the stakes for Colter and the people he’s trying to save.
In the end, Colter Shaw did what he always does, which was impressively and single-handedly take out a small army of men and save not only Stephanie but a container of human beings who were moments away from being trafficked.
The subdued ending in Sean’s living room was a nice way to wrap this one up, with the boys being immediately accepting and happy to meet Stephanie, and Colter doing that thing where he acts like he’s going to settle up with someone down the line.
Colter’s never going to bleed someone dry, or demand payment someone doesn’t have, especially not from a young kid as desperate as Charlie was.
Colter was able to help, which he did, and seeing the joy on Charlie and Hank’s faces at having their family back together was payment enough.
Tracker Notes
- As previously noted, Reenie’s romantic life was put on Front Street during a brief conversation with Maxine, and she really doesn’t seem interested in this Adam guy, which likely means the two of them will become a thing sooner rather than later.
- The convenience store scene was so relatable and funny. What game do you think Darlene was playing? Royal Match? Candy Crush?
- They have to start doing more with Mel because she is literally just there right now.
We’re back in Colter Shaw’s world, and it feels good.
What did you guys think of the season premiere?
What are you excited to see this season?
Let me know in the comments so we can talk about it!
You can watch Tracker on Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.
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