The plot thickens!
This may have been an hour devoid of Jensen Ackles (boo!), but the Shaw Family drama was creeping in the background of Tracker Season 1 Episode 13, as Colter headed back to a place his family used to frequent to help an old friend.
Said friend had a lot of interesting information for Colter and the audience to ponder over now that the first season of the CBS hit has come to a close.
There was much to enjoy about Tracker Season 1, as the Justin Hartley-led action drama lived up to the hype and became a bonafide hit with viewers who enjoyed the complex cases of the week and Hartley's appeal.
Was it perfect? Absolutely not.
But that's a discussion for another day and perhaps another article where we break down the season in a much larger context.
For now, let's concentrate on the finale, which saw a little This Is Us reunion. Jennifer Morrison guest starred as Lizzy, an old family friend of the Shaws whose daughter went missing on the open sea.
If you're thinking, 'The Shaw family had friends?' You are not alone; I thought similarly.
All we've known about that family has been tinged with sadness. And to think there was a time they got to go on vacation and let loose a little surprised me.
Of course, Ashton Shaw was seemingly bringing his family to the little beach town for nefarious reasons, but we'll get into that later.
As we've learned about Colter throughout the first season, he's a pretty selfless guy. And Lizzy needed him, so he went.
Judging by the first few minutes, where Katie and Dylan were on a rickety boat with a storm right ahead, one could have assumed they hit some rough weather, and maybe that's all there was to it.
But experienced storm chasers who grew up on the water would know better than to get into a potentially dangerous situation they couldn't escape.
It was just like Colter to get on a boat, head out into the sea, and stumble upon a dead body within a day of arriving in town when the police had seemingly been combing the area and couldn't find a thing.
As soon as Colter met Sheriff Woods, it felt like we were back in Tracker Season 1 Episode 3, where Colter was in a small town dealing with a sheriff who didn't want Colter sniffing around and potentially spooking the tourists who would soon be coming into town.
Woods was weird from the second he opened his mouth.
Anyone who isn't willing to even hear you out when you have VERY credible reasons to believe a murder has been committed can't be trusted.
Dylan's turning up dead wasn't as big of a shock now, as Tracker has not shied away from showing that death is, unfortunately, a part of these stories, though they do try to end the hours as happily as possible.
Colter has a way of picking out decent people in these towns he visits to assist him, and Deputy Kelman may have been working alongside Woods, but he didn't appear to be hiding anything the way the sheriff was.
The Sampson brothers were the key to everything, and you've got to love Colter marching down to the beach in his jeans, ready to scrap if he needs to and get the answers he's looking for.
In hindsight, Beau, the killer that he was, should have never answered any of Colter's questions. He was a random man poking around, and that alone should have given him some pause.
Related: Robin Weigert: Tracker Star Was a TV Legend Before CBS' Newest Hit
But then again, this guy was not some well-seasoned assassin.
Bobby may be the MVP of this whole show because, without him, Colter wouldn't save the day half the time because he wouldn't be able to get the necessary information to connect the dots.
There's always a tech guy on every team, right? But Bobby is more than just a guy who can find some phone records.
He can hack, clean up files, and do all kinds of things that guide Colter in the right direction.
Like without Bobby, Colter never finds that abandoned building and thus never finds Haley's body, which was the lead that cracked the case.
That poor girl and her body were a pawn in a vicious game.
While I could understand what Dylan and Katie were doing, especially considering they knew they couldn't trust the police, I couldn't help but feel awful for Haley and those out there who loved her and presumably had been looking for her all this time.
She deserved better.
Finding Haley, the building, and the cameras got things clicking for Colter, and finding the burner phone introduced him to Talbot, the kind of sleazy guy you'd expect to be connected to a murder cover-up.
Do you ever watch this show and wonder if some of Bobby's actions happen in real life or if they're exaggerated for television?
Being able to piggyback off Colter's phone to get into Talbot's Wi-Fi and then into his security guard's phone to find out who he called was insane.
Related: How Tracker Can Avoid Common Procedural Pitfalls
Tracker can skew toward the fantastical at times and do things that are a little out there, and Reenie confronting Talbot when she didn't have to was one of those moments.
To know me is to know I am a Reenie fan through and through. I love her confidence; she's so intelligent and good at what she does.
But I was scared for her! That Talbot guy was nasty, and I hated that she was alone in whatever city she was in after threatening that guy.
Reenie can take of herself, but I worry for her! As does Colter.
Considering how often Colter hides in plain sight while tailing people, it's surprising he doesn't get made more often.
Still, Beau finding him in the woods spying on Xavier and Woods ended up being a blessing because Beau was the one Colter could appeal to.
Xavier would have shot Colter without thinking twice, but Beau was, again, the less seasoned of the two and not some sociopath.
Katie was in decent shape when Colter found her.
And it was yet another happy ending for a Tracker case, which we've come to expect, even with some sadness dotting it along the way.
I must not have been paying attention to the time because I thought the case was wrapped up after Katie knocked Xavier out, completely forgetting that everything circled back to Woods.
They quickly put together an FBI sting operation, but all's well that ends well, and the bad guys lost again.
Colter fulfilled his promise, and hopefully, Kelman will become sheriff because he may be the only competent man in town.
Throughout the hour, every time Colter and Lizzy interacted, all conversations were naturally surrounding Katie's disappearance.
But once she was saved, we finally got the two of them reminiscing and slotting in some more information about the Shaw family's past.
The more we learn about the Shaw family, the more I'm convinced these people didn't want to tell Colter anything. And you can say it was to protect him, but what did he need protecting from?
What does he still need protecting from?
Last I checked, Colter was a grown man, and things were STILL being kept from him.
He just saw Dory during Tracker Season 1 Episode 11, and she acted as if she couldn't be bothered with the information Colter brought her about Ashton while she had a box of her father's journals.
That would be information to share with your brother, who was struggling with the past!
Lizzy: It's all in the past. I mean, maybe we just leave it there.
Colter: You know, it's funny. That's the same thing Dory keeps telling me. Leave it in the past.
I understand wanting to move on and leave the past behind, but we're not talking about a bad breakup here.
Their father died under mysterious circumstances, on top of being involved in some shady activities.
Colter's spent much of his life haunted by that, and we're STILL withholding things from him?
If you can't tell, I'm not too happy with Dory! Though, there's probably much more to this than her keeping a secret from her older brother.
When Tracker returns to CBS in the fall, we'll have plenty of time to explore the subject further.
Thank heavens because this story gets juicier and juicier, and much like Colter himself, we deserve to find out the truth!
Tracker Notes
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Colter and Reenie haven't given romantic vibes much this season, but their interactions have always had a little flirty undertone.
And Colter extending her an invite to hang out, no work included, felt like the first step toward SOMETHING but I love that Reenie said no. She's taking care of herself now; there will be time for those two later.
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Reenie quitting her job opens up many possibilities for next season! I mentioned this before, but having her jumping all over whenever Colter called was unrealistic.
I'm curious about what they'll do next with her because Colter working alone is his thing.
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Russell checking in by sending Reenie a selfie and asking her on a date perfectly aligns with the man we met during Tracker Season 1 Episode 12.
Release the selfie, Tracker!
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When did Ashton have time to have an affair? From what we know, the man was mostly just a shut-in who holed his family up in the middle of nowhere.
There's really so much to explore with the Shaw's moving forward!
I know Woods was the big guy, but was the whole department outside Kelman in on the cover-up?
Because how did no one find Dylan's body?
That's all for this first season, and there are still many things to discuss!
So, please drop your comments below so we can discuss them as we wait for the series to return!