in

Tracker Season 2 Premiere Review: S2E1, “Out of the Past”

A man in a grey tshirt stands in front of a car and looks at a woman with her back turned who is wearing a blue windbreaker.
Screenshot/CBS

The following review contains spoilers for Tracker S2E1, “Out of the Past” (written by Elwood Reid and directed by Ken Olin)


“I let myself in,” says Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) to the suspected child kidnapper as he sits in the darkness of the man’s home, before manhandling him and vowing to find proof to put him away for good someday.

Tracker, based on Jeffery Deaver’s novel The Never Game, follows Colter Shaw as he travels the country in his truck and RV, using his specialized set of survival skills to help those in need—and maybe collect some reward money on the side. It’s apparent that CBS greenlit this show as their answer to Reacher. On the surface, Colter Shaw and Jack Reacher share similarities: both have talents for combat, outdoor survival, and tracking. They also care deeply about righting wrongs and helping underdogs. However, the comparisons largely end there as Colter is more at ease with people and has a team of people around him who aid in his cases and come to his rescue when he is in trouble.

While the latter half of Season 1 began to peel back layers of mystery surrounding Colter’s family, his father’s death, and a strange project his father was working on, this first episode of Season 2 puts all that on the back burner. Instead, it opts for a standalone adventure: Colter is hired by a man who claims his brother, sister-in-law, and two kids are missing. This leads Colter to encounter a pair of U.S. Marshals who are also investigating.

A man in a grey tshirt stands in front of a car and looks at a woman with her back turned who is wearing a blue windbreaker.
Screenshot/CBS

Colter eventually finds the family and discovers the wife was in witness protection for testifying against her ex-husband’s mafia family, who are now seeking vengeance. We get a few twists along the way, as Colter uncovers that one of the marshals is actually a mobster in disguise. He also showcases his hand-to-hand combat skills in a gas station brawl with one of the villains.

It’s a straightforward story, perfect for a season opener, allowing new viewers to jump on board with minimal baggage. However, the episode isn’t entirely free from the past, as it leans heavily into themes of legacy and personal history. Connie (Lindy Booth) is fleeing from her youthful bad decisions of getting involved with the mob family, while also facing the consequences of making the right choice by informing on them to the police.

Colter, too, is a man seeking to extricate himself from the past. The previous season saw him being pulled deeper into his family secrets, with his brother pulling him in one direction and his sister urging him to let go. In the Season 2 premiere, we see that he’s somewhat trying to let go, but admits he’s having difficulty.

We also see Colter struggling with his inability to let go of a case involving a missing woman. Years later, he still haunts the perpetrator and maintains some kind of relationship with the victim’s sister, whom he visits and ends up sleeping with.

By the episode’s end, we get a happy conclusion for Connie and her family, now free of the mob and able to move on with their lives. However, Colter remains haunted by his past, his family’s secrets, and the missing woman case—a storyline unlikely to disappear anytime soon. Until then, Colter will do what he does best: drive the lonely backroads of America, helping those in need, and perhaps ultimately helping himself.

Tracker airs on CBS and Paramount+

Written by Byron Lafayette

Journalist, film critic, and author, with a (possibly unhealthy) obsession with Pirates of the Caribbean, Zack Snyder and movies in general, Byron has written for many publications over the years, yet never shows his face. To partially quote (and mangle) Batman V Superman "If you seek his face look around you"

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *