The Tracker season 2 fall finale, "The Night Movers," finally moves the needle on Colter Shaw's Gina Picket case, but the outing may have been better if it focused on its weekly case instead. Tracker, the most-watched TV show of the 2023-2024 season (breaking NCIS' 5-year streak), returned for its sophomore season to high expectations, and understandably so. Marking Justin Hartley's first post-This Is Us series, Tracker follows its titular character as he roams the country for missing people's cases. In season 2, however, the CBS procedural seems to be struggling to find its identity.
During its first episodes, Tracker season 2 saw an influx of guest appearances from both familiar faces such as Russell Shaw and Billie Matalon, as well as new ones like Camille Picket, Colter Shaw's supposed on-and-off lover for the last decade. Beyond the weekly cases, Hartley's hero is also tackling two overarching arcs — the Shaw family mystery, which was originally established in Tracker's freshman year, and Colter's white whale case about Gina Picket's (Camille's sister) disappearance from 10 years ago.
Tracker Season 2, Episode 8 Finally Revisits The Gina Picket Mystery
Colter Gets A Break In White Whale Case
Gina's fate finally gets a substantial update in season 2's episode 8. The outing starts with the return of Camille, as somehow, she has reunited with Colter. What appears to be a date night ends up being a quasi-split, as she claims that they should accept that Gina is gone. With that, Camille tells Colter that she can't see him anymore because he reminds him of her sister, which is odd, considering that Tracker barely shows them together anyway.
The break in Gina's case comes from Colter's new ally, Retired Police Officer Keaton, who finds someone who knows what happened to her. Before they can get confirmation regarding the girl's status and whereabouts, the episode ends, effectively saving the rest of the story for the back half of the season. It's great that the CBS procedural is finally starting to resolve the Picket case. Unfortunately, it's not because there's intense interest in how it ends, but primarily because it needs to end.
Tracker's Weekly Case Is Bogged Down By Colter's Unresolved Case
Colter's Weekly Missing Case Is More Interesting
My problem with the Picket storyline as a whole is that Tracker has barely done anything to make it compelling. Other than Gina disappearing and Colter having a personal relationship with her sister, the show hasn't revealed anything else that could make it remotely interesting. As great as Hartley's onscreen rewardist is, it's hard to imagine the Picket case being the only time he failed to solve a case. Between this and the lack of information about the Picket sisters, season 2's midseason finale would have been better if it focused on Colter's weekly case instead.
The weekly case in "The Night Movers" is far more intriguing. Colter is set on looking for a supposed dead man after he allegedly secretly visited his dying mom in the hospital. This leads him to an old unassuming Asian couple called The Night Movers, who run a business of making people disappear. The immediate chemistry and camaraderie between Freda Foh Shen's Barbie Lee is fun and refreshing. Besides the unique mission, its resolution is also satisfying, as the FBI gets involved. The Tracker season 2 fall finale being about just this plot would have been better and more satisfying.
Tracker Season 2's Fall Finale Exposes The Issues It Needs To Fix
Some Stories Need To Be Prioritized When Tracker Season 2 Returns
Aside from how it moves Colter's story forward, the Tracker season 2 finale also highlights the storytelling problems the CBS procedural needs to address when it returns. Much has been said about the project's lack of direction in the first few episodes of season 2. Tracker going supernatural was a pattern for a brief time, and it was understandably divisive, considering the show was rooted in being grounded. In "The Night Movers," we see the show's classic storytelling via its weekly case. Doing more creative one-off mysteries should be a priority when it comes back in 2025.
Tracker can still devote time to the Picket case, but it needs to do a better job of making us care about it. Otherwise, it would be better to end it once and for all. This way, the show can devote time to solving other overarching plots. Aside from the mystery of the Shaw patriarch's death, Tracker has also yet to address what's really going on with Teddi and Velma, even though Robin Weigert is already officially out of the show.
Tracker season 2 will return to CBS in February 2025.
