Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
You know what they say; it takes one survivalist to know one. Or something like that.
Colter has encountered several people on his journeys that remind him of himself, but he met his match on Tracker Season 2 Episode 10, in the form of Ben, a fellow loner and product of a father who taught him all the tools to survive.
It was on Colter to find his survivalist brethren and a missing woman in a town that wanted no part of his presence.
One of Tracker’s staples has become the unhelpful or downright duplicitous law enforcement people who stymie Colter at every turn, and that was certainly the case when Colter stepped foot in Wolf Creek, Minnesota.
But things didn’t play out the way you expected.
It was good to see Jim Parrack back on screen after the recent cancellation of 9-1-1: Lone Star, but Ben Kenderson was no Judd Ryder.
When we first met Ben, he was just stalking in the background of a bar, watching the lovely Angie sing, and it had bad news written all over it. But Tracker stories rarely play out how you think they will, and this was no exception.
The surety with which Ben was targeted as the killer pretty much meant that he was absolutely not the killer.
Ms. Ava was a firecracker and a fierce protector of her grandson, even if she couldn’t provide an alibi or anything for him.
She knew his heart and had a good idea of his strength and prowess, enough to know someone may have needed to stop him from hurting himself any further.
Colter walking right into the bar and looking for answers was quintessential Colter, as he quickly found himself in a fight with a biker gang before he could even have a cup of coffee in Wolf Creek.
You could tell immediately that the biker gang was the real sheriff in town, especially Cropper, who was calling the shots from the minute he stepped into the bar.
The gang had a vested interest in the case since two of their own were dead, but the way they bulldozed over Walcott made it clear that the little scrum in the bar was probably the tip of the iceberg where they were concerned.
I can understand why people are leery of Colter when he first shows up. He’s an out-of-town stranger who immediately jumps in and inserts himself into situations he knows nothing about.
Sheriff Walcott seemed shady from the start, and when she let Colter drag her into the woods a bit and then claimed to have something to show him, it was obviously a ruse. But what exactly was she hiding?
Or was she trying to protect someone?
It was hard to make sense of things initially, especially as it pertained to what happened the night of Angie’s disappearance. If Ben didn’t do it, then was it the bikers that killed their own and the cop?
Or maybe it was the cops, after all?
Nothing made sense until Colter finally returned to the bar and into the woods, tracking Ben the way only a fellow survivalist could.
I am Colter’s biggest fangirl, but he gets ambushed more than I like to admit.
Ben set up whoever came looking for him, and Colter played right into his hands. But he was lucky that all Ben did was tie him up and make conversation because, overall, Ben seemed to be trigger-happy and more than willing to get his hands dirty if it meant keeping himself and Angie safe.
When Angie detailed exactly what happened the night she was “kidnapped,” I let out a loud ‘AH!’ because everything slotted into place finally, except where the cops, Walcott in particular, fit into things.
The bikers were the ones in the wrong, and they turned everything around on Ben to save themselves. That tracked, and then Ben acted in self-defense and got the hell out of there before the rest of the bikers came to kill them both.
But when Ben revealed that the bikers were alive when he took Angie into the woods? Well, that was when things got interesting.
Tracker is an entertaining show overall, even if you can guess a twist from a million miles away. This one wasn’t particularly shocking, but it didn’t take away from the good story.
It was fun and engaging to see Colter go toe-to-toe with someone so much like himself in a different way than we’ve seen him in the past.
We’ve seen Colter meet people who had challenging relationships with their dad or siblings or even fellow loners who weren’t used to taking and accepting help from anyone, let alone a stranger.
But it felt like a long time coming for Colter to truly confront a version of himself that he could have become had he not dedicated himself to helping others.
He knew how to talk to Ben and get him to trust him in a way that perhaps no one had ever been able to do for Ben.
He understood him, and he knew when to push and when to pull back. Much like his relationship with Keaton, the pair had a nice camaraderie once they saw how similar they were.
Ben definitely needed Colter’s guidance in certain aspects because he was awfully close to cops arresting and charging him for real if he followed through with his plans.
Getting the security footage was the key to everything, and it was clever to still have Walcott’s intention questioned as Colter and Ben made their own moves to clear Ben’s names with the help of no one but themselves.
There’s something about the way innocent people constantly die on Tracker that irks my spirit, but then again, that’s also realistic, even if it’s incredibly sad.
Vic was someone Colter met by chance, and Colter involved him because he needed someone he could trust, and he died because of it.
Cropper would kill anyone to keep his secret, and things could have been much worse had Colter not already gotten Cropper down when Ricky showed up with a gun to Ben’s back.
I’d love to know how RICKY got the drop on someone like Ben out there in the woods because I’m having a hard time seeing how that happened.
I kept thinking Colter would find a way to broadcast that tape so that Ricky and even other bikers could see for themselves that Cropper was lying to them. If we’re being real, why would anyone take Colter’s word for it?
Well, Ricky apparently must have had an inkling that Cropper was dirty because he didn’t need much convincing when it came to believing the man was capable of killing his own gang members.
It was odd that Ricky scampered off, if only because Tracker tends to tie a clean little bow on their stories, but Ben clearing his name is what mattered the most in all this.
Coming off the emotions of Tracker Season 2 Episode 9, Colter jumped right back into things with a case that hopefully got him thinking about his life.
He could have easily turned out like Ben, who was less well-adjusted and angrier, but despite everything he’s endured, he has a good attitude, a tribe that cares about him, and a worthwhile profession.
He’ll live to see another day, visit another town, and help someone else in need — the perfect life for a survivalist.
Tracker Notes:
- Chris Lee of Legacies fame debuted as Bobby’s cousin Randy, and I can already tell I will love everything about his banter with Colter. Cousin Randy is just as competent as Bobby but much more chaotic, which will be amazing against Colter’s rigid persona.
- No Reenie. No Bobby. And twenty seconds of Velma. It’s shocking how much they’ve scaled back on the supporting cast, considering what Tracker Season 1 was like. I didn’t realize it could get worse.
- That song Angie was singing in the beginning was kind of a bop.
- That death whistle was terrifying.
- The Shaw Family drama continues not to exist. It’s a perplexing decision.
Okay, Tracker fanatics, now it’s over to you guys!
What did you think about the case of the week?
Let me know in the comments so we can talk it out!
You can watch Tracker on CBS at 8/7c on Sundays.
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