Reviewer Rating: 4.5/5.0
4.5
This is probably my favorite hour of “Stalkers,” which is saying something because Renee isn’t even in it. I love me some Renee!
Trackers Season 2 Episode 8 revolves around a case that is slightly different in that Colt isn’t trying to find someone who was taken away or simply disappeared into thin air. He is looking for a dead man.
As with all of Colter’s cases, this one turned out to be much larger than he first thought.
Tracker has done a great job with their phone cases this season, even the ones that border on the ridiculous. They’re entertaining and entertaining, and this hour was no exception.
Colter travels to San Francisco, where she focuses on a grieving sister who is convinced her dead brother has returned and visits her ailing mother. And the whole story is ostensibly sad.
Alicia is still grieving her brother, but also grieving her mother, who is dying in front of her.
You can’t blame Colter for being skeptical at first, as he’s not a realist, anything, especially when he starts to learn the facts about the job.
People do grieve in different ways and sometimes it’s hard to accept how cruel life can be. No one should have a brother and a parent buried so close together. This is unimaginable.
But once Colter started piecing things together, it became clear there was something dark about Lucas and his death, to the point where people stopped wondering if he died, but why? die?
As usual, Bobby is a huge piece of the puzzle here, and without him and his ability to crack anything in seconds, God knows where Colt would be.
Colter took over Lucas’ old job (supposedly around the same time Lucas was visiting his mother in the hospital), and someone apparently needed something from that store.
Now, is it possible that someone is looking for something Lucas has and breaks in to retrieve it? Absolutely.
The break-in could have been explained, but what about a trip to the hospital? Could anyone be so cruel as to visit a dying woman in the hospital and pretend to be her son, for no reason other than cruelty?
It didn’t make any sense, and thank goodness the paranoid co-worker put a camera in his collection of dinosaur figurines, because that shattered the case.
At first, I thought this was going to be a story where Lucas was indeed dead, but Colter was able to discover who killed him and bring his killer to justice, at least giving his family closure.
But I should know better.
Lucas is alive, the broken-in recording proves it, and the problem only gets more complicated once Colter finds out.
One of my favorite parts of the episode “Stalkers” was finding out how helpful or unhelpful the law enforcement officers Colt would inevitably face were. Are they friendly, helpful, and willing to accept that Colter might be better at it than they are?
Or are they aggressive, useless, and trying to derail Colt at every turn?
Detective Goodman seemed receptive to Colter. She even did a little tit-for-tat with him and showed him the video of Lucas’ car accident.
But Colt Shaw was Colt Shaw. Within seconds, he had cracked the case.
If you’ve watched enough ID Channel or Dateline and 48 in your life, you know that faking your own death isn’t just something you do in movies.
Philip and Barbie running a “missing persons” business out of the back of the market is a neat little development. Barbie is a total gunner, and I love that Curt meets someone who matches his intensity.
She almost feels detached from her husband’s death, but that seems to have more to do with the fact that the moment she found out he was killed, her mind immediately switched to revenge mode.
Phillip seemed to die after Colt found out who he was because nothing happened to him for nine months, so Dirty Goodman Detective had it written all over him, but then Colt suddenly pointed Phillip out He killed a police officer and died a few hours later.
My antennae were high at the time, but Colter still had to figure out how everything connected while watching Barbie set fire to it.
Barbie is a great character here and I would have welcomed it if we could have spent more time with her.
I’m sure she’s helped a lot of bad guys disappear over the years because she operates under a don’t ask too many questions policy, but for someone like Lucas, Barbie did it in the sense of saving his life A good thing.
Lucas didn’t fake his death, he was already dead. Just like Stephanie. And just like her husband.
But once you fake your death, that’s it. It’s all for naught if you jump back into town like you’re not dead and put Phillip and Barbie in danger because what they’re doing isn’t exactly legal.
Lucas didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he wanted to see his dying mother, and by grabbing that flash drive, he wanted to try and make a deal for himself or something.
But unfortunately, his reappearance triggers a lot of action, including the appearance of Colt, for which Philip ultimately pays the price.
When Colt called Detective Goodman to Lucas’ hotel, I had no idea what he was doing, but I was obsessed with Lucas’s fake death hook, line, and sinker. Even knowing Goodman might be suspicious, I think they might be too late to save him this time.
Sometimes it’s okay to make mistakes, I definitely was.
What could be better than a suspended animation? Fake death twice!
When Barbie opened that van and came face to face with Lucas, did anyone think she was going to hurt Lucas? She seemed determined to get revenge, and Lucas’ return set everything in motion, but he didn’t pull the trigger on Philip, or give the order.
No, Goodman and Tim Crosby are responsible. They need to be punished, and only Colt Shaw (and the magic of television!) can quickly get the entire FBI sting operation up and running!
It makes no sense why Goodman and Crosby were casually talking about their illegal activities in a crowded restaurant. Goodman pointing a gun at Curt like that didn’t do her any favors either.
She was desperate, but her reaction made her look even more guilty in front of a room full of witnesses.
They’re careful not to tell us what was on Crosby’s flash drive, which means it’s likely very horrific and he and everyone associated with him absolutely needs to be put away.
Stephanie and Philip lost their lives, Lucas experienced a hellish rebirth, and Goodman and Crosby and his people were brought to justice.
I appreciate that Lucas understood his role in everything and that Colter very gently told him that this was something he had to accept because it was the truth.
There’s no real happy ending here because too much irreparable damage has occurred.
Outside of the case, we finally return to the Gina Pickett case, which hasn’t been seriously solved since Trackers Season 2 Episode 1, when Colt visited the whale.
It’s good to get more background on the relationship between Colt and Camille, because now we know the two were involved before Gina went missing. We don’t desperately need to know this, but it casts more of a shadow on their relationship.
Their connection predates their “work” dynamic, which may be part of the reason why he’s so reluctant to give up, although Colt is also a man who doesn’t get off easy.
Camille has finally reached a point of acceptance and it’s sad to see her and Colt having this conversation because you can tell Colt feels like he’s failed her and Gina in some way and how heartbreaking that is Frustrated.
But Camille has apparently reached a point where she realizes she has to make changes for herself. She would never forget her sister, but it might not be healthy for her to continue living like this.
I feel for them because they both want the same thing: truth and closure about Gina’s disappearance, but Camille is too emotionally exhausted to continue to hold out hope.
As time rolls around and we’re reintroduced to Keaton, who we met in Trackers Season 2 Episode 6, it’s obvious he’s coming back, but damn, does he make a comeback!
I loved Keaton and the dynamic between him and Colt, but it dawned on me that we didn’t really know Keaton and neither did Colt. He asks Keaton to do some digging and bring new scrutiny to a cold case.
But is he asking him to kidnap a man and beat him until he gives him the information he wants?
Colter seemed momentarily taken aback, but he was also fascinated by the messages. When he hears the name Whale, he seems to no longer care about the physical and spiritual battles going on with the stranger.
Things get nasty quickly, but also very interesting, because what happens next?
Is Gina still alive? Who is the person they call teacher? Now that Colter does have the message, what will the whale say?
What the hell is going on with Alex now? Is Keaton okay?
It’s a huge cliffhanger, and there are some serious questions to consider while we wait for the series to return.
Keep track of notes
- Isaac Newton as an alias was a pretty genius move, but did Philip and Barbie give all their clients catchy names? How many forgeries of George Washington and Charles Darwin are walking in tracker land?
- Colter declined the call, but Dolly called him. Do I want to cancel my search for Shaw Brothers dramas?
- Get Wilma out of Renee’s office! I knew she wanted a change of scenery.
- Colter is a terrible actor. Everything in the hotel was so stiff and awkward, but it fooled Goodman, so it worked.
Tracker continues to shine in its second season and finds its groove with another great moment. The series has always been strong, but it’s reached new heights in the past few weeks.
There’s a lot to unpack during this time, so let me know your thoughts and feelings about the Gina Pickett case in the comments!
You can watch Trackers on CBS on Sunday at 8/9c.
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