Reviewer Rating: 3.8/5.0
3.8
Billie Matalon returned to Colt’s life in Trackers Season 2 Episode 3, and later in the hour she said one sentence that might have summed up the whole thing: This Get super weird.
Now, “Stalker” wouldn’t be “Stalker” without a curveball or two, and this one has a twist you’ve never seen before.
I don’t say that to say it’s a good thing.
While the first episode of Season 2 of Trackers had a more straightforward missing persons case, subsequent installments involving potential aliens gave us a look into the murky world of biohacking blood donations.
Yes.
Look, there are a lot of shows out there that are similar to Trackers, at least in the sense that their main goal each week is to solve a mystery. They have to stand out, right? There can’t be just simple cases this week.
But what about blood donation, biohacking, and serum electrolyte conversations?
See I agree with Billie; things are getting weird.
If you’re a Billie fan, Billie’s return was the highlight of the night. The last time we saw this determined reward seeker was in Tracker Season 1 Episode 6.
Some are here for the banter and flirtation between Colter and his rival, with whom he has a complicated relationship. But others didn’t feel the connection and had no interest in seeing Curt have a partner other than Renee or anyone else in his circle.
Maybe I just like cuteness in real life because I think Justin Hartley and Sofia Penas are great together. There’s a palpable sense of relief when they get married, and it translates into an on-screen dynamic that feels lived in.
You can believe these two have a history, there’s a lot of tension between them, and things aren’t said out loud.
But while the first episode delves into a lot of ground and sets up the will of they/won’t-they, that’s not the case here. They gave up most of the banter and flirting and instead worked in lockstep as partners, led by Colt.
I have to imagine that people who aren’t interested in Billie overall don’t care too much about the personal aspects of the case, with Billie returning to avoid her hometown as a means of doing some good (perhaps changing her legacy?).
We don’t know enough about Billie to be overly invested in her solo career, but it’s an hour to see how cruel people can be, especially considering we discover that the root cause of the town’s hatred is towards her mother, Not her.
But I digress; the case is about Eric Dobbs, a promising high school pitcher who then disappeared.
It feels like we’re heading towards a couple of guys and girls hanging out with the wrong crowd, maybe even a girlfriend trying to frame the young pitcher for some reason for money or something else relatively basic for the audience to understand.
But things take a completely different turn when Curt and Billie discover the train car containing the blood bag. Suddenly, it was very obvious that something more complicated was going on.
The more that comes out about Eric and Ashley, the more it shows that this kid is trying to do the right thing. Maybe he felt the pressure from his overbearing father and the expectations of being a high school genius, but he was also a teenager in love.
There’s an interesting story about Eric and his dad, this dynamic and how it might have pushed him further towards his girlfriend, a situation that never had a chance to fully develop because eventually it turned into a blood donation, which of course is a choice!
Colter and Billie discover the office building with its clinic-like facility and drained corpses, which takes the hour from fun to a bit of a head-scratcher.
Tracker works well, but things just go left, which doesn’t always work. This gets even weirder in Tracker fashion, especially when Sean comes out in public. It was clear he was suspicious and had something to do with what happened.
Every character you meet in an episode of “Stalkers” should be treated as a suspect, like we’ve never met Sean. Despite this, Billie keeps bringing him up and feels like he should be considered the prime suspect, even though our limited information prevents us from making that assumption.
The missing coach is a big red herring, and as soon as Billie sees Sean, things start to go wrong.
He goes from blowing her up all the way to finding Eric and then suddenly quits because the college Eric was signing with rescinded their offer? A little boy is still missing and politics is more important than doing the right thing?
That has evil written all over it.
It’s hard to get to know Billie because, like Curt, she’s tight-lipped. She and Colter only knew the versions of themselves they allowed each other to see.
It feels weird that she decides to leave town because the reward is out of the question, but ultimately, it shouldn’t be because we don’t actually know what kind of person she is. We know Curt would never do such a thing because once he makes a promise, he keeps it, but Billie doesn’t seem to follow the same rule.
It seemed like she might do a U-turn at various points after hanging up on Colt, and gosh, maybe she did, but we never saw it because Shawn knew it was over.
Colter is incredibly perceptive, a must in his line of work, and within minutes of entering the house of the overly optimistic and accommodating Shane, it’s obvious that he’s the man behind the blood scam.
He didn’t even need Bobby’s expertise, but it was nice to have confirmation!
The show is still an action movie with less action, but we did feel that one of the action sequences was too long and almost unnecessary, even though it was meant to give Sean time to escape and take Billie hostage.
Colter didn’t even hesitate before filming Sean, which was low-key funny because of Billie’s reaction. She was upset with him, and rightfully so!
Aside from the kid who became the victim of a blood loss, this case had a very positive outcome, but that can’t be said for all of Colter’s cases, especially this season.
Billie opening up about her past feels like a way of trying to make Curt and the audience like her, but does it work? If you’re one of those people who wasn’t too fond of Billie in the past, has anything happened during this time to change your mind?
Her story is sad and she was definitely the victim of everything. After all, her mother did something wrong. Billie uses what she learned to help others, even if she’s just in it for the money.
It would be great if Billie was going to be a recurring character alongside Curt. But what about the long term? The series strives to establish meaningful storylines for existing main characters without adding anyone else.
Keep track of notes
- I loved the subplot where Curt was obsessed with Penny “Bulldog” Brad, which clearly annoyed Billie. Sometimes, Colt’s charms don’t work, but sometimes, they do!
- The show did this in a way that had Justin Hartley throwing a baseball and talking about how his father wouldn’t let him play, which was a great way to continue working with Ashton in the narrative.
- No Renee. Wilma has seven seconds to tell Curt that Billie is the bad guy. I need them to give Wilma more to do and not take away my relationship with Renee!
Okay, Trackers fans, what do you think of this?
What do you think of Billie Matalon?
Did you see the blood donation storyline?
How do you feel about the start of the season?
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
You can watch Trackers on CBS Sundays at 8/7c.
watch tracker online
