Tracker Season 1 Episode 11 Review: Beyond the Campus Walls

Now, we’re getting somewhere!

It’s been many weeks since there was any movement on the Shaw Family drama front, but Tracker Season 1 Episode 11 had a nice subplot that answered many questions and finally introduced to someone else in the family.

Colter’s sibling reunion, of course, surrounded a case, but the two opened up a communication line that seemed to have Colter questioning more things about his past.

Before getting into the Colter and Dory stuff, a very twisty and odd case was at the forefront here.

And it was a damn interesting one, with Colter first suspecting a college student may have just bitten off a little more than he could chew and then quickly realizing he’d found himself engaged in some pretty dark stuff.

A college student feeling overwhelmed and wanting to take a break certainly wouldn’t be abnormal. Still, from the sounds of things, everyone’s ho-hum attitude about Blake’s disappearance was annoying in the beginning.

Obviously, as viewers, we knew something was wrong. But a young student who’s never fallen off the grid while leaving their phone behind? That sounds like something that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.

The more we learned about Blake, the more obvious it became that whatever happened to him had to do with the research he was doing. I liked that they immediately mentioned Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes to put things into perspective.

Blake was working on a major, potentially groundbreaking project that would stand to make substantial amounts of money down the line.

So, yes. Perhaps he could have felt the pressure of the project and removed himself for a few days to decompress, or maybe with the amount of potential money surrounding this project, something bad happened to him.

Colter always relies on his team to help him figure certain things out, and without Bobby, it would have taken him forever to connect the dots.

Once Bobby got into Blake’s messages, what started to surface was something I didn’t see coming, and there was no way Colter did either.

Related: How Tracker Can Avoid Common Procedural Pitfalls

Catfishing is a term that’s become mainstream after the success of both the film and television series of the same name that caught people pretending to be someone else as a means to manipulate them for money, attention, both, or any number of things.

There’s never been a rulebook for catfishing. Still, Colter sniffed out what was potentially happening with a quickness, especially considering the lengths the person Blake was taking to protect their identity.

Although, most catfishers are choosing someone else’s pictures and life to hide behind, but for story purposes, that wasn’t going to work here.

When Hewitt told Colter that he revoked Blake’s lab privileges, Colter may have believed the man because he had no reason not to, but I’ve watched enough television to know that immediately trying to smear the character of a missing or deceased person is a red flag.

Hewitt was hiding something; that much was clear, but once Irene started talking about the dark web and revenge porn, I was no longer sure how Hewitt fit into things because going to the dark web? Would a Biochemistry professor even know how to do that?

As it turns out, no. He wouldn’t.

Colter puts himself into these surreal situations sometimes, and waltzing into Irene’s business, emptying the bullets from her gun, and getting her to turn on her husband all within the span of a conversation is something only he can do.

Related: CBS Towers Over the Competition in Billions of Minutes Watched

Irene wasn’t an innocent bystander in what happened. She could have called the cops any number of times after her husband disappeared. And who knows what other shameful stuff she participated in.

But Colter appealed to her guilt, something he’s good at, and his little plan to contact the client was smart. And finding out Dax was involved made everything click.

Hewitt didn’t know how the hell to get on the dark web and hire con people to get leverage against someone, but Dax did.

Dax was a little too aggressive when Colter stopped by the lab to ask him and Jada about Blake, and maybe you could chalk it up to a rivalry between determined, and hardworking scientists, but seeing him in that hoodie made everything make sense.

It was wild of him to say things were getting out of hand when he helped his COLLEGE PROFESSOR get access to the dark web. Um, you think maybe things have gotten a little too deep there, Dax?

Like I said earlier about red flags, finding out Hewitt was the one falsifying data, like, you guessed it, Elizabeth Holmes back in the day, connected all the dots.

And it’s just like Tracker to take a complicated route to reach a simpler conclusion.

Desperate people do desperate things, and Hewitt was as desperate as they come while also being cowardly and idiotic at the same time.

What exactly did he think would happen at the end of this? Was he expecting Blake to hand over the flash drive, then he would just be able to let him go with the threat of his nudes leaking, and everything would be all good?

Not to mention Blake was fully aware of Chuck and Irene, and what did Hewitt think would happen there? They’d be cool knowing he was out there and could blow their lives to smithereens with a phone call?

A bumbling bad guy was what Hewitt was, but I saw him shooting Chuck coming from a mile away. It was obvious he didn’t want Blake dead, but once Colter busted through, he was literally backed into a corner.

They always have Colter in these badass final confrontations, with some crazier than others. Shotting through the floorboards during Tracker Season 1 Episode 10 comes to mind first.

This one wasn’t on that level, but only Colter could snap his head around a corner and clip someone in the shoulder before they knew what hit them.

Yes, Hewitt was a bumbling professor, but Colter made something incredibly dangerous look easy.

Another successful case under Colter’s belt, and this one he wouldn’t have cracked with his usual teams, and also Dory, would was the key to even finding Blake’s physical location.

Dory Shaw seems sweet, if not a little prickly around the edges, just like her brother. The flashbacks haven’t done much for her character, so heading into this hour, it was unclear where she stood with the family dynamics.

We knew Colter and his mama weren’t Russell fans, but what about her?

Finding out she was still in contact with Russell caught Colter off guard, making you wonder what those years were like right after Papa Shaw died.

Well, now we know everyone went their separate ways, with Colter being the only one to stay back with his mother, and that tracks when you see how protective he is of her.

There’s something off about Mary Dove, as many noticed during Tracker Season 1 Episode 2. Dory was quick to throw shade at her mom whenever Colter brought her up, which was noteworthy.

Without knowing all the context, Ashton was the one Colter associates a lot of his traumatic childhood to, with the flashbacks we’ve seen through his eyes focused on his father’s actions.

But what about Mary? She was also there, and to have Colter tell it doesn’t seem like she was involved much. But maybe he’s cherry-picking memories, or that time when it was just him and his mother, diluted some of what was true about that time for him.

If Colter and his mother were all each other, then it’s understandable how much faith and trust he would put into her. She was his lifeline, and they were there for each other through major grief and change.

It’s interesting, though, that one conversation with his sister has him suddenly questioning such a major relationship in his life. However, it’s not like Dory is some random person he met on a call never to be seen again.

Dory: I talked to Russell, by the way. He says you’ve been ducking him.
Colter: You talked to Russell?
Dory: Yeah. Some. We keep in touch. You should talk to him.
Colter: I don’t have anything to say to Russell.
Dory: Fine, do it your way. You always do.

Dory claimed to have moved on, but if anything, it felt like that was still a work in progress.

Mary Dove potentially hiding secrets wasn’t a shock, but seeing how deeply Dory distrusted her was an intriguing new piece.

If the answers Colter’s been seeking his whole life were right under his nose the whole time, and his mother could have helped him somehow get closure? That will be a devastating reveal for a guy who prides himself on being level-headed in all situations.

Related: Jensen Ackles’s Inspired Tracker Casting Gives Us Goosebumps

Whatever happens next, the mysteries of the Shaw family only went up in intrigue factor, and knowing Russell is poised to make an appearance next week only ups that factor even more.

Let’s crack this Shaw Family drama even more and get Colter some much-needed answers!

Tracker Notes

• 
  It seems like we are seeing less and less of Velma and Teddi when it felt like, in the beginning, they would be Colter’s true number twos. I hope in Tracker Season 2, they figure out how best to incorporate them.

• 
  Colter is such an enigma, and seeing someone really know him in Dory was great. She knows when he’s full of crap, and she’s not afraid to call him on it.

• 
  With Jensen Ackles joining the next hour, it would be criminal not to have the big three Shaw siblings together during at least one episode in the series run.

This was a well-balanced and great installment, focusing on an interesting case and Colter’s personal life.

Let me know in the comments below how you felt about the hour, and remember you can catch up on all the Tracker reviews as we head into the final episodes.

Edit Delete