TV Show Review: Tracker - Season 2

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Still some good, interesting episodes

Cons: Show takes some weird, dark turns; dragging out the Shaw family mystery

The Bottom Line:

Still hunting for lost

Show gives some weirder cases

Drags out big story

"Stranger Line of Work You Must Be In."  "You Have No Idea."

Having enjoyed the first season of Tracker, I was looking forward to another season of missing person mysteries with season two.  While there were definitely episodes I enjoyed, I continued to slide down my list of enjoyable shows as the season went on.  So much so that I don’t think I will be back for season three.

The show follows Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley).  His father and his past have made him an expert at tracking people down.  A bit of a loner, he makes his living traveling from place to place, trailer in tow, accepting rewards for information about people who have gone missing.  While he travels alone, he has a team backing him up.

And, that team is part of the problem.  We have a full season this time around, but we still know very little about them.  We don’t know how Colter met any of them.  They might get an episode or two to shine, but it is rare that is the case.

For the record, we have Velma (Abby McEnany), who appears to run the office for Colter, such as it is.  She’s usually the one who calls in and let’s Colter know about any potential assignments.  Since the actress who played her wife (Robin Weigert) left the show between seasons, we get a couple of references to her going to take care of a sick relative, and then we are just supposed to forget about her.  See what I mean?

Then there’s Bobby (Eric Graise).  He’s the technical expert.  Read: hacker.  He can get any technology to give up its secrets for Colter.  He goes to take care of some “personal business” for a few episodes, with his cousin Randy (Chris Lee) coming in to fill in the gap.  When Bobby comes back, Randy sticks around.

Rounding out the regular cast, we have Reenie (Fiona Rene), a lawyer who has gone out on her own, keeping Colter out of jail when needed and bringing a few clients his way as well.

So, what kind of cases does Colter deal with this season?  He looks for a missing high school baseball star.  When a missing dog is stolen from his truck, Colter is determined to find him.  The son of a cupcake bakery founder is kidnapped.  A woman disappears from a New York City store’s fitting room.  A teenage musician vanishes in New Orleans.  And a pair of sisters disappear in the Montana wilderness.

This show has always had a more serious tone.  This isn’t the light, comedic show that I typically go for.  Even so, we got some truly weird episodes.  We’re talking a show struggling to find new territory in season six type episodes.  All the episodes weren’t that way, but when a case turned in that direction, I was less than impressed.  Some of them were obviously going for shock value, and that’s a turn off to me, especially if it feels out of character or unearned.

There were also a couple of episodes that took a dark turn just to take a dark turn.  There was no need to do that, and I didn’t appreciate that either.

However, when the episodes were focused on a more standard case, I still enjoyed the show.

Then there’s the mythology of the show.  Back in the pilot, we learned a bit about Colter’s family history, and clearly there is a lot about what he thinks he knows that isn’t true.  The show has teased us with bits and pieces of that, but it was pretty much ignored this season.  I get it, this is something that they are going to bring out a little bit at a time and drag out for a long as possible to keep us coming back.  Sorry, but I’m not that interested.  Either keep giving us entertaining case of the week stories or give us more of this case each season.  We do get a revelation that serves as the season two cliffhanger, but it wasn’t enough for me.

I might have been more patient with it if they hadn’t introduced a shorter storyline.  In the season premier, we find out about Colter’s “White Whale” case, a woman he wasn’t able to find years ago and he revisits every so often.  At least that one did get resolved, although it turned into one of the weird storylines I didn’t care for.

Season two consisted of twenty episodes, so there are plenty of episodes to watch if you want to give it a try.

It’s a shame that the show has taken a dark, weird turn.  I was enjoying the show we got in the first season.  But there were enough misfires in season two to make me give up on Tracker.