‘Tracker’ Season 1 TV Review- It's Not Tracking With Me
This show aired in 2024.
Tracker is an action drama based on the novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver. It debuted on CBS, and then it was streamed on Paramount Plus. I have not read the book, so this will be focused on the show on its merits.
Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) is a man who searches for missing people who have an award. He works with the handlers Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany) to help him find cases and Bobby Exley (Eric Graise). After getting calls from his brother Russell (Jensen Ackles), Colter goes to visit his mother, Mary (Wendy Crewson). You discover that his parents were survivalists and his father, Ashton (Lee Tergesen), died after an accident, though he suspects Russell was involved. As Colter works case after case, he begins to wonder if his past is murkier than he remembers.
The pilot introduces us to Colter and his merry band. With the characters, CBS is definitely checking off its diversity quotas. We got lesbians, the girl boss, the POCs, the disabled person, and everything in between. If these characters had been organic, it would have been fine, but you can tell a committee made them.
To be fair, when it was focused on Colter, it was interesting and kept your attention. Justin Hartley does a good job with the character and brings it home for an interesting premiere.
One of the most annoying characters was the girl boss lawyer Reenie, portrayed by Fiona Ren. While not in every episode, her role got old in each one she was in. You got tired of her self-righteous attitude and holier-than-thou demeanor. They tried to tone it down as the season went on, but it felt forced after seeing her be such a jerk… for no reason.
This is a major problem with the writing. Most of the women were insufferable. Have the writers of Tracker ever met a woman? They were written as caricatures with no realism to their characters at all. It was a shame because the opportunities were everywhere, but they were lost in the bad character development of the ladies.
As an aside, episode nine takes a dig at homeschooling despite home-schooled students regularly beating public school students at aptitude tests. I took that one personally.
To be frank, the best episode is “Aurora” which focuses on Colter helping a widower find his lost ghost-hunting daughter. Colter takes the helm and this truly works out for the show. Jensen Ackles guest stars in the penultimate episode, and he was pretty good. He and Hartley have good chemistry. Unfortunately, the annoying lawyer shows up to ruin the vibe.
The show has been renewed for a second season, but I do not know how long Colter’s past can carry the show, especially since the secondary characters are all uninteresting.
Check out the trailer below:
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Violence, Substance abuse, Foul language
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, anime, or novel you would like me to review.