Spoiler Alert for Tracker season 2, episode 4, “Noble Rot"Justin Harltey’s Colter Shaw has taken on several cases inTrackerseason 2, but episode 4 includes a villain twist that makes it better. Season 2 started with an old unsolved missing person’s case that haunts Colter. The case sticks with the rewardist as it goes unsolved, similar to the mystery ofwho killed Colter’s father inTracker.The death of the Shaw family patriarch defines Colter’s story. In episode 2, Jensen Ackles returned as Russell Shaw. The brother went looking for Colter on a mysterious Department of Defense site after he went missing looking for a lost person.

Trackerseason 2, episode 3, continued to bring back guest stars, returning Sofia Pernas as Billie Matalon. The"rewardists"investigated a case in the female reward-seeker’s hometown. TheTrackercases have all been relatively straightforward, and there haven’t been any plot twists that complicate a case beyond what could be expected. While the series was a massive hit in its first season, it requires more twists like the one at the end of Tracker season 2, episode 4 to uphold its standing as one of the most popular series on television, a ranking garnered in part by the charismaticTrackercharacters.

Reenie and Colter standing in a field surrounded by bushes in Tracker

Tracker Season 2 Has A Recurring Obvious Villain Problem

Tracker Makes This Mistake With Its Villains

Trackerneeds to address its obvious villain problem to succeed like its freshman season:all the villains inTrackerseason 2 are easy to predict. In the opening episode, Colter continues to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Gina Pickett, a girl who went missing 10 years ago that Colter hasn’t been able to track down. Colter is close to Gina’s sister, Camille (Floriana Lima), who was introduced as Colter’s love interest in the season 2 debut. The episode had a prominent villain character: a man who used to know Gina and was involved in her likely disappearance. That character was telegraphed as the antagonist from the first minute he appeared, setting up a twist that was no twist at all.

Colter investigates the case of Quinn Ridgely (Jessica Sutton), whose wife, Gray (Sophia Lauchlin Hirt), is looking for her. The case marked Colter reuniting an LGBTQ+ couple.

Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw in Tracker.

Episode 2 continued the trend of unsatisfying villain reveals. Colter and Russell got caught up at a DOD site, and there was only one adversary to speak of. They never caught his name, but the man revealed that he knew Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen), peeling back another layer of the mystery surrounding the death of Colter’s father. Still, episode 2 delivered an apparent villain with an underwhelming ending.Trackerepisode 3, unfortunately, continued the trendwhen Colter traveled to investigate a missing high school baseball star, whose captor was obvious in story and appearance, delivering a predictable ending.

Tracker Season 2, Episode 4 Finally Delivers A Decent Villain Twist

Tracker Season 2 Finally Delivers A Shocker

Trackerseason 2 finally broke its pronounced villain streak with a decent twist.In episode 4, Colter investigates the case of a woman who goes missing while at a high-end wellness retreatdesigned for CEOs. Colter is called in to investigate the case discreetly since William Locke (Neil Jackson), who runs the retreat, doesn’t want to call the negative press to the event by involving the police. Still, Colter faces hurdles in investigating, including resistance from the person who asked him to be there. William and his assistant, Peter Reynolds (Roshawn Franklin), act suspiciously, suggesting either could be guilty.

Trackerseason 1 was the most-watched TV show of the 2023-2024 cycle, dethroningNCISas the most popular scripted television series.

A custom image with an action shot of Colter and Russell and an overlayed close up of Colter with golden and orange tones throughout

William and Peter continue to help, and eventually, Colter finds a secret stash of dead bodies in an underground chamber.Trackerseason 2, episode 4, delivers an intriguing twistwhen Colter questions a worker, Rona (Gloria Garayua), who immediately calls her accomplice, Jesse Pardue (Rob Mayes). The bodies are actually construction deaths, and the perpetrator in the episode is the construction manager who covered up his negligence by burying them. Shockingly, the manager’s accomplice ultimately shoots him, and he falls backward into a woodchipper. The case ended suddenly and unexpectedly, finally delivering a satisfying conclusion forTrackerseason 2.

How Tracker Season 2 Can Avoid Its Villain Problem Moving Forward

Tracker Needs To Replicate Its Episode 4 Success

Tracker season 2 needs to avoid its villain problem to stay at the forefront of thebest procedural shows. With only 13 episodes in its season 1 run due to the writer’s strikes,Trackeravoided obvious repetition problems in its freshman run. Still, it was narrowly avoided, with all cases coming to a similar conclusion, wherein Colter neatly ends the case and wishes the families well. Season 2 can shake things up, introducing more supporting characters to throw audiences off the scent of whom the real villain is, like they did in episode 4 and some episodes of season 1.

Every Tracker Season 1 Episode, Ranked

Tracker season 1 experienced a shortened debut season, but all 13 episodes are packed with action. That said, some episodes naturally stood out.

The show pulled off a twist in Tracker season 1, episode 9, “Aurora”, one of the highest-rated episodes of season 1, according toIMDb. Colter Shaw investigated several leads before uncovering who the actual perpetrator was: a woman named Maeve Price (Bronwen Smith), who was an unknown accomplice to her brother Errol (Jed Rees), an apprehended murderer. The twist came when Colter was deep in Maeve’s house while she was in the kitchen, making for a genuinely suspenseful sequence and a heartfelt reveal.Trackermust follow its playbook for episodes like “Aurora” and “Noble Rot” to maintain the suspense.

Tracker 2024 TV Series Poster

Tracker

Cast

Tracker follows lone-wolf survivalist Colter Shaw as he navigates the country as a reward seeker. Utilizing his expert tracking skills, he aids private citizens and law enforcement in solving various mysteries while grappling with issues from his fractured family.