Tracker Season 1 Episode 5 Review: St. Louis

One of the nice things about Tracker is seeing Colter’s compassion each week.

When the series began, it wasn’t wholly clear whether Colter was just looking for a payday by using the skills he had acquired over time or if he genuinely cared about people and wanted to help, all while collecting a paycheck.

Tracker Season 1 Episode 5 was further proof that it’s not this or that with Colter necessarily, and at the end of the day, he’s someone who wants to do what’s right.

Poor Colter couldn’t even get some me-time in before he was needed on another case, but that’s the state of the world, right? Over 2,000 people are reported missing every day, and most of those people don’t have people who can offer up thousands of dollars for their safe return.

Stephanie Porter didn’t have those kinds of funds, but in 2024, there are various ways to raise money for a good cause, and helping her father potentially overturn his murder conviction was one of them.

Even when Colter is skeptical, he always does his due diligence and will hear just about anyone out. He’s never ready to believe whatever negative narrative strangers are spewing at him; he’s much more content to do a little research and come to his own conclusion.

Stephanie believed so strongly that Clay was not guilty, and you could tell how much Colter was affected by her conviction.

Reenie: You want my opinion? Clay Porter is guilty. End of story. Colter: Well, what about him maintaining his innocence? Reenie: Colter, you may want to sit down for this, but, uh, people who murder often also lie.

Most people never want to believe the worst about their parents, but the hard truth is that they’re human and capable of mistakes like anyone else. Finding out your father is a murderer is different than discovering they shoplifted once, but they’re still forms of betrayal.

You learn what’s good and bad from your parents, and discovering they’re not adhering to their own teachings can be a tough pill to swallow.

Colter knows all about contemplated parental feelings, and I love it when the cases intersect with Colter’s personal life, even if it’s subtly. It just continues to help shade Colter in as a character.

Procedurals often have the challenge of telling stories that can be wrapped up within a specific time frame while also exploring the humanity of the characters who inhabit those stories.

You might as well have a robot solve these cases if you won’t allow the audience time to get to know Colter.

I understand Colter is mostly a lone wolf, but he and Reenie are basically semi-partners now.

She’s always in the area when he needs her, has an excellent legal brain, and has a good heart. She may not be a trained tracker or know the probability of death in any situation, but there are various things she can do that Colter simply can’t.

Maybe she’s not needed for every single case, depending on the circumstances, but in a case like this one, without her insight, they may have never fully figured things out in time.

Clay’s case seemed open and shut from the evidence, but seeing as how he was convicted without anyone testifying that they witnessed it, actually finding a witness was worth it.

Most people wouldn’t even know where to start finding someone who may or may not exist with no information whatsoever, but not everyone has a Velma and Teddi.

The key to everything was finding out who sent that anonymous tip to Stephanie. You find that person, and you’re much closer to figuring out if it was all a ruse or if the claim was valid.

Colter’s whole schtick is his ability to read situations and people, though I wonder how much reading he could do at that poker table. Isn’t the whole thing with playing poker to school your facial expressions and composure to throw your opponents off?

Well, getting everyone arrested certainly gave Colter more time to do some detective work while they were all at the police station.

On the one hand, I can understand what a tremendous burden was placed on Leyla once Mallory told her she witnessed Avery’s death. It’s all very terrifying, and she was betraying Mallory’s trust by posting that anonymous message, even if it was incredibly vague.

But doing the right thing will always be doing the right thing, and finding Mallory was right.

Colter lives life dangerously, and this is an action-adventure, so fighting, shoot-outs, and the like are expected, but we haven’t seen someone catch Colter so unaware.

For a man so detail-oriented, he did not account for Mallory being with someone, and he promptly found himself knocked out.

Mallory was always in a tough position, and you can’t blame her for immediately going on the run, even if she knew it was wrong.

As I said before, doing the right thing will always be doing the right thing, but it’s not always easy. It can be very scary, actually, and for Mallory, going to the police felt like a death sentence until she chose to put her faith in Colter.

Let’s talk about Colter pulling out a shotgun in the middle of the street to shoot out some tires like it was no big thing! Colter never gets rattled, which is probably his superpower.

He can assess everything around him and not panic, which allows him to make the most rational decision given the circumstances.

I can only imagine how much Mallory regretted her decisions when she was in immediate danger within three seconds of leaving her house but had Colter not found her when he had, she would have been in an even worse spot.

Reenie: I think you’re in danger. Colter: Yeah, I got that.

Clay’s lawyer was as shady as they come from the minute he suddenly took an interest in Clay’s case when speaking with Reenie, when the Porters made it very clear he never cared much before.

How horrible to be trusted with someone’s defense and accept a payoff to ensure they are charged with a crime they didn’t commit.

The way things spiraled from here was typical Tracker fashion, and I won’t lie, I have no idea what Colter’s plan was while hiding in that warehouse because he was somehow so far away when everything went to hell.

Mallory was running for her life, and how she wasn’t shot by any of those bullets was a miracle in itself.

Through the first five episodes of Tracker Season 1, we’ve seen many bad guys captured, but this time, Colter was responsible for someone’s death.

In his line of work, which continuously finds him in these unsafe situations, he has to be prepared to protect himself and those in his care by all means necessary. But just heaving someone off a building felt pretty heavy.

It didn’t seem to weigh on him in the aftermath, though, and I guess you can justify it when you realize it was him or you.

This was another happy ending for a case that had the capacity to go off the rails several times. I appreciate that the series shows Colter getting his reward each time, so we are reminded that through all the craziness, he is a reward-seeker, on top of being a resourceful and decent human being.

And all those things can co-exist and not cloud the other.

Tracker Notes

Bobby was not in this hour, but I always like it when they throw in a little line to explain why a character you’re used to seeing in a certain situation is suddenly unavailable.

I hope one of these days Colter has a case near Velma and Teddi so we can see them all interact in the flesh.

All signs point toward Colter and Reenie eventually giving into the chemistry because it’s RIGHT there. I don’t know if theirs would be a relationship built to last, but there’s certainly a spark there.

No movement on the Shaw Family drama outside of Colter’s little soliloquy about his parents. But it has to circle back around soon. Right?

The fun thing about Tracker is how endless the possibilities are. There are many locations and different ways Colter can find people. Thank goodness we are getting a second season.

Tracker continues its hot streak of solid installments as the series settles into its shoes and determines what show it wants to be.

As always, let me know all your thoughts about the hour below! 

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Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.