Even if you don’t get the answer you were hoping for, closure is important. This is a fact that rings especially true for Colter Shaw (played by Justin Hartley), a skilled investigator with a knack for tracking people and an unyielding drive. His persistence and dedication to the truth make him relentless in solving cases.
This time, in Tracker’s mid-season premiere, “The Disciple,” Colter is finally able to solve a cold case that has haunted him for ten long years: the disappearance of Gina Pickett (Lina Lecompte).
The episode starts in Deming, Missouri, where a young man named Brandon Stokes (Hudson Wilson) is leaving a local grocery store. However, Brandon doesn’t make it home that night. He is ambushed by a masked figure who is hiding in the backseat of his mother’s car.
The man uses some kind of gas to knock Brandon unconscious. Meanwhile, Colter is meeting with Keaton (Brent Sexton) in a diner to discuss the details of the case following the events of Tracker’s mid-season finale.
In their previous meeting, Keaton had been interrogating Alex Silva (Jonny Rey Diaz), a suspect in the disappearance of Gina Pickett. During that interrogation, Alex revealed that years ago, Gina had been taken to a man who went by the name “the Teacher.”
This man used young men, whom he referred to as “pretty boys,” to carry out his terrible acts. These events took place on a farm where the Teacher “planted things.” At the end of the mid-season premiere, viewers get more clarity on what all of this really meant.
However, there’s still a bit of mystery left, and some of it involves the Teacher’s operations on the farm, particularly regarding what he was actually growing there.
Also Read: Tracker Season 2 Midseason Premiere: Mystery, Action, and High-Stakes Drama Await!
A Key Suspect Comes Forward in ‘Tracker’ Season 2, Episode 9
While Keaton explains to Colter that he got a lead from a Navy SEAL database, they start working through the remaining gaps in the investigation of Gina Pickett’s case. One key piece of information is how Gina was lured away from the mall.
She had mentioned to her boss that she felt uneasy about a man named Frank Whales (Ryan Dorsey), who was waiting for her outside Hot Topic. Frank was Colter’s original suspect in the case, and with Alex Silva’s confirmation that Frank was involved, Colter and Keaton decide to break into Frank’s home and question him once again.
This time, Frank finally admits to Colter that he was the one who took Gina from the mall. He pretended that they were going to attend a secret show put on by Gina’s favorite local band. To make matters worse, Frank also reveals that he has a decorative bobby pin from Gina’s hair as a keepsake.
This is important evidence! Frank further explains that “the Teacher” had taken him in when he was younger and coerced him into kidnapping girls for him. All these years, Colter had suspected Frank’s involvement, but it only took a bit of solid evidence and backup from Keaton to get Frank to confess.
Frank goes on to explain that although he hasn’t been working for the Teacher for years, the Teacher recently sent him a bag of dirt. This was the same bag that Colter had found in Frank’s fridge at the start of the season.
The Teacher used this as a warning to stop Frank from coming forward. The influence that the Teacher had on Frank was incredibly strong, and it was clear that Frank was still deeply under the Teacher’s control.
The Search Continues in ‘Tracker’ Season 2, Episode 9
Colter and Keaton force Frank to take them to the barn where he had dropped off Gina and other girls in the past. Although the barn appears to be abandoned, they find a horrifying discovery: a skeleton chained up in the basement.
This gruesome find is enough for Colter and Keaton to call the cops and have Frank detained for questioning. However, the real breakthrough happens when Colter finds a bucket of camcorder tapes in the barn. Each tape has a name written on it, and one of them bears Gina’s name.
As Colter prepares to review the tapes, Camille (Floriana Lima), Gina’s sister and Colter’s on-again-off-again love interest, joins him at the police station. Together, they watch a heartbreaking tape that shows Gina pleading for her life.
In the video, the Teacher pressures Gina for information about her sister Camille, likely using her as a means of intimidation. Although the tape does not confirm whether Gina is still alive, it gives Camille the closure she needed. She thanks Colter for finally finding solid evidence and encourages him to continue his investigation to get justice for her sister.
With the new information, Colter’s team starts filling in the remaining gaps in the case. Bobby (Eric Graise) uncovers online chatter about a missing girl named Hannah Olson (Erika Bruci), who could be the Teacher’s next victim.
Keaton connects the dots and realizes that Brandon, the missing young man from earlier in the episode, has been taken by the Teacher and is now his newest disciple. Velma (Abby McEnany) looks up the deed for the barn and discovers it’s owned by a man named Patrick Campbell (Mel Tuck), who has a criminal background.
Colter then asks Reenie (Fiona Rene) to work her legal expertise to get more information from Frank by pretending to be his lawyer. Unfortunately, Reenie’s strong sense of professionalism doesn’t allow her to play along with Colter’s strategy.
Instead, she decides to represent Frank, hoping that this might help her get the truth out of him. Frank opens up to Reenie after she offers him a potential plea deal. However, Reenie quickly realizes that Frank’s behavior is still suspicious, and she starts to suspect that he may still be secretly loyal to the Teacher, even if he isn’t working for him directly anymore.
An Unexpected Revelation in ‘Tracker’ Season 2, Episode 9
Colter continues his investigation by visiting Patrick Campbell at a private nursing home. Patrick, now living with dementia, is seemingly unable to help with the case. However, Colter notices that Patrick’s family, including his daughter Kayla (Jody Thompson) and son-in-law Noah (Nicholas Lea), seem overly eager to explain how they can’t get Patrick to sell a cabin but live far away in Chicago.
Colter finds this behavior to be a bit odd. Most people don’t offer alibis unless they are being questioned, which raises Colter’s suspicions. The son-in-law, Noah, is particularly over-the-top in trying to portray himself as a wholesome and average family man. Colter leaves, but he doesn’t fully rule out the possibility that the family might be hiding something.
Frank’s Redemption Attempt in ‘Tracker’ Season 2, Episode 9
Back at the police station, Frank insists that he can lead Colter to the place where the Teacher took Gina. Despite being under arrest, Frank insists on going with Colter, claiming that he doesn’t know the exact address. For some reason, the sheriff allows Frank to be temporarily released into Colter’s custody.
Colter and Frank travel to an abandoned hospital off the highway that the Teacher had been using as his lair. The hospital is a trap, but Colter doesn’t immediately realize that.
Inside the hospital, Colter finds the missing girl, Hannah, chained up in a dark corner. However, before Colter can free her, the Teacher traps them by using gas. The Teacher’s latest disciple, Brandon, attacks Colter with an ax, but Frank manages to break free from his handcuffs and shoots Brandon dead. But things take an unexpected turn when Frank follows the Teacher, making it unclear whether Frank is betraying Colter or helping him.
When the Teacher reveals himself to Frank, it turns out to be Noah, Colter’s earlier suspect. Frank is shocked, but he pulls a gun on Noah. It is revealed that Frank had led Colter to the hospital so that he could confront Noah and, finally, make up for the years of harm he had caused by kidnapping girls for the serial killer.
However, as Reenie had suspected, a few kind words from Noah are enough to pull Frank back under the Teacher’s influence.
In the final moments, Noah attempts to flee but is injured when Frank’s gun goes off. Colter manages to apprehend Noah, and the truth comes out: he admits to killing Gina. Although this confession brings a sense of closure for the case, it’s not the end of the story.
For Camille, the real victory is that Colter’s investigation saved Hannah’s life. In a powerful moment, Camille holds a funeral for her sister and tells Colter that, for the first time, she feels free to move on with her life. She plans to travel and see the world, something she had put off out of fear that Gina would come back.
Colter, ever the gentleman, offers her a place to stay in his van, but Camille is focused on new adventures, both personally and professionally.
As the episode ends, Colter and Camille go their separate ways, each with a new chapter in their lives ahead. Meanwhile, viewers can look forward to the next chapter in Tracker’s ongoing season, which continues every Sunday on CBS.
Also Read: ‘Tracker’ Midseason Recap: Colter Faces New Mysteries and Old Secrets
