‘Tracker’ Season 1 Episode 10 Recap: “Into the Wild”
Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) goes for a run in the forest and then takes a shower, emerging wrapped in a towel as CBS’s Tracker season one episode 10 begins. Reenie (Fiona Rene) surprises him as he steps out of his bathroom, holding up a cell phone and taking a video of his still-damp body clad only in a towel.
She chuckles at his discomfort before getting down to business. Colter’s supposed to be taking time off, but she needs his help tracking a missing plane. Gus, a friend of her father, owns McMillion Charter and Treks in Idaho, and his son, daughter, and a client were on the plane.
Fortunately for Reenie, Colter’s willing to cut his time off short. He heads to Idaho with Reenie who claims helping with cases is much more interesting than doing regular lawyer work. Reenie explains that she called Gus to book a trip for her dad and knew instantly that something was wrong by the sound of his voice. Gus’s son Hank was flying the plane and Madison was on board with a client named Walter.
Gus (Gil Birmingham, Yellowstone) confirms he’s ready to pay Colter’s fee if he can find his children. Gus points out the plane’s last known location just before a squall blew in. Their flight path was completely off track and headed straight into the storm. Search and Rescue didn’t spot anything, and Gus did a flyover on his own. He saw a bunch of debris, but the clouds made it hard to see.
Gus agrees to fly Colter to the debris field area. Colter will jump out there and look around.
Before he leaves, Colter asks Reenie to do some checking around. He believes Hank diverted the plane before the storm rolled in. The plan was to go to the lake, but Colter thinks that got switched somewhere along the way. Where were they going and why?
Gus informs Colter there’s a ranger station five miles from the debris field. Colter pulls off a flawless landing after jumping out over a game trail.
Meanwhile, Reenie and Gus are catching up when a stranger (Peter Stormare) wanders in asking about Walter. Gus admits he called Walter’s emergency number, but no one called back. Spidey sense tingling, Reenie’s on alert when the man will not say his name. The man continues to act weird as Gus confirms the plane went missing.
Reenie snaps a few photos as the stranger returns to his car.
Debris field located, Colter searches the plane’s cabin. There aren’t any bodies inside, and he spots tracks leading away from the site. He finds Walter’s body a short distance away. Colter calls Gus and Reenie with an update and explains Walter didn’t die from the crash. It’s obvious he was shot with a large caliber weapon. Gus reveals Madison carried a .44 magnum.
Reenie warns Colter that a strange man came in looking for Walter. Colter searches the body and discovers Walter doesn’t have a wallet or phone. However, Colter spots a transponder near the body and assumes it came from the luggage. (A weird assumption since there isn’t any luggage nearby. It would make more sense that it fell out of Walter’s pocket.)
Colter shares a photo of the dead man and Gus and Reenie realize it’s not Walter. Colter continues his search, following footprints away from the crash site.
Reenie sends Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany) the dead man’s photo, describing the case as taking a turn for the weird. They promise to bring Bobby into the loop to help identify the body. Reenie forwards a photo of Walter’s car and asks them to also look into his background. They realize it would be faster with the registration, so Reenie breaks a window. The registration indicates it belongs to Holly Choi in Reno, Nevada, not Walter.
Colter finds a makeshift tent along with the smoking remains of a fire and two smashed cell phones. Whoever set up camp didn’t want to be tracked and was in a huge hurry. Also, one of the people at the camp was injured. He calls Reenie with his latest finding, and she fills him in on the car’s ownership. Colter theorizes Walter was using Hank and Madison to smuggle something onto the plane. That may be why the flight plan was changed.
Reenie discovers a receipt from a printing company in the car and wants to chase down that lead. Suddenly, a shot rings out and Reenie – still on the phone – runs toward it. She doesn’t pause when another shot is fired. Reenie steps into Gus’s office and spots blood on the floor. Grabbing a makeshift weapon, she finds Gus in pain on the floor. Gus shot the mysterious man, but he got away.
Just then Gus’s plane takes off down the runway.
Luckily, Gus is okay, but the mystery man is injured. Unfortunately, he also stole the map of the search grid as well as Gus’s plane. They realize he’s heading Colter’s way, and Reenie sends Colter the photo she took earlier as the man was getting into his car.
Reenie visits the printing service and makes up a convincing lie about the receipt. The clerk reveals the purchase was of photos sized for a Canadian passport.
Colter’s hot on Hank and Madison’s trail, and it seems they are heading to the ranger station. He hears someone cry out and Madison’s confused when Colter calls out her name. Colter quickly explains her dad sent him and Madison confirms she’s in trouble. She’s stuck on the side of a hill with a broken arm. Colter repels down and Madison quickly explains Walter has Hank. She only got away by jumping off the ridge.
Walter shot at her after she jumped but missed. Apparently, Walter’s making Hank carry money. Walter had too much money with him for just one person to carry.
Colter wraps her broken arm and warns that it will hurt getting her back up. He also assures her that she can do it; she just needs to be brave.
Velma and Teddi continue their research and realize the area is the perfect place for Walter to slip across the Canadian border and disappear. He had to alter his plans when the plane crashed. (Velma and Teddi’s scenes no longer show their dogs, including their adorable Corgi. Bummer.)
Madison tells Colter that Walter paid Hank $5,000 to change the flight plan. Their revised destination was just over the Canadian border. However, the storm caused Hank to try to make an emergency landing. She also confirms the dead guy tracked them there and Walter shot him with her gun. (Even with a transponder hidden on the plane, how did he track them to the crash site in the middle of nowhere so quickly after the crash? The weather was horrible and the crash, obviously, wasn’t a planned stop?)
After killing the man, Walter revealed dangerous people were after him and marched Hank and Madison off at gunpoint. Walter also got rid of a tracking chip that was in the money.
Reenie calls Colter and reveals the dead guy worked for dealers in Reno. The money in Walter’s possession was stolen from them. The guy who attacked Gus is named Voltz and he was sent by the dealers to retrieve the money.
Colter and Madison make it to the ranger station and discover Voltz beat them to it. The ranger’s tied up and now Voltz holds Colter and Madison at gunpoint (a gun in each of his hands, one of which is very shaky). Voltz demands to know where Walter was heading, and Madison says to a town near Strand Lake in Canada. Walter told her he needed to be in Pinewood before midnight.
Once Madison’s done revealing Walter’s plans, Voltz tries to shoot her. Fortunately, Colter moves quickly and knocks her down, taking a bullet to his shoulder. Voltz is heading out the door when Colter shoots him in the thigh. (Remember, Gus also shot him.) They’re both wounded but only Voltz makes it to an ATV and gets away.
The ranger bandages Colter’s shoulder as Colter promises to try and get to Hank before Voltz does. Colter uses tea bags to stop the bleeding and has the ranger drop him off on the main road.
After Reenie picks up Colter, they call Velma and Teddi while driving toward Hank and Walter’s probable location. A brief discussion of tea bags ensues, and then Teddi reveals there’s a guy in Strand Lake who helps people vanish, according to her FBI contact.
Velma looks up Pinewood and discovers it’s a resort right over the border.
Reenie and Colter arrive at Pinewood and split up to cover more ground. Colter searches the cabins while Reenie heads to the main office. She spots blood spatter and then sees the manager lying dead behind the counter.
Colter peers into a cabin that appears to have been recently used. Heading around back, he finds Walter and the man Walter was meeting dead from gunshot wounds. Reenie calls as Colter’s examining the bodies and Colter tells her to hide until the cops arrive.
Colter sees a blood trail and believes it’s either Hank or Voltz’s. Hank probably has at least half of the money, and Colter hopes to find him before Valtz does.
Colter follows the blood to an unlocked cabin and has a brief fight with Hank before getting Hank to realize they’re on the same side. Hank shows Colter the money he stashed under the bed just as they hear the injured Voltz breaking down a nearby cabin’s door. They hide under the cabin because they don’t have time to escape.
Voltz shoots up the closet and then grabs the bag of money. He unwraps a stick of gum as he’s about to leave, and the wrapping falls on the floor. Voltz realizes there are spaces between the boards and makes his way slowly across the room. He pauses in the perfect spot, and Colter shoots up through the floorboards, killing him.
Mission accomplished, everyone regroups at McMillion Charter and Treks. Gus hands over the reward and offers Reenie and Colter a weekend fishing trip on the house, whenever they want to set it up. Colter tries to decline the offer, but Reenie takes him up on it. She even suggests a fishing contest which she’s certain she’ll win – even while wearing her Manolos.
