Tracker Episode 2: “Missoula” Recap With Spoilers

After a massive post-Super Bowl premiere last Sunday, Tracker has settled in to is weekly time slot of 9pm ET every Sunday night. The evening of February 18th saw the second episode of the series, “Massoula,” air on CBS, putting Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) on a brand new case. WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the latest episode of Tracker. Continue reading at your own risk…

The episode kicks off with Colter’s mom walking around her house at night, stumbling upon a note on the table that reads, “I’m watching you.” The small shed her late husband used for his office and workshop behind the house has been broken into and someone has gone through it, but it doesn’t seem as though anything is missing. Colter comes to take a look and he realizes that her mom isn’t telling him the whole truth, as he notices the figurine that was holding the note in the house wasn’t in the right place on the shelf. She clearly leaves out the note entirely when filling Colter in on what happened.

Colter’s new case takes him to Montana, where an accountant named Jackson Chung has gone missing. His parents explain that he met an older woman named Rachel, and the start of their relationship is where Jackson started distancing himself. He quit his job, left his apartment, emptied his bank account, and cancelled his cell phone plan. He told his dad he was doing work for Rebecca that “people can’t find out about.”

Talking with Bob, Colter learns that Rebecca was previously arrested for fraud and tax evasion, and that she’s the beneficiary of a recent life insurance policy taken out by Jackson. He follows some information to her address and comes across a garage with a state-of-the-art video monitoring system. Several different people are being watched on the various screens, including Jackson. Colter is interrupted by a couple of personal security guys that show up to the house. After a brief physical encounter, Colter is able to leave the property.

He trails the security car to another location and it turns out Rebecca is part of some kind of pyramid scheme/cult known as Positive Light. People are lured in with encouragement and positivity, though they’re eventually convinced to give up their lives and money in service to the group’s leader, Seth. While giving a speech to his group, Seth is given information about Colter and calls him out in front of the crowd. 

Colter visits the Positive Light compound and has a sit-down with Seth. The two have a conversation in which Seth wants to learn important truths about Colter. What he really wants to ask about is Colter’s father. He was apparently a fan of Colter’s dad. Seth asks about the death of Colter’s father and about the secret behind his fall. The conversation reveals that Colter doesn’t actually know why his father was fired from his job before retreating into the woods, and that his mother is keeping something about his identity from him. Seth accepts the conversation as truth and receives a burn on his arm as part of the ritual for “witnessing and holding another person’s secret.” 

Bob calls Colter to tell him about Positive Light’s sketchy history as an organization. They’ve wiped any criticism about them from the Internet. Positive Light’s former financial advisor recently turned up dead as the result of a hit-and-run, and no one ever found the killer. Velma and Teddi are sent out to talk to his widow about what happened. Meanwhile Colter finally catches up with Jackson, who is clearly in deep with Positive Light. Colter tried to appeal to his better senses but doesn’t seem to get far, so he leaves a card with his number and heads out.

Colter later gets a text from Jackson about meeting up, but it turns out to be a set up by Rebecca. She offers Colter an opportunity to join the group but threatens him if he chooses to keep digging. Teddi and Velma fill him in on the story of the old accountant. The widow claims that Positive Light filmed the death of her husband and they have physical files hidden in Seth’s office. Apparently, he keeps files on everyone he comes across. Colter spins things on a Positive Light enforcer that had been following him and uses him to get into the campus at night. In Seth’s office he finds the photos of the accountant’s death, as well as a file that Seth started on him. He takes his file along with the others he needs. There’s even a file on Rebecca, including a video in which she proves her loyalty to Seth.

Colter runs into Jackson and shows him the files on what Positive Light has been up to. When Rebecca and Seth show up to try and stop him, Jackson steps up to help, knowing that Rebecca has been lying to him. Colter is able to disarm them, waiting for the police to arrive. He returns Jackson home to his parents and completes the assignment. Afterward, Colter opens up his own file from Seth in his truck, but we don’t see what’s in it.