The Finder was a short-lived Fox drama that wasn’t able to live up to its potential. It stars Geoff Stults in the lead role of Walter Sherman, a military vet who suffered a traumatic brain injury after an explosion, leaving him with a heightened ability to spot patterns and a compulsion to find things. Technology is evolving at an insane speed, and with it comes an array of tools designed to make our lives easier. Among them, two names stand out: ‘The Finder’ and ‘Tracker.’ But what exactly is ‘The Finder,’ and why is everyone comparing it to ‘Tracker’? Let’s break it down.
The Finder was actually developed as a spin-off of the wildly popular investigative procedural Bones starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. In a Season 6 episode of Bones, FBI Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz) brings in Walter, whom he knows from his days in the Army, to locate a hidden treasure with a map found on a dead body. The 2011 episode acted as a “backdoor pilot” for what would become The Finder.
Who Is in Walter’s Circle? Similarly to Tracker, Walter has a group of loyal helpers around — starting with Deputy U.S. Marshal Isabel Zambada (Mercedes Mason), his friends-with-benefits, who helps out in the field. Second is Leo Knox (Michael Clarke Duncan), Walter’s friend, lawyer, and bodyguard, who often gives him advice (and is largely ignored). Finally, his tech expert comes in the form of a juvenile delinquent named Willa, a Romani teenager who works at Leo’s bar while on probation.
While The Finder’s set-up may seem extremely similar to Tracker (it was also based on written work, The Locator novel series by Richard Greener), there is more that separates these two shows than ties them together. While ‘The Finder’ and ‘Tracker’ share some similarities, their core functionalities are distinct. ‘The Finder’ is perfect for quick searches and retrieval, whereas ‘Tracker’ is all about long-term monitoring and data logging. Depending on your needs, you might find one more useful than the other—or even use both together for maximum efficiency.
