[Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Tracker Season 1 Episode 12 “Off the Books.”] “Hey, little brother,” Russell (Jensen Ackles) greets Colter (Justin Hartley) when we first see him in the latest Tracker. (Let’s just say this episode? It’s full of moments that remind us of Ackles as Dean on Supernatural, including Russell driving an Impala.) He shows up at Colter’s trailer after missing a scheduled meeting (so Colter listens to their sister), and he has something his brother needs to hear… but is he telling the truth?
When the brothers were young, their father died, after falling—or being pushed—off a cliff. Colter thinks Russell did it. But, according to Russell, he didn’t. He doesn’t know if he fell or if someone pushed him, but he’s sure someone else was in the woods that night. Russell reminds Colter that their father had enemies and was paranoid. So why would their mother let Colter believe Russell did it? His brother says she had secrets too. In fact, he saw that man in the woods the night before—talking to their mother. So did she have anything to do with what happened to their father? Russell doesn’t know, but when their father died, she told him it was best for him to leave and keep quiet about what happened. And he did.
Then Russell enlisted in the Army, and he went to Colter for help: One of his army buddies, Doug, had gone missing. Since their discharge, they’ve been working for the rather mysterious Horizon Group. Their search for Doug takes them to the morgue (to track down a finger sent to Doug’s wife), prison (after being caught breaking into the morgue, leading to a happy reunion with Fiona Rene’s Reenie with Russell), a children’s birthday party to meet Russell’s handler, and finally a cabin in the woods. There, they find Doug; it all comes back to an old killing spree of Russell and Doug, where the target’s men saw Doug when he returned to retrieve Russell’s knife. (Colter and Russell’s father gave him the knife, and even he’s not sure why he’s kept it all these years.) But even after they get Doug out, Russell insists on returning to kill the man who wanted to kill him (the previous target’s brother) just as Colter bandages the gunshot wound to his arm. He says he’s meeting him to talk about his escape plan, after an earlier conversation where he couldn’t believe Colter didn’t have one. (Russell’s goal was to open a brewery.) Colter argues that he doesn’t want to be anywhere but on the open road.
At the end of the episode, when Colter stops by the motel where Russell is staying, he discovers that he checked out a few days ago and left him a package with cash and a knife. “Keep me safe,” the accompanying note reads.
What do you think of Jensen Ackles as Russell? Do you believe Russell’s version of events about what happened that night? Let us know in the comments below.
