This Tracker Theory Could Explain the Colter Family Better
Tracker has been a surprise hit for CBS. Premiering just after Super Bowl LVII in early 2024, the show’s formulaic procedural tone and feel, coupled with Justin Hartley’s compelling performance as the lead, Colter Shaw, have captivated fans. Packed with action and unique situations from episode to episode, it’s no surprise that Tracker has been renewed for a second season, which will premiere on October 13, 2024.
Along with the episodic nature of the show, Tracker also features an overarching storyline about Colter’s childhood, family, and adult life: there’s a mystery surrounding his father’s death. And a theory that completely changes the story and what the situation could mean for Colter if it turns out to be true.
In Tracker, set to become one of CBS’s best shows, Colter’s father Ashton (Lee Tergesen) is an eccentric but brilliant professor at Berkeley. When an incident forces the family to move into a secluded area, Colter’s life changes forever. He learns survival and tracking skills that make him good at his job. That life is what drives him to take on the job of finding missing persons for a reward in the first place. But there are things from his past that haunt him.
Colter remembers rushing out one night to find his father and older brother Russell (Mathew Nelson-Mahood). His father seemed to be growing increasingly paranoid and ran away from home. After some time passed without him returning, Colter went looking for them and found his father lying dead at the foot of Devil’s Notch. When Colter looked up, he saw Russell at the top of the hill looking down and believed that his brother had killed their father. Their relationship has not been the same since.
Throughout the first season of the series, fans learned that Russell had repeatedly tried to contact Colter, to no avail. Colter avoided his calls, refused to return them, and seemed intent on avoiding his brother at all costs. However, after being tipped off by his sister Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), Colter decided to finally meet Russell.
In the penultimate episode of the first season, Tracker’s best episode to date, the two reunited. Russell, played by Jensen Ackles, assured his brother that he did not kill their father. He mentioned that he had seen someone else in the woods that evening, and said he recognized that person as someone who had met their mother Mary (Wendy Crewson). But he did not know who that person was.
Colter believed his brother, but this only added to the mystery, one that Colter seemed unable to solve. Strangely, Mary has always encouraged Colter to stay away from her brother and avoid anything he has to say, which raises suspicions.
At first, one might suspect that Mary, who is also a professor at Berkeley, might be up to something dark and behind her husband’s murder. That would be an obvious reason for her to try to keep Colter away from Russell, especially if she believes Russell might know something. But some believe that her intentions may be pure, and that she is looking out for her youngest son. But why?
Redditor YupNopeWelp has come up with an interesting theory: that Colter may have been the one who pushed his father away. He blocked that memory, and everyone else in his family is trying to protect him.
“Does anyone else think that Colter may have pushed his dad (or, more likely, was fighting with his dad and his dad fell), blocked it, and that his mom was ‘protecting’ him from remembering?” they wrote. “Or at least maybe mom Mary thought Colter was responsible and didn’t want to burden him with that knowledge.”
Which makes sense, because why would both Russell and Dory have information that Colter doesn’t? It would make sense that Russell would have information that his siblings don’t. But for both Russell and Dory to know, something seems off.
In the final episode of what is arguably one of the best cop shows of the 2020s, Colter learns from childhood friend Lizzy (Jennifer Morrison) that his dad and her mom were having an affair. She seems surprised to learn that Colter didn’t know. She also revealed that when her mother passed away a year ago, she found a box of Colter’s father’s old files among her things. Apparently, Ashton had visited her shortly before he died and left the box for her. Lizzy remembered hearing the pair arguing.
Colter had no idea what was in the box, as Lizzy said she gave the box to Dory, not knowing what else to do with it. Since Colter had just spent time with Dory where they discussed their father and Dory never mentioned it, it seemed suspicious. What was in the box?
Some have speculated that the box may have something to do with Ashton’s involvement with the US government. However, regardless of what it was, why did Doryr felt he didn’t need to know them? One theory is that it could have triggered memories related to the night their father died. Perhaps a young Colter had found the information in the box earlier, disliked it, confronted his father, and this led to some sort of altercation that Colter doesn’t remember.
