Pancakes Reveal Colter Shaw’s Tragic Past in ‘Tracker’

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Viewers are adoring Tracker, an action drama starring Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a loner survivalist who works with a remote team to track down missing persons in exchange for reward money. His childhood growing up with an eccentric dad who taught his kids how to survive in the wilderness helped him hone his skills but also largely played into the lifestyle he chose.

Colter is never in one place for long, traveling the country in his truck with an Airstream trailer he calls home. There is an overarching story that bleeds into every episode, however, about Colter’s childhood and the mysterious death of his father. In the latest Season 2 episode, fans got a little more detail about his life growing up. It wasn’t much. But the nugget suggests more could be coming.

Pancakes Conjure Up Fond and Troubling Memories in ‘Tracker‘

The death of Colter’s father, Ashton (Lee Tergesen), was brought up in many Season 1 episodes, notably when older brother Russell (Jensen Ackles) shows up. However, the case has effectively gone cold through all of Season 2. Colter makes little mention of his family nor of his father’s death and his curiosity around it. That is, until a minor but impactful moment in Season 2, Episode 12, entitled “Monster,” when Colter finally opens up to someone about his childhood.

After solving the case of a missing mother, Colter receives help from Reenie (Fiona Rene), and they celebrate with dinner in a diner. As they laugh over casual conversation, Reenie comments on Colter’s choice of dinner food: he’s ferociously devouring a stack of pancakes. “I didn’t take you for a ‘pancake for dinner’ kind of guy,” she jokes.

He smiles and says he loves pancakes; they go with anything, and you can eat them for any meal. He then reveals more about how, when his father was having one of his “episodes,” his mother Mary (Wendy Crewson) would make the kids pancakes as a symbolic gesture, meaning they could start the day over. Thus, any time he has pancakes, it makes him think of his mother. He probably also welcomes the perceived mental reset.

Reenie advises Colter to discuss his feelings with someone else, specifically a therapist, as this is what helped her gain clarity. However, Colter indicates that he’s currently talking about it with Reenie herself. To make things clearer, Reenie explains she meant a professional therapist, not just anyone. Yet, Colter refuses the suggestion. Recognizing Colter’s personality, Reenie decides not to push the issue any further. She acknowledges that he confides in her and they move on with their meal together.

What Viewers Know So Far About Colter’s Mom in ‘Tracker’

It’s inferred in previous episodes and through flashbacks that Ashton was a paranoid person. It’s unclear if his paranoia was justified and someone or something was really after him or if he had a diagnosable mental illness. He was having one of these episodes when he ran off the fateful day that he died.

Interestingly, when Colter mentions to Mary in present day that Russell has been desperately reaching out to him, she encourages her son to block his number and ignore him. “For everyone’s sake, leave it be,” she suggests. This leads fans to believe that Russell knows something Colter doesn’t and that Mary wants to protect Colter from finding out about it. It may also be because, as a mother, she knows Colter and doesn’t want him to dredge up the past and become fixated on it.

Hartley revealed to TVLine that Mary might be trying to shield Colter from himself, stating, “Mary knows who Colter is, she understands that once he’s on a trail, he won’t abandon it.” He further explained that Mary is willing to deceive even her own son due to the desperation she feels. The question remains, though, what exactly is she concealing from him and why doesn’t she believe he can handle the truth?

In Season 1, Mary appears infrequently. During the second episode titled “Missoula,” Colter goes to see her after she calls him, concerned that someone might have broken into his father’s old office. However, his search turns up nothing, which hints that maybe Mary is also anxious about something secretive.

The Story of Ashton’s Life and Death in ‘Tracker’

While Tracker is by and large a procedural that covers a different case in each episode, there is an overarching mystery. It’s the one case Colter was never able to solve and that eats away at him: the death of his father, Ashton. Ashton was a professor at Berkeley and was brilliant but also eccentric. He moved his family into the wilderness at one point, forcing them to live off the grid for unknown reasons. It was unclear if he was hiding from someone or something and what his motivations were. But this life is what led Colter to develop incredible tracking and survival skills and to choose the path that he did.

When he was a teenager, Colter’s father abruptly left the home while having an episode. When Colter went looking for him, he found his father’s dead body at the bottom of a cliff. Looking up to the cliff above, he saw his older brother Russell standing there. For much of his life, Colter was convinced that Russell killed their father. But when the two finally reunite after years apart, Russell insisted that this wasn’t the case. What’s more, he recalls seeing another person in the forest that day and recognizing him as someone he had seen speaking to their mother before.

Another time Colter’s father is brought up is in the Season 1 finale called “The Storm.” Colter helps an old friend named Lizzy (Jennifer Morrison), whose daughter has gone missing. After the case is solved and they reconnect and catch up, he learns that Colter’s father was having an affair with her mother. She thought Colter knew the whole time.

His father, who had visited Lizzy’s mother just before his death, left a box of his belongings there. When her mother died recently, Lizzy gave the box to Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), Colter’s sister. But Dory, who Colter had recently visited, made no mention of this box, further fueling the mystery around the circumstances. This new affectionate mention of Colter’s mom and her penchant for pancakes doesn’t add much to the story nor provide any indication of what might have happened. But it does plant the seed for Colter to finally ask his mother some of the tough questions.

Whatever the reason, with many of these characters tapped to return in future episodes, including Mary, Russell, Dory, and Lizzy, the show will slowly develop this overarching case, feeding fans bits and pieces as it goes. For now, this gentle moment over pancakes is one of the few times fans see Colter let his guard down and enjoy someone else’s company. It solidifies how important Reenie is to Colter but also highlights the unresolved trauma from his childhood. The truth may not be something a short stack dripping with butter and maple syrup can fix. But this delicious indulgence symbolizes starting over, which has brought Colter comfort for many years. Stream Tracker on Paramount+.

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2025-03-17 05:34