Every episode of Tracker introduces a new missing persons case from a different location in the U.S. for survivalist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) to tackle. The one case that has loomed over his head for decades, however, is that of the death of his father. Throughout the series, namely the first season, bits and pieces about Ashton’s (Lee Tergesen) mysterious death have come together.
In Season 2, Episode 13, titled “Neptune,” a new character is sort of introduced that might not completely disappear now that this case is done. In fact, some suspect, or at least hope that he might be a missing link to bring everything about Ashton Shaw to light.
'Tracker' Season 2, Episode 13 Dives Into Government Spy Territory
In one of his most dangerous cases yet, Colter takes on the case of a man named Logan (Oliver Rice), who is offering a reward for his missing wife, Claire (Alvina August). While window shopping, he convinced her to go into a fancy store and try on a dress they could clearly not afford. But as he waited, and waited, and waited for her to emerge from the dressing room, she didn’t. She just disappeared.
While investigating, Colter discovers that Claire isn’t who she purports to be. The publishing company she works for is clearly a front for a secret government organization. What’s more, when he arrives at the office, everyone but Claire and her boss, Eileen Turner (Gabrielle Rose), are dead. Colter accompanies Logan to their home, where he detects a burglary from his security camera. No one was there, and no valuables were taken, but Claire’s laptop was mysteriously gone.
When Logan goes missing from the hotel room, Colter tells him to stay in for safety, and Colter inspects the place. Just then, the phone rings. A disguised voice on the other end tells Colter that he knows who he is and should stop what he’s doing. With Colter being Colter, however, he will do no such thing. Reenie (Fiona Rene) pulls a favor from her government contracts to find that the company is an off-books counterterrorism agency. But even when she pleads with him to back off because this seems like a really dangerous case, Colter pushes on.
Elsewhere in the hotel, Colter follows breadcrumbs and spots Claire. He corners her in the underground parking lot, where she reveals the truth. She discovered her boss, Eileen, was selling sensitive information. Claire was only spared, but she later discovered when agreeing to meet with Eileen that two people were needed to authenticate the repositioning of a satellite. Eileen swears this is her last job, and once Claire helps, she’ll never see or hear from her again. If she doesn’t help, however, Logan will be killed.
Colter does what he does best and saves Logan and Claire in the nick of time, after which Claire calls in the breach to Eileen’s boss. She has never met the man but knows his name is Deputy Director Bartholomew. Later, Reenie calls Colter, unsure if he should feel good or be concerned about something she has received. It’s a letter thanking Colter for his assistance, signed by Deputy Director Bartholomew. She asks if Colter recognizes the name and suggests that she isn’t sure if the tone of the letter is genuine or a veiled warning.
How Deputy Director Bartholomew Could Be Connected in 'Tracker'
Some fans think that this won’t be the last viewers hear of Deputy Director Bartholomew, and this man (or even woman?) could become an on-screen character at some point. If they were also the disguised voice who called Colter, they might have been watching him for some time or at least know who he is. That isn’t far-reaching for a high-level government official, who could have him identified faster than Bobby (Eric Graise) or Randy (Chris Lee) could. One theory is that he could be the pushy man in the street who tried to sell Colter tickets to his magic show. The man distracted Colter long enough for him to miss Claire and Eileen leaving the restaurant where he was surveilling them. The timing was too perfect, and the scene too out-of-place to have been a mere coincidence.
What does this have to do with Ashton? There have been theories about Ashton’s potential involvement in government or spy work. Some fans believe that Ashton’s paranoia, which led him to move his family off the grid when Colter was a teenager, was warranted because he was either involved in or caught wind of something the government was secretly doing. He was later presumably killed to prevent him from digging further or revealing the truth.
Whether his wife Mary (Wendy Crewson) had anything to do with it is up for debate. Some think that she is the one who was/is a spy and perhaps could even be Bartholomew. It’s interesting that Deputy Director Bartholomew is only known by their surname, after all. Another option is that Bartholomew is the person behind Ashton’s death in the first place or at least had some role in it all those years ago. It's also worth noting that while Eileen was doing something nefarious, selling secrets to potential enemies and third parties, it’s possible Deputy Director Bartholomew was in on this plan, which is why they wanted Colter to stop trying to stop it.
One indication that all but confirms Ashton had some level of involvement with the government came in Season 2, Episode 2, “Ontological Shock,” when Colter and his brother Russell (Jensen Ackles) solved a case that took them to a secret government black site. The supernatural-themed episode involved the study of alien life forms. “Your father asked too many questions,” one man tells Ackles at the site, indicating that he knew exactly who Russell was and knew Ashton as well.
Thus, Reenie’s intuition may have been correct in that the letter was meant to let Colter know that Deputy Director Bartholomew is watching, he’s aware of what Colter has done, and knows what he will be doing should he dig any further into this case. Colter likely won’t, of course, since he only handles missing persons cases anyway and always moves on to the next once he gets his check. But if Colter catches wind that this case or person has anything to do with his father, he will undoubtedly pursue it further, no matter how dangerous the stakes.
This Mysterious Person Could Be the Missing Link
Whatever the case, fans hope to hear more from, and eventually see, the mysterious Deputy Director Bartholomew. It would be a shame if they were just a one-off voice on the other end of the phone that Colter never hears from again. In a Reddit discussion on the episode, Redditor The_Swarm22 opines that they doubt it’s the last fans have heard of this character. “Feel like he’s behind or one of the people involved in his father’s death. Felt very much like a veiled threat Colter got at the end there.”
Diamond1441 adds that they think the “intelligence agency and family plot are actually related,” adding that Logan is an aerospace researcher, which might be why he was Claire’s mark (even though she denied that he was). Could Ashton have been a mark, too? The fact that Tracker added a case about a clandestine government organization to the show seems intentional, compared to a standalone, unique case. This, tied with the events in “Ontological Shock,” suggests there’s a bigger puzzle being pieced together, bit by bit.
In fact, looking back, other cases may have provided subtle hints piecing the story together, too. In Season 2, Episode 8, “The Night Movers,” Colter’s case for a missing man leads him to an organization that provides people with fake IDs and the means to escape. Given another far-fetched theory about Ashton is that he faked his death, this might play into that, too. Thus, while it seemed like the Colter family mystery had been abandoned through much of the second season, perhaps there have been small hints pointing to everything coming to a head for Colter.
For now, fans are eager to see how everything comes together for Colter as Season 2 continues. With Tracker already renewed for a third season as well, there’s plenty of time for Deputy Director Bartholomew to reappear in some fashion and potentially become the biggest adversary that Colter has faced yet. Stream Tracker on Paramount+.
