Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Tracker season 2, episode 14
As Tracker's second season nears its end (with only a handful more episodes to go), "Exodus" is a disappointingly slow entry. But it does a great job of setting up what could be a more interesting side plot to come. My frustrations with this episode are largely around the pacing, but may also be because it suffers in comparison to recent episodes like "Neptune" and "Nightingale", which do a great job of sucking us in from the get-go.
Meanwhile, "Exodus" takes a little too long to get to the point. The teasers for this episode promised dark magic in New Orleans, and while that does eventually show up, it takes something of a meandering route to get there and then provides all the answers at once. There are a couple of minor twists, but it lacks the twisty, atmospheric goodness of the great Tracker episodes.
And unfortunately, I'm getting a little tired of Good Guy Colter. The more ethically ambiguous Reenie (Fiona Rene) is increasingly the best part of the show, and I'm glad that she's busy with her morally gray side project. It may end up being what saves the end of the season.
"Exodus" Moves At A Snail's Pace – Even Up To The Final Shootout
Tracker Fails To Deliver On The Spooky Premise
I was excited to see Tracker go down a bit of a paranormal avenue again, as some of my favorite episodes (including "Aurora" and "Preternatural") lean heavily on this. I was holding onto some hope that this might drift away from the city of New Orleans into the bayous, where Colter's (Justin Hartley) skills would come into play. Sadly, though, this episode stays firmly within the city limits and puts Colter in basic action-hero mode, swinging his gun at everything and kicking down doors. (Why the man hasn't learned how to pick locks is beyond me.)
There is some dark magic going on, with the introduction of a practice known as Infini, but unlike "Monster", "Exodus" avoids all gore, and manages to also steer clear of any real spookiness or tension. Most of the episode sees him running around New Orleans on a very basic whodunnit before all the dark magic-related reveals are packed into the very end. The episode should have leaned hard on the magical sacrifice elements from the start, making us wonder if there was real magic at play. Without that, it became a very formulaic entry into Tracker canon.
Reenie's Mysterious Client Finally Shows Up In The Flesh
Is Tracker Setting Up Their Bigger Arc For The End Of The Season?
One of the best parts of the episode actually took place back in the office, when Reenie's big client shows up. So far, he's been mentioned a few times throughout the season, always as someone who has deep (even bottomless) pockets, and who is sending Reenie all over the country on various non-specific jobs. This time, however, he is coming to her directly to up the ante on their dealings — doubling her hourly rate and adding a "generous" retainer to be able to work essentially under the table, with a burner phone and no contract.
This is an interesting little scene in and of itself. However, the real interest for me is that it appears to be setting up something bigger for Reenie. It's been increasingly clear that Tracker is not about to focus on solving the Shaw Family Mystery in season 2 (thankfully), but I was starting to worry that it wouldn't have any bigger arc to end on. I did wonder whether it may end up being the Mystery of the Missing Bobby (Eric Graise). Unfortunately, it's more likely Bobby's departure is related to something behind the scenes; it hasn't been mentioned for weeks now.
Instead, it seems Reenie may end up getting in over her head, becoming the rescue of the final episode. Her client has been very clear he is looking for lawyers who are willing to bend the rules (and their ethics), and Reenie has passed his tests, proving her willingness to do dubious things for the job. This isn't new for her, either. Originally, both Reenie and Colter seemed happy to bend the rules to achieve their ends, and that's part of what makes them compelling.
However, she does have her limits — which are mentioned in this scene — which makes me think that the show is going to take her past them and leave her in all kinds of trouble. If this is, in fact, where the show is going, I can't wait to see how that plays out, and how Reenie will hold her own when it does.
Next Up: Billie Is Back In Town
Colter Teams Up With His Rewardist Rival Again
Next week, a familiar face returns to Tracker, as Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas) teams up with Colter once again, for an episode centering on a womens' prison. Read the description below:
Colter recruits fellow rewardist Billie Matalon to infiltrate a women's prison in order to gain access to critical information that would help track down an escaped prisoner and her hostage.
Billie has so far appeared in two episodes of the show, "Lexington" in season one, and "Bloodlines" in season two, and it will be interesting to see her show up again next week. She represents a slightly less rule-following approach to the job, and Colter has become more and more of a purely good hero this season. Here's hoping Billie might help steer him down a slightly more interesting path!
If nothing else, the two have phenomenal chemistry, and it's been a while since we've seen that side of Colter. I'll be looking forward to seeing what Billie might bring out in our heroic rewardist. Hopefully, it's something to sink our collective teeth into.
New episodes of Tracker season 2 air on CBS each Sunday at 8pm ET.
