Tracker dipped into the bayou this week and brought back something murky, mythic, and a little bit unhinged. “Exodus” starts off feeling like a return to the show’s grounded roots — Colter tracking a missing teenage boy in a small Louisiana town — but then spirals into a twisted, voodoo-tinged murder mystery with cult vibes, face paint, and an immortality ritual. And depending on how you feel about Tracker going off the rails a bit, you’re either going to love it… or want to have words with someone in the writers’ room.
Let’s start with what worked: Colter being brought in by Velma to help Deion, a grieving, working-class father trying to find his 15-year-old son, Anton. It’s a case that feels personal. Anton is an only child, musically gifted, quiet — the kind of kid who doesn’t always have someone looking out for him. Colter showing up to that trailer park with quiet compassion is what makes Tracker work. When the show taps into its emotional core — the father who lost his wife, the kid who texts his dad after every bus ride home — it’s compelling.
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| “Exodus” – TRACKER, Pictured: Marci T. House as Detective Veach and Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
But then things get weird. And not like "quirky local crime" weird, but full-blown secret tunnels, ritual manuscripts, and cult magic weird. The discovery that Anton beaten by classmates, rescued by a troubled-but-kind pianist named Sherry, and taken underground to hide from a deranged club owner performing dark “infinity” rituals? That’s... a lot. Not necessarily bad, but it walks the line of believability the show usually manages to straddle better. Hugo, the aforementioned club owner, is doing human sacrifice rituals based on “infinity” to achieve immortality, complete with a planned "wedding sacrifice." This guy went from jazz club king to cult leader real fast.
And yet, Colter is still Colter — calm, steady, always one step ahead. It was great to see him paired up with Detective Veach, who has ties to the town, a heavy past of her own, and a sincere desire to protect kids who fall through the cracks. She and Colter have real working chemistry- a shared understanding of what it means to crawl through someone else’s darkness for the sake of justice. Detective Veach getting shot at the climax was a solid dramatic beat, and the final church showdown felt like something out of a small-town horror film. Creepy, chaotic, and weirdly satisfying.
And yet, Colter is still Colter — calm, steady, always one step ahead. It was great to see him paired up with Detective Veach, who has ties to the town, a heavy past of her own, and a sincere desire to protect kids who fall through the cracks. She and Colter have real working chemistry- a shared understanding of what it means to crawl through someone else’s darkness for the sake of justice. Detective Veach getting shot at the climax was a solid dramatic beat, and the final church showdown felt like something out of a small-town horror film. Creepy, chaotic, and weirdly satisfying.
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| “Exodus” – TRACKER, Pictured: Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
On the Reenie side of things, this new client, Leo Sharpe, just screamed trouble. Burner phones, shady contracts, and veiled threats — this guy has “season arc” written all over him. Reenie, as always, holds her ground, but the fact that she agreed to his off-the-books arrangement raises major red flags. This could be the storyline that finally ropes her and Colter together outside of their usual long-distance dynamic, especially if Leo’s secrets start bleeding into Colter’s cases.
And speaking of Colter’s past — where is it? We're now five episodes away from a finale that promises to dig into his family secrets, and so far… nothing. No breadcrumbs, no mentions, no emotional foreshadowing. It’s starting to feel like the writers are saving it all for a single dump in the finale, which would be a real waste of a potentially rich arc. The longer they wait, the harder it’ll be to make those moments land with real weight.
And speaking of Colter’s past — where is it? We're now five episodes away from a finale that promises to dig into his family secrets, and so far… nothing. No breadcrumbs, no mentions, no emotional foreshadowing. It’s starting to feel like the writers are saving it all for a single dump in the finale, which would be a real waste of a potentially rich arc. The longer they wait, the harder it’ll be to make those moments land with real weight.
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| “Exodus” – TRACKER, Pictured: Marci T. House as Detective Veach and Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Darko Sikman/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Still, the episode ends on a heartfelt note: Colter refusing Deion’s reward money and asking him to put it toward a community program. That’s Colter Shaw in a nutshell — the reluctant hero who always does the right thing, even when it costs him. It’s a nice reminder that for all the culty detours and dramatic twists, this show works best when it keeps its feet on the ground.
So yeah, “Exodus” was weird. It tried to do a lot. Some of it worked — Genie and Colter made a great team, and Anton’s story had real heart. But Tracker might need to cool it with the supernatural-like plot lines and focus on what it does best: searching for people, and the truth, in places where both are hard to find.
