Colter breaks into a house and opens an old wound. A case in Kansas leads him into the desperate search for a missing family.

Tracker season 1 leapt out of what seemed like an attempt to replicate the success of Reacher into something much more folksy and interesting. This season opener still has that but has added some other elements. It feels like a bigger show, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

The smallest change is a structural one. Reenie (Fiona Rene) has gone into business for herself and is working out of an office with Velma (Abby McEnancy). Robin Weigert’s Teddi Bruin isn’t back this season but is still in the show, just away on a trip. It’s a shame to lose Weigert but if there was an issue with the supporting cast it was always that the show didn’t give them enough to do. Moving Reenie, Velma and the always fun Bobby (Eric Graise) into functional business together solves that problem.

The larger change is where things get odd. The opening sequence, and Colter’s burglary, revolves around a missing girl called Gina Picket. Ryan Dorsey plays Frank, the prime suspect in the disappearance, and he and Colter clearly loathe one another. Unusually, Frank clearly has the upper hand and there’s a passing reference to this being a regular occurrence that suggests he and Colter have clashed more than once before. At the end of the episode, we meet Camille (Floriana Lima), her older sister. The sense of doom surrounding her and Colter is tangible and it’s clear this is the case that got away and that haunts Colter in ways we’ve never seen before. It’s a brave choice and it grounds Colter in some interesting ways. But it also feels far more traditional than the show has before.

The case this week is very much business as usual in the best of ways. An entire family disappear and the search leads Colter to a pair of Marshals (Matt Long) and Jenny Martinez (Enuka Okuma), There’s clearly something more than there seems here, and the show does a typically impressive job of exploring their viewpoints and that of the family. The payoff is especially nicely handled, and ties back into the show’s common motif of Colter being part of the solution rather than the sole component. It’s also excellent to see The Librarians’ Lindy Booth show up as one of the family members.

Verdict: This is a fun episode of one of the best put together procedurals made in the West right now. It feels a little more traditional than it has in the past but this is a new season, new ideas and new choices. Let’s see how it plays out. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart