Colter is hired to find a dead man. Who, it turns out, is much less dead than he’s led people to believe.

The Tracker mid-season finale does an excellent job of reminding us of the arc plot, as well as telling a complete story and sending Colter to the dark side. The first and third happen at the same time, as Colter and Camille Picket (Floriana Lima) meet in an opening scene to finally lay her sister to metaphorical rest. The end of the episode bookends this, with Keaton, who we met a few episodes ago, getting a lead. That lead is Alex (Johnny Rey Diaz) a man he has tied to a chair and tortured. Colter has zero problem with this, especially when it becomes clear Alex knew Camille’s sister and she may still be alive.

This is a hell of a place to leave us for the mid-season break, in every sense. It brings the arc plot crashing forward and it shows us the tragedy of this case as well as its scale. Alex hints at being part of a very large-scale operation and if that’s the case how Colter is going to deal with it becomes the question. This feels like something every team, and family, member will be called in for. I’m guessing not all of them are going to be happy about Colter’s choices either.

The main plot this week throws a couple of fun curveballs and also echoes the arc. Lucas (Michael Taylor) is the ‘dead man’ who has very good reasons to disappear. He doesn’t get a lot to do, and it’s ironic that this is one of those rare episodes where the victim is a little side-lined. Instead, we get a memorable guest turn from Jolie Jenkins as a detective and Ted Cole as a local businessman, both connected to the case and both more complex than they first seem. The standout however is Freda Foh Shen as Barbie Lee. Barbie and her husband are the ‘anti-Colter’, people who specialise in making people disappear. Her relentless competency is a nice foil for Colter and the two characters mesh very well. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her again.

Verdict: This is a tight, focused episode about Colter fighting systems bigger than himself and the help he needs to do it. It’s not just a great season break; it feels a lot like a hint of what’s to come. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart