Tracker Season 3, Episode 2 Recap & Spoilers

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I was on the edge of my seat during the second half of the Tracker premiere! It’s crazy to see Colter and Russell suddenly become targets of the Process after they saved the client’s daughter. They really messed things up for Raymond Ockman, the teacher who kidnapped her, when they got him arrested. It’s clear disrupting that blackmail scheme has consequences!

At the end of the first episode, Colter and Russell received threatening messages from a mysterious group called the Process. This week, they’re determined to find out who’s behind these threats and stop them. The case becomes personal for Colter, and Russell and Reenie connect while working together to solve it.

Colter and Russell Meet Up with Randy Over Breakfast

The film “Leverage” immediately throws you into a really tense situation. We open on Harith Holmes, clearly distraught – driving at night with blood on his hands, and fighting back tears. Then he gets a message asking if his ‘task’ is done. It quickly becomes clear that task was something horrific: he had to kill Ockman’s sister because he failed some kind of assignment. He tried to pass the blame – and the danger – onto Ockman, but when Ockman was caught, it all came crashing back down on Holmes. Now, he’s being forced into something even worse: he has to go after Colter and Russell Shaw. The thing is, all the other people caught up in this ‘Process’ have been ordinary folks. Colter and Russell, though? They’re not helpless civilians; they’re clearly dangerous and prepared. Honestly, watching it, you just know Holmes doesn’t stand a chance.

Colter and Russell discussed the case over breakfast – Colter had pancakes, while Russell enjoyed French toast. When Randy arrived, the three began to review their findings, though Randy ordered a large amount of food, seemingly to cope with the stress. Their investigation kept pointing to Ockman, but the team doubted he had the skills to create the complex encryption Randy discovered. Although a review of the text messages didn’t reveal much, they found an unusual cellphone signal. The Shaw brothers then decided to split up and follow different leads. Russell went to investigate the location of the unusual signal, and Colter planned to speak with Lisa about something called the Process.

Lisa confessed to Colter that she still needed to retrieve a briefcase, and then explained how ‘The Process’ had manipulated her. She admitted to assisting Kurt in stealing from people she knew – her colleagues and even family. As she described these actions, and a particularly violent act – cutting off her boyfriend’s hand to steal from him – she worried about how Colter perceived her as a mother. Colter usually avoids judging his clients, but Lisa’s story deeply affected him personally.

Colter is following Lisa’s directions, while Reenie teams up with Russell to investigate an empty lot after failing to gain Ockman’s trust. Ockman, already on edge after spotting a questionable prison guard, now believes Reenie is involved with the guard and the mysterious “Process.” They travel in Reenie’s new Porsche, and we also catch up with the lawyer, who is still recovering from last season’s difficult events. Reenie is surprised by how calm Russell seems despite the dangerous situation, but he quickly turns the conversation back to focus on her.

Reenie just revealed she and her boyfriend, Elliot, have split up. Russell pretends to be surprised, but notices Holmes watching them from a small blue car. He offers Reenie support, and she quickly accepts, possibly because she finds Russell understanding, or simply because she’s feeling lost while Colter is unreachable.

Reenie admitted to the oldest Shaw brother that she was terrified, and briefly thought the situation was hopeless. She was also worried about Elliot, remembering how close he had come to dying. Russell reassured her, reminding her that they both survived and offering to listen to anything she wanted to share. This showed a gentler side of Russell as he continued to support Colter and Reenie through a difficult time.

Colter and Russell Play Along with The Process

Reenie receives news that Ockman was found dead in his jail cell while she and Russell are driving. Shortly after, a small blue car starts following them. Russell quickly turns around and engages in a dangerous chase with the driver, ultimately causing a crash. Russell then captures the man who had been trying to attack them. Meanwhile, Colter recovers the briefcase Lisa was supposed to get – it contains compromising photos of Ockman with a student – and meets Russell at a secure location to question their captive.

While Colter is questioning him, Holmes receives a message from the Process asking if Russell Shaw is dead. It’s strange they’d ask, considering how much they know about their targets – they should have realized Holmes couldn’t complete the task. But their overconfidence is their weakness. When Colter suggests replying ‘no,’ Holmes quickly reveals everything about the Process. He believed he’d escaped – he’d gotten his son back and passed the blackmail onto someone else – but the Process always expects him to deal with unexpected problems. Colter, feeling some sympathy, lets Holmes call his child. They then agree that faking Russell’s death is the only way to ensure the boy’s safety.

Once Holmes successfully impersonates Russell’s killer, he needs to find another person to kidnap – someone he can use to control the Process and its next target. When Randy provides a new clue, the brothers separate again. Russell accompanies Holmes to maintain the illusion for the Process, preventing suspicion. Meanwhile, Colter investigates the lead Randy provided, which originated from a briefcase Colter discovered earlier. The briefcase belonged to Susanna Tate, a retired professor who once conducted a psychological study called ‘The Process of Leverage and Obedience.’ However, the experiment failed because some students began exhibiting dangerous tendencies – a thirst for power and a growing capacity for cruelty – forcing Tate to shut it down.

Colter and Russell Put an End to The Process

Colter gives Tate the names of three students who were deeply disturbed by the end of the Process, identifying Don Schneider as especially cruel. When the Process begins targeting new people with text messages, Randy traces the number used to the same deserted area Russell and Reenie were traveling to before they encountered Holmes. Russell and Colter meet at this location and discover a building. They find out the Process was actually run by Don Schneider and Phillip Jost, another of Tate’s former students. Jost tries to escape, and Russell gives chase, while Colter goes inside the building to find Schneider.

Russell found himself trapped by Jost, who shocked him with a taser and then attacked with a tire iron. Russell was forced to shoot and kill one of the two men who were trying to blackmail him. Meanwhile, Colter discovered Schneider surrounded by computer screens. Schneider had been expecting Colter, which explained why he hadn’t ordered Holmes to eliminate the bounty hunter. Schneider then showed Colter photos of Dory and Mary, and coldly asked what he’d do to protect his mother and sister, questioning how well Colter really knew his family. It seems Schneider hadn’t fully investigated Colter’s past, because this was clearly a sensitive topic for him.

Schneider claims the Process will continue even if Colter kills him, as it’s designed to run on its own. However, I doubt that – shutting down the computer running the program would likely stop it. Colter seems to realize this too, and quickly knocks Schneider unconscious. Russell enters the computer room with Colter and notices pictures of Dory and Mary, wondering if Schneider attempted to use them for blackmail. Colter coldly replies that Schneider tried, but failed. Echoing a moment from earlier in the series, the brothers then stand together and shoot the computer equipment, effectively ending the Process.

The operation had to stop because it required a server and internet connection to function. The episode ends with a touching moment between Russell and Colter. Though Russell stayed silent, he sensed Colter becoming distant and emotionally withdrawn in Schneider’s bunker, particularly regarding their mother. As the older brother, Russell urges Colter to discuss Echo Ridge and their mom, but Colter isn’t prepared to do so. Russell decides not to pressure him, even though he knows Colter won’t just ignore the issue. Instead, Russell focuses on preparing a response for Mary when she asks about Colter, and Colter explains he simply needs more time to process things.

Russell shared his future plans, saying he wanted to use his talents to help others. This prompted Colter to ask Russell to recount one of his wild adventures. The brothers then decided to get together for beers and steaks. Colter felt good that Russell admired him, and he seemed reluctant to let Russell leave.

Cassie’s Observations and Commentary: Favorite Moments and Thoughts on Russell Shaw

  • I was happy we got to spend more time with Reenie this episode, and that they aren’t just glazing over her trauma. One of the great things about Tracker is that, despite its procedural nature, it evolves, and the characters grow through their experiences.
  • Russell has only been in four episodes of Tracker, but his chemistry is so great with the cast that he genuinely feels like he’s part of their lives even when we don’t see it. It was such a cute moment when Reenie told him not to do anything “Russelly” with her new Porsche. He, of course, ignores this request and drives dangerously, pulling off some impressive car stunts.
  • Speaking of Russell, if I wasn’t sure that they were teasing a spin-off before, I am sure of it now. Russell deciding to use his skills to help people the way Colter does is the perfect setup for his show. After the two-part premiere, we got to see how his show might differ from Tracker.
  • I still feel robbed of a Mary and Russell reunion.
  • Justin Hartley continues to impress me with how nuanced his performance as Colter Shaw is. The subtle ways he carried Colter’s burden throughout the case were heartbreaking.
  • Overall, I think the Process was an interesting case for a two-part episode, but the answer to the mystery being two psychotic grad students intoxicated by having power over other people was a little underwhelming — especially with Schneider spewing that nonsense about a self-sustaining algorithm. That said, if it were a bigger and more complex system, they probably couldn’t have wrapped it up so neatly.

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2025-10-27 06:11