Trackerhas taken the idea of an investigative procedural and given it a compelling hook: seeing the protagonist travel all over to track down the missing. The set-up of the series means that most of the characters in the show do not appear more than once, but that could be about to change.
The season 2 finale tookTrackermain character Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) back to his hometown. In “Echo Ridge,” we were introduced to a lot of characters who could be back again in the series, including a possible new villain after the season failed to turn all of its villain teases about one recurring character into a substantial storyline.
Tracker Season 2 Failed To Pay Off Its Big Villain Tease
Leo Sharfe Was Built Up As A Potential Villain
Leo Sharfe (Pej Vahdat) became a new major client for Reenie Green (Fiona Rene) inTrackerseason 2. Initially, he was teased as this mysteriously wealthy and powerful man who could get Reenie to drop whatever she was doing with a phone call.Sharfe was built up asTracker’sshadowy figurewho could bring serious trouble to the show.
While Reenie does end up kidnapped as a result of someone wanting revenge for one of Sharfe’s past business dealings,he does not truly live up to all of the buildup. Sharfe, instead, is simply a businessman who made the bad decision to push a former friend out of their shared company. His dealings are legal rather than shady.
WhileReenie will still feel the effects of her kidnapping inTrackerseason 3, it does not look like Sharfe is at all going to fulfill the role of villain that was teased. It’s unclear if Reenie will still even keep Sharfe as a client in season 3 since she was last seen ducking his calls at the end of season 2.
Without Sharfe as the looming shadowy figureTrackerteased, that leaves the show room for a new villain.
The Tracker Season 2 Finale Introduced Ronnie Yates
Ronnie Yates Inspires Fear In Colter’s Friends
The season 2 finale ofTrackeris “Echo Ridge,” named for the small town where Colter spent most of his childhood. It’s also the place where his father died. Returning to town to look for a missing diner owner leads Colter to reconnect with old friends. The case of the week, however, leads him to Ronnie Yates (Artine Tony Browne).
While Ronnie Yates is not the villain of the episode, he is revealed to have some seriously bad connections. Yates is a meth distributor working in and around Echo Ridge. Even Colter’s friend from childhood, Joe Marsh (Drew Powell), hesitates about telling Colter about Yates when his name is brought up during Colter’s investigation.
Joe’s desire to keep Colter away from Yates is a good sign of how dangerous Yates really is.
Joe is introduced to the audience with a shotgun while stealing wood on federal land. The guys working for him immediately follow his lead. He does not hesitate to help Colter with some of the more dangerous aspects of his investigation, like being willing to cut off a man’s fingers for him, but Joe balks at Colter approaching Ronnie Yates.
Joe’s desire to keep Colter away from Yates is a good sign of how dangerous Yates really is.He is a stronger shadowy figure than Sharfe, which could make him a good recurring villaininTrackerseason 3.
Why Ronnie Yates Is The Perfect Tracker Season 3 Recurring Villain
Ronnie Yates Would Raise The Stakes For The Show
Not every episode ofTrackerhas a villain. Some of Colter’s missing persons cases are people who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, disappeared because of an injury in the wilderness, or in other situations that do not mean they were kidnapped.Trackerexcels, however, when it gives Colter a person to go up against.
That would make a recurring antagonist like Ronnie Yates perfect for season 3 ofTracker. Season 2 ended with Colter learning that a man in town pushed his father off a cliff because his mother asked for help, opening upthe Ashton Shaw mysteryin a new way.
IfTrackerwants to maintain Colter’s investigation into his father’s death, the show should see him heading back to Echo Ridge more than once in the upcoming season. It would make sense for Colter to continue to pay visits to old friends and his mother (Wendy Crewson) as he learns more about his father’s past.
It would alsomake sense if Colter continues to pay visits to Echo Ridge, that he would continue to cross paths with Yates. Colter last questioned him by sneaking into his car and holding a gun on the man to get him to answer his questions. That is going to leave an impression on Yates.
The small scene between Yates and Colter sets Yates up to be someone who could go after Colter or those he cares about in the future. That could be Colter’s mother or his friends back home in harm’s way.
Tracker Season 3 Having A Recurring Villain Shakes Things Up For The CBS Hit
Tracker Rarely Has Recurring Characters
Trackerhas an established ensemble of characters that center around Colter Shaw to help him on his investigations. Beyond that, the only characters who truly recur in the series are Colter’s family members, mostly in flashback, and the handful of allies he has cultivated in his work.
A recurring villain would be a huge change forTracker.If Colter had a villain to consider every time he returned to Echo Ridge or the surrounding area, it would add a whole other layer of suspenseto the series.
Colter is not the kind of character who has to look over his shoulder to make sure he stays safe. He is very good at what he does, he lives off the grid, and he is able to hold his own in a fight. That gives him a measure of protection in dangerous storylines.
Adding a recurring villain who has it out for him would complicate matters for Colter. While Justin Hartley has spoken aboutwanting to see Colter on the run and framedfor a crime he did not commit, bringing in Yates as a recurring antagonist could accomplish a lot of the same tensions in a storyline like that.
It’sa great way to provide a serialized aspect to a procedural series. The show could still use its case of the week format, but someone like Yates could remind the audience that the episodes are not always truly standalone stories.Trackercould use Yates to help the stories build on one another and add more depth to season 3.
