Tracker Season 1, Episode 3, “Springland” finds Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) working another missing person case, this time near Cascade, Idaho. The first season of Tracker premiered on CBS in March 2024 and ended up being a surprise hit, thanks in part to its debut shortly after Super Bowl LVIII. The series follows Colter Shaw, a former military agent who runs a tracking company where he searches for missing people in the United States. Colter is supported by a team of experts who assist him in remote locations.
The first season begins with Colter starting to get used to the team he’s putting together, while also dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death, which occurred before the start of the show. Colter’s personal problems and his relationships with his team and brother, Russell (Jensen Ackles), form the common thread between episodes, as Colter investigates a different case in each episode. The previous episode saw Colter infiltrating a cult. Tracker Season 1, Episode 3 is a little smaller in scope, but no less tense and exciting while Colter travels to Idaho.
Colter investigates the disappearance of a missing woman with the help of his sister
A woman suddenly disappears from Cascade, Idaho
On his way to a different job, Colter stops at a diner in Idaho, where he sees a group of men accosting a woman for putting missing person fliers in their cars. Colter gets involved and is stabbed. At the clinic, he asks the doctor why everyone was fighting, and she explains that the woman at the diner, Kira Stine (Anja Savcic), is looking for her missing sister, Mia. Mia has always been something of a nomad living in a van, and most of Cascade believes she simply went somewhere else and doesn’t like Kira making a scene.
The doctor warns him to “be careful“, which is exactly the wrong thing to say to someone who makes a living sniffing out trouble. As he leaves, he encounters Kira, who is waiting for him. As the local police pressure Colter to leave town, Kira encourages him to stick around and help her figure out what happened to Mia.. The last time Kira heard from Mia, she was planning to leave town and then blacked out. Kira suspects, without any evidence, that the powerful local Winslow family is behind her disappearance.
Colter decides to help and brings his team. While searching for Mia’s last known whereabouts, Colter encounters Tom (Bradley Stryker), the man with the knife from earlier. Tom explains that he works for the Winslows and is in charge of keeping people who live in vans, like Mia, off the family’s large estate. He told Mia to leave but never touched her. Colter doesn’t know what to believe, but his hacker assistant, Bobby Exley, played by the excellent Eric Graise, finds a photo online of Mia and a man named Gecko (Richard Harmon). With his first major clue, Colton digs deeper.
A photo of Mia and a mysterious man leads to an influential family
Kira and Colter find Mia’s van on the Winslow property
The doctor who cared for Colter reveals that “Gecko” is actually Matt Winslow, an amateur troublemaker who has no record because the police are afraid of his family. Colter goes to the Winslow house to get some answers and manages to discover that Matt was in a relationship with Mia. He says she left him without warning and disappeared, leaving him only a goodbye note, although he says she never liked his family or his methods of purchasing land for private companies. Before he can say anything else, his parents knock on the door.
Colter takes the note to Kira, who says it’s not Mia’s handwriting. Once they realize the implications, Bob calls again and tells Colter that he found Mia’s van on the Winslow property. Kira and Colter go to where the van is and just as they are about to open it, gunfire erupts around them.forcing them to flee. When Colter returns with the sheriff, the van has disappeared.
Colter solves the case with the help of Reenie Greene
Colter confronts the Winslow family
Fortunately, reinforcement finally arrives in the form of Reenie Greene (Fiona Rene), Colter’s formidable lawyer who assists with his cases and is one of the few characters in Tracker who works personally with Colter, although it is still a fairly rare occurrence. Reenie begins investigating the Winslows and discovers several court cases they have been involved in over the years. In one case, a man would sue the Winslows after they burned down his barn. After he died, his lawyer planned to use Mia to testify on his behalf.
Matt loved Mia and hoped to leave town with her, but she disappeared.
When Reenie and Colter bring this up to Matt, he reveals that Mia confronted him about his family history and the strong arm of the man she supported. Matt loved Mia and hoped to leave town with her, but she disappeared. Colter and Reenie go to the Winslow house again and while they bluff at first, they eventually discover that Matt’s mother killed Mia, afraid that Matt would run away with her and destroy the family business. She worked alone and the police find Mia’s body on another Winslow property.
Colter and Reenie break up and Reenie gets a call
Kira has an idea about what to do with Mia’s van
The end of Tracker Season 1, Episode 3 finds Colter and his team celebrating another successfully solved case. However, Reenie and Colter have a slightly awkward goodbye as they leavesuggesting that there may be something more for them in the rest of the Tracker season 1. Before leaving, Reenie tells Colter that her brother, Russell, called her. Colter says he’ll explain another time. After Kira pays Colter, he suggests she fix up his van and maybe try it out herself, in Mia’s honor.