Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) on an investigation in the 'Tracker' episode "The Fallout"Image via CBS
By
Michael John Petty
Published Mar 1, 2026, 10:00 PM EST
Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features and reviews, and has interviewed the cast and crew of Dark Winds. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His first work of self-published fiction – The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain – became a #1 Best Seller in "Religious Fiction Short Stories" on Amazon in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Tracker Season 3 Episode 10.After a serious cliffhanger that came almost out of nowhere in Tracker's midseason finale, the hit CBS action drama is back with "The Fallout," the second part of this intense Washington-based two-parter. As Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) reels from his near-death experience, he's thrown instantly into the fire as his opponents come closing in. But what's really going on in this world of organized crime and corrupt cops? That's what the midseason premiere is all about.
'Tracker' Picks Up Immediately Where the Midseason Finale Left Off
"The Fallout" begins right where the midseason finale, "Good Trouble," left off. After a car crash and a bullet wound that sent him off the road and down into a gorge below, Colter Shaw pushes himself to the limit as he tries to stabilize ex-detective John Keaton (Brent Sexton) and get him to a hospital. Pulling Keaton out of the vehicle, Colter leaves Keaton (still breathing) as he makes it to a nearby trailhead in search of help. Finding a phone left in a parked car, he breaks the window and calls 9-1-1 before passing out. It's not often that we see Colter at his absolute physical limit, but "The Fallout" makes it clear from the beginning that our favorite rewardist isn't doing too hot. The next day, Detective Willa Sims (Jes Macallan) and Tacoma Police Commissioner Ross Bogart (Sasha Roiz) get on the news and release Colter's name along with Emile Lang (Mark Engelhardt), linking our hero to the shooting the night before — which didn't just kill mafia accountant Bradley Weitz (Trevor Hinton), but his housekeeper as well (an innocent woman who was very much alive when Colter left).
Worried from afar, Reenie Greene (Fiona Rene) and Randy (Chris Lee) finally get a call from Colter, who wakes up after having passed out the night before. Realizing he's being set up, he ditches the phone and cuts off communication — but back in Denver, it only takes a few moments before the FBI shows up at Reenie’s office in search of Colter, proving that the conspiracy goes far deeper than they knew. So, who can Colter turn to if he wants to keep Reenie and Randy out of it? Longtime Tracker fans will be pleasantly surprised by the return of none other than Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas), who picks Colter up and takes him to a local Airbnb to patch him up. Putting the bullet out of his chest, Billie notes that Colter is barely holding it together, but all he can think about is the mysterious "Cassie Linstrom" (Francisca Dennis), the wife of a dead cop, Jack Linstrom, whom Weitz was tracking down for Lang.
But Colter and Billie's reunion is short-lived. It isn't long before the neighbors spot Colter, recognizing him from the news, and call the police, who arrive in record time. Of course, Colter gets away, finding his way to the Linstrom household, where he finds blood and evidence of a kidnapping. Meanwhile, Randy deletes everything he has on Colter so that the FBI can't use that information to track him. When Reenie's assistant, Mel Day (Cassady McClincy Zhang), arrives at the office, she relays a hidden message from Colter to Reenie that she received through the neighboring office's phone. Upon reconnecting over a secure line, Colter updates them with everything he knows, putting Randy on the case.
'Tracker' Brings Billie Back to Help Colter Clear His Name
Billie Patalon (Sofia Pernas) patches Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) up in the 'Tracker' episode "The Fallout"Image via CBS
Back at the Airbnb, Detective Sims speaks with Billie about Colter's whereabouts, trying to intimidate her into giving the rewardist up. No stranger to police pressure, Billie plays it cool, but Sims is clear that Colter is in danger. It's moments like these that remind us why Billie keeps coming back to Tracker, as she adds an interesting edge to the reward-seeking profession that is beyond Colter's ability. As this is happening, Randy finds a new laptop and contacts Colter, who realizes that Cassie has been missing for five days. Randy looks back at the security footage and finds a construction company that may have been involved, and so Colter and Billie investigate. Upon finding the van in question, they're led to one of the kidnappers: a cop named Dominic Mendoza (Zino Ofiedi). Unfortunately, Mendoza is already dead, but that doesn't stop Randy from connecting the officer to a task force that was investigating crime boss Zhan Menassian (Arnab Biswas) — the same one Lang killed in the last episode — which also included Cassie’s husband, Keaton’s former partner Nat Dobbs (Dean McKenzie), and Detective Sims.
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Colter Shaw reunites with an old friend to tackle a web of conspiracy that neither knew would go so deep.
Posts By Michael John PettyColter believes that the task force was paid off by Menassian, but this still doesn't explain why the cops brought Lang in and tried to kidnap Cassie in the first place. Something doesn't add up, and Colter aims to find out what. Billie finds a matchbox for Fireside Bar & Grill on Mendoza, and the pair decides to check it out. Of course, Colter is Public Enemy #1, so Billie heads inside to find out what she can. It isn’t long before she finds a news clipping with Lang's face plastered on it. It turns out, he works at the joint as a line cook named "Benny Sheridan." Despite being presumed dead, Lang’s appearance in the photo two weeks ago tipped someone off to his whereabouts, kickstarting this whole thing. But just as the dots are really starting to connect, the police arrive and spoil the fun. Billie distracts them long enough for Colter to get away, but she's arrested in the process. Billie reveals to Sims what has been going on, but the detective had no idea that Cassie had been kidnapped by her old task force.
"The Fallout" Ends With Hope For 'Tracker's Fan Favorite Recurring Guest Star
Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas) and Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) in the 'Tracker' episode "The Fallout"Image via CBS
With Randy's help, Colter tracks Lang down to an RV park, but Lang isn’t there. He's in the middle of grabbing another corrupt member of the task force whose wife he's kidnapped. He reveals that the old task force had Jack Linstrom killed because they were worried that their corrupt dealings would be exposed, so they hired Lang under false pretenses to put him six feet under. This broke Lang's strict moral code, and it forced him to leave the hitman business behind. But what makes all of this even more disturbing is that (as Colter discovers in Lang's trailer) he and Cassie have become a couple in the meantime. It's clear that she doesn't know who he is or that he killed her husband. It's here that Colter starts to believe that the dirty cops are using Cassie as leverage against the assassin, finding a ledger that reveals the names of those on the Menassian payroll.
That night, Sims confronts Bogart with questions about the task force and their illegal dealings. This doesn't go well for her at all, because Bogart (unsurprisingly) shoots her dead. That's what happens when you confront your boss about his illegal activity in a dark alley with no witnesses... You'd think a detective would be able to see that coming. Later, at police headquarters, Bogart returns with not a care in the world, only to be grabbed by Colter, who has been waiting for him to arrive. He demands that Bogart take him to Cassie, and they end up in a warehouse where she's being held. When another corrupt cop walks in, Colter fires on him, giving Bogart just enough time to grab Cassie and hold him at gunpoint. It's a shame that Billie had been arrested... Just then, Lang walks in and shoots the police commissioner in the back, admitting to Cassie that everything she's about to see about him on the news is true.
"The Fallout" ends the following day. Reenie has gotten Billie out of jail and her charges wiped from the record. Would it kill Tracker to show us Reenie at work, by the way? We know she's this badass lawyer who has all these mad skills, but we basically never see them in practice. We were told that Reenie was getting a bigger role this season, but it feels like that hasn't been paid off. Reuniting with Colter in Keaton's room, it's clear that the CBS drama has listened to our petitions to keep Keaton alive for a while longer. That's good news. After noting that he owes Billie considerably for the last few assists (including getting locked up last season), Colter finally admits that he couldn't have done this without her help.
Tracker airs Sundays on CBS and is available for streaming the next day on Paramount+.
Tracker
Tracker returns with a vengeance as Colter Shaw proves himself resourceful against a mountain of conflict.
8 10 Release Date February 11, 2024 Pros & Cons- We need more episodes where Colter is injured. It just makes what he can do so much more impressive.
- Billie's return was unexpected but certainly welcome.
- Keaton may not be out of the woods, but we're glad he isn't dead.
- What is Mel Day even here for?
- Would it kill Tracker to show Reenie actually fighting for her clients in the courtroom?
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