Tracker Season 2, Episode 9 Review: “The Disciple” Is Gloriously Creepy But It Leaves Me Side-Eyeing The Rest Of The Season

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Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Tracker season 2, episode 9

Tracker Season 2 has returned and while “The Disciple” provides a genuinely surprising amount of answers, it left me with a lot of questions about the direction of the series. Tracker season 2 premiered in October 2024, and “The Night Movers” left us with Colter (Justin Hartley) solving one case, and getting a break in another — his “white whale” case of missing teen Gina Pickett. It was a great place to end a strong first half of the season, which saw significantly more emphasis on longer-term story arcs, including the mystery of what really happened to Colter’s dad.

Seeing Tracker expand beyond season 1’s villain-of-the-week format into exploring Colter’s family dynamics and bigger mysteries has been a highlight of season 2 so far, and balances out the more episodic nature of the show. “The Disciple” is an intense and spooky return that focuses entirely on this bigger-picture case. However, it races through the resolution of the most important case in Colter’s career, causing some concern about where the show intends to go next.

The Gina Pickett Case Is Solved – Almost Frustratingly Quickly

“The Disciple” Could Have Worked As A Season Finale

The Gina Pickett case initially came up in the first episode of the season (although it was hinted at in season 1), as Colter’s “one that got away” (where the “one” is a horrifying killer, that is). It’s his Big Unsolved Case and clearly plagues him. He returns to the prime suspect and the sister of the missing teenager every year — for very different reasons. The case had been an underlying plot for the season, although several episodes completely ignored it. I had expected to see this slowly build throughout season 2. However, episode 9 not only focuses on Gina’s case, but solves it completely.

In fact, the entire episode plays like one of the more standard episodic ones. Colter gets a lead, another girl has gone missing, and he starts investigating. A few conversations and some wonderfully creepy scenes of running around an abandoned hospital with a gun later, and Colter has saved the girl and caught the bad guy. Huzzah! This is, of course, what fans of Tracker are here to see, but a case this important should have been given more time to breathe.

Given that Colter is dealing with a serial killer who works across several states, he could have hunted The Teacher on and off for a few episodes, before bringing us to “The Disciple” as a satisfying (if bittersweet) conclusion. Instead, it is gloriously creepy and tense, but a little unsatisfying.

Team Colter Gets A New Member In Detective Keaton

A Police Connection Has Serious Potential For The Season

One of the best elements of the episode was the return of Detective Keaton (Brent Sexton), a retired cop who is happy to work outside the strict lines of the law to help Colter solve his case. The two initially met in “Trust Fall”, where Colter helped him solve his own white whale of a case. With this third appearance, it seems that Keaton is firmly entrenched in Team Colter and will likely appear again in the future.

I’m a big fan of this inclusion for a few reasons, the simplest being Keaton is a great character! With the addition of Jensen Ackles as Colter’s brother, Russell, Tracker season 2 has some real early-Supernatural vibes going on, and that’s not a bad thing. Keaton, in this analogy, has all kinds of Bobby Singer energy, and is a welcome addition to the crew.

Keaton’s addition is a fantastic one for the sake of believability

On another level, though, Keaton’s addition is a fantastic one for the sake of believability. Obviously, there’s a degree of suspended belief around Colter’s abilities (and infallible luck), but this goes a long way to explain how he manages to get such open access to police files and investigations. The show has, so far, always managed to write this in through a conversation with an officer on the investigation to explain this illegality away, but having Keaton in his back pocket also gives Colter access to more databases and information, which were key to catching Gina’s killer.

While The Tracker Episode Was Gloriously Creepy, It May Not Bode Well For The Rest Of The Season

What Does This Mean For The Rest Of Season 2 & Solving Ashton’s Death?

One of the highlights of season 2 so far has been seeing the show expand beyond a purely episodic formula, delving into the mystery of Colter’s family. But seeing the Pickett case wrapped so soon has me concerned about Tracker whipping through Ashton’s death similarly quickly. Given that Colter’s family history has been a major question since season 1, it’s unlikely it would wrap up in a single episode, but the show needs time to build up this bigger storyline and unspool it gradually, hopefully well into season 3, at least.

seeing the Pickett case wrapped so soon has me concerned about Tracker whipping through Ashton’s death similarly quickly

That said, Gina’s resolution may not be a downside. This is a rare instance of Colter solving a case without saving the missing person and may point to a less predictable future for the rewardist. This may also be a good choice for clarity; getting Gina’s case resolved will give Tracker more space to focus on the threads of Ashton’s, while simultaneously sticking with the weekly cases that are the heart of the show. Trying to balance Ashton, Gina, and the case of the week may have simply been too convoluted.

Hopefully, the following episodes will see a return to Colter’s particular skillset (which was missing in this one), more of his siblings, and a deeper dive into what really happened on that rainy night at the cabin.

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