S02.E01: Out of the Past

[AnimeMania]

While investigating the strange disappearance of a missing family whose car was found abandoned on the side of the road in the backwoods of Arkansas, Colter makes a shocking discovery about the mother’s past that leads him into the world of organized crime. Also, Reenie opens up her new law firm and enlists Velma’s help in setting up shop.

Premiere Date: October 13, 2024         CBS     8pm   

Erik Gow as Craig King

Enuka Okuma as US Marshall Jenny Martinez

[LexieLily]

Either this show is predictable or I've watched too much true crime because I called WITSEC as soon as Bobby said there was no record of the wife prior to 2015 and also that the oldest child was the ex-husband's from the mob family.

[KaveDweller]

47 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Either this show is predictable or I've watched too much true crime because I called WITSEC as soon as Bobby said there was no record of the wife prior to 2015 and also that the oldest child was the ex-husband's from the mob family.

Yup, WITSEC was obvious. And as soon as Matt Long came on screen and I knew he was too known an actor to play a random cop, and called him as a bad guy after the family.

I did get confused at the end. It sounded like Colton was saying he wasn't taking the reward money, but maybe I misheard something.

 

[AnimeMania]

This episode was much better than anything that was shown in Season 1. The episode was watchable and Coulter seemed human and not a robot spouting probabilities of outcomes.

[possibilities]

I also thought I heard him say he wasn't taking the reward money. I was thinking it's because he felt bad that the uncle got killed. But then Reenie said she was taking her 10%, so then I thought maybe he did take it.

I was really upset about the uncle getting stabbed.

 

[Quickbeam]

It sounded like Colter would get federal reward money for outing the bad guys. I’m not sure, just always mesmerized about how Justin has no bad angles. 

Edited October 14 by Quickbeam
Typo

[emma675]

Good start to the season, although I'm going to miss the wife duo who helped Colter find cases. At least Velma ended up with Reenie so she's still around. 

Bring on episode two and Russell!

[Raja]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Yup, WITSEC was obvious. And as soon as Matt Long came on screen and I knew he was too known an actor to play a random cop, and called him as a bad guy after the family.

I did get confused at the end. It sounded like Colton was saying he wasn't taking the reward money, but maybe I misheard something.

 

I'm one of those guys who react to the character not reacting to being called an agent instead of deputy or inspector. But then Coulter didn't use it as a clue something was up so the writers just didn't check their facts.

Coulter passed on the rescue reward but is getting a bounty on the bad guy he flushed out that the sniper killed.

[agathapenny]

2 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Either this show is predictable or I've watched too much true crime because I called WITSEC as soon as Bobby said there was no record of the wife prior to 2015 and also that the oldest child was the ex-husband's from the mob family.

I called witness protection as soon as it was a Marshall at the scene. 

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Yup, WITSEC was obvious. And as soon as Matt Long came on screen and I knew he was too known an actor to play a random cop, and called him as a bad guy after the family.

I don't know the actor but as soon as I saw him it was obvious he was a bad guy. Only confirmed when we never saw a scene with him and his supposedly fellow agent together.

And yet for all that I called a lot of things before the reveals:

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

This episode was much better than anything that was shown in Season 1. The episode was watchable and Coulter seemed human and not a robot spouting probabilities of outcomes.

This was far and away the best actual "case" this show has featured.

8 minutes ago, emma675 said:

Good start to the season, although I'm going to miss the wife duo who helped Colter find cases. At least Velma ended up with Reenie so she's still around. 

I like that they seem to have taken some of the season 1 criticism and consolidated the helpers at least so there's some "team" interaction going on, though I wish they'd just recast the wife in the research duo. We saw so little of them I don't think it would be particularly jarring in the long term.

I'm really curious about the missing sister case that bookended the episode.  Seems that may be a recurring plotline this season? I'd be good with that.

[Dowel Jones]

But what about the marmot?

[Packerbrewerbadger]

So nobody checks credentials anymore?  If you have a jacket on you’re automatically a US Marshall?  The bad guy was so obvious when he first ran into him in the woods.  You’re smarter than this Colten!  Same with the uncle telling him immediately where the kids were at his house.  
 

 

[MissLucas]

Evil dude had cans of 'seltsame beer' in his fridge which translates to 'weird beer'. I take it that was the props department having fun because there was no product placement available for that setting - or does 'weird beer' exist?

WITSEC and Marshall with wrong footwear were pretty obvious - but it's difficult to churn out plots twisted enough to fool a trope-savvy audience on a weekly basis. Best way to get around that is to write engaging characters and I think show did a rather good job with Lindy Booth's character.

I like serialized elements in a procedural show but the Colter's family drama is another trope that has the potential to get tiring. Glad they introduced something else with the missing sister plot. Jury's still out on how they will handle the supporting cast - the other main gripe I had about season one. 

[mythoughtis]

I thought the episode was good….until Colton slept with his long time client ( the missing girl’s sister).  Wrong on so  many levels. 

[Raja]

25 minutes ago, mythoughtis said:

I thought the episode was good….until Colton slept with his long time client ( the missing girl’s sister).  Wrong on so  many levels. 

Since Coulter takes nothing unless the mission is completed is she actual  a client, or just a source of information as he races other bounty hunters?

[TheCathedral]

Really good episode, a little predictable but Colter was more likable/human, I like the fact that he was duped by the obvious fake Marshall, he was too perfect in season 1.

Does anyone know where Reenie's law firm is located? I don't think the handlers location was ever established. And I guess Robin Weigert is no longer in the show, that's a shame.

I really like the case of the missing sister, finally a case that Colter can't solve in one episode, I hope it's a multiple episode arc.

Colter declined the reward money and the family is going to create a charity in the uncle's name, his death was pretty sad and (kinda) unnecessary.

[emma675]

I'm cracking up over all of the different ways and variations we spell "Colter" on this thread! 🤣

[Featherhat]

The episode was quite good although as everyone has said it was 100% obvious WITSEC was involved and that the "friendly Marshall" who was a ok with Colter's help without even knowing who he was was the bad guy. It was nice to see Lindy Booth again, even though her character sometimes drove me nuts on The Librarians. It was pretty shocking when the uncle got knifed though. 

It's a shame that Teddi is gone although we knew that from spoilers. I wonder if she'll be completely off in Mandyland from now on or they will actually reference that she and Velma broke up because of the distance/mother's care stress? Re casting might actually have been the way to go here but oh, well. 

I do think it's a good thing that they had her and Rennie working together because it was frustrating that Colter had a "Scooby gang" of helpers but only ever interacted with them one on one. Even Bobby got to speak to them via camera. 

The scene at the end felt a bit strange, like it wasn't supposed to be a sex scene but they decided the premiere need to show Colter as a hot sexually active guy. And I know he's *not* police or anyone officially investigating and she's a grown woman who can decide if momentary comfort with him was a good idea or not for herself. But at the same time it felt a bit unethical of him to agree, especially considering she was drinking more than him and then they continued to discuss the possible evidence he found and that he'd never stop looking for her sister *in bed*. That's a recipe for potential disaster right there, especially for such a normally reserved guy. It probably won't come to anything even if this becomes a recurring plotline but just didn't seem like a good idea. 

I'm glad his family drama didn't really come up in this ep, whilst I like the actors involved mysteriously missing/dead family members on these types of shows often become an albatross around them. 

[Raja]

10 minutes ago, emma675 said:

I'm cracking up over all of the different ways and variations we spell "Colter" on this thread! 🤣

I do copy and paste before posting Odafin  Tutuola. Colter I just sound out. So its ko not coal.😊

[Quickbeam]

I was just so grateful Colter didn’t get hit on the head. He was struck unconscious so many times in season 1, I feared brain damage. 

[ahrtee]

23 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

The scene at the end felt a bit strange, like it wasn't supposed to be a sex scene but they decided the premiere need to show Colter as a hot sexually active guy. And I know he's *not* police or anyone officially investigating and she's a grown woman who can decide if momentary comfort with him was a good idea or not for herself. But at the same time it felt a bit unethical of him to agree, especially considering she was drinking more than him and then they continued to discuss the possible evidence he found and that he'd never stop looking for her sister *in bed*. That's a recipe for potential disaster right there, especially for such a normally reserved guy. It probably won't come to anything even if this becomes a recurring plotline but just didn't seem like a good idea. 

I got the impression that this wasn't a one-off, first time thing but a recurring "relationship" (even if only once a year?)  After all, he's known her for 10 years.  It seemed more like a mutual comfort thing than just a  "hot, sexually active guy."  Instead, it becomes more of a "sensitive, haunted guy."  Though they did probably want to prove something about his sexuality since so far he hasn't seemed to be interested in anyone in particular.  

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, TheCathedral said:

his death was pretty sad and (kinda) unnecessary.

The old trope of "Oh, I've been stabbed.  By a 6" hunting knife.  I'll just stand here with an astonished look on my face while I bleed out, before I fall down without making a sound."

If I were that suspect guy, I would stay home the day of Colter's next visit, with the dog in the house with me.  Leave the window open again for easy access.

[possibilities]

I was hoping he had a pre-esisting friendship with the sister of the missing person, so their hook up was part of their pre-existing friendship and not a client-bang.

What if the sister who's missing was a friend of his, the three of them were friends or something, and then she went missing? It didn't look like the woman we saw this week had the kind of money that would amount to any kind of cash for a reward. If he's searching as a friend and she's not actually his client, that makes it less of an ethical issue.

Though, he could probably get money for sex if he wanted to, now that I think of it. Maybe it's not an ethical violation if you look at it as part of the business. "Find your loved one and/or sex for the grieving: payment only on success"

 

[AnimeMania]

Next New Episode (New Time): October 20, 2024         CBS     8:30pm   

Edited October 14 by AnimeMania

[Snazzy Daisy]

C-Shizzle is back!!! Love Bobby’s nickname for Colter. 😆

Bobby should move and work from Reenie’s new office so Velma won’t be left alone if Reenie needs to go outstation etc.

The COTW is very predictable.

Re the unsolved case — is that real “dirt” or human ashes??! 🤔

Justin Hartley has better chemistry with Floriana Lima than Sofia Pernas.

 

[Raja]

1 minute ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Justin Hartley has better chemistry with Floriana Lima than Sofia Pernas.

As I remember the COVID lockdown productions a few real life couples did not seem so when acting together.

[roamyn]

Nice season opener.  Want more Velma (?).  I like her, she's got spunk.

It would a nice change if Colter was wrong abt something and that the cold opening guy really didn't have anything to do with that girl's disappearance/death.  Make him seem more human & realistic.

[proserpina65]

I knew the "US Marshal" was a fake as soon as he turned up with the wrong shoes.  I was pretty surprised that Colter didn't realize it.

On 10/13/2024 at 11:58 PM, agathapenny said:

This was far and away the best actual "case" this show has featured.

Idk, I thought it was all kind of too easily solved.  And my being able to call the bad guy immediately as well as the involvement of witness protection made me think it wasn't a well-constructed episode.  I liked it well enough, but there were a couple of episodes from last season which were much better than this one.

On 10/14/2024 at 11:11 AM, emma675 said:

I'm cracking up over all of the different ways and variations we spell "Colter" on this thread! 🤣

I'm glad I saw your post before I submitted mine, lol.

20 hours ago, possibilities said:

I was hoping he had a pre-esisting friendship with the sister of the missing person, so their hook up was part of their pre-existing friendship and not a client-bang.

What if the sister who's missing was a friend of his, the three of them were friends or something, and then she went missing? It didn't look like the woman we saw this week had the kind of money that would amount to any kind of cash for a reward. If he's searching as a friend and she's not actually his client, that makes it less of an ethical issue.

I wondered if this was the case which got him into the bounty hunter-type business.  Like he was already friends/more with the sister and tried to help her and then realized he could make a living at it.  I definitely didn't get a client vibe from her, more of a friend feeling.  I'm sure more will be revealed in time.

 

[Infie]

I also thought that the sex was about comfort / forgetting for a while and not really about attraction per se.  The vibe in the scene to me is long time friends who have gone through terrible things together, and those terrible things are still ongoing. 

[preeya]

Matt Long played Zeke Landon on Manifest. He married [on the show, not irl] Melissa Roxburgh (Michaela Stone), who plays Colter's sister here on Tracker.

ETA: Colter's track record for solving cases seems outstanding. That said, why does he have a case that is 10 years old, that he only re-visits on its anniversary?  Who are the Pickett sisters? Also, area code 660 is located in Missouri.

Edited October 16 by preeya

[peeayebee]

On 10/14/2024 at 6:17 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

Re the unsolved case — is that real “dirt” or human ashes??! 🤔

I'm very curious about that bag of... stuff. It doesn't look like human ashes. It does look like dirt, but I doubt the guy is saving it for a toxicity test or whatever. Anyway, right now I can't think what its significance is.

On 10/15/2024 at 9:55 AM, proserpina65 said:

I knew the "US Marshal" was a fake as soon as he turned up with the wrong shoes.  I was pretty surprised that Colter didn't realize it.

Yeah. I appreciate when a character isn't perfect with infallible spidey-sense, but the thing with the shoes should have raised blazing red flags to Colter. 

The actor looked familiar to me, so I had to IMDB him. AH! Jack & Bobby! Mad Men!

So a pretty straightforward case, but I get the feeling that the producers have made positive tweaks to the show.

[ahrtee]

19 hours ago, preeya said:

Colter's track record for solving cases seems outstanding. That said, why does he have a case that is 10 years old, that he only re-visits on its anniversary?  Who are the Pickett sisters? Also, area code 660 is located in Missouri.

Thinking about it...10 years ago seems the magic number.  Isn't that when his dad died?  And Russell disappeared (who has now reappeared).  And clues are now showing up everywhere?  

IDK if the sisters were connected with the family drama, but it may be that it was Colter's first case, which is why the failure is so important to him.  I imagine we'll find out eventually.  

 

[Jillybean]

I, too, think it would have been easy to re-cast Teddy. Only one season in and they didn't have that much screen time. Half the viewers probably wouldn't have even noticed.

And I agree that this wasn't the first time Colter and the missing woman's sister slept together. In fact, her case may be the one that set him on the "rewardist" path. 

It was very obvious the "marshal" wasn't a marshal. Colter needs to be much more suspicious of everyone he encounters. A flash of a badge isn't sufficient. 

[Trini]

Could have sworn the premiere was next week! Anyway....

COTW was okay - even with the flaws everyone has already pointed out - but I'm annoyed that the writers still seem to think they need a corpse every week. RIP, that uncle.

The side characters interacting is always welcome. So is the other half of the wife duo just going to be in offscreensville for the whole season?

I don't mind them introducing a season-long arc (the missing sister), but 1) it seems kinda depressing, and I want the show to be more fun; and 2) we still have Colter's family drama/mystery unresolved.

So is this new woman Colter's sleeping with considered his love interest? I dunno, the relationship seems a bit unhealthy from the jump. (But maybe that's the story they want to tell?)

Edited October 20 by Trini

[rr2911]

Yeah, it was very evident that FBI agent was a bad dude.

I don't miss Teddy at all.  In fact, they could do away with Velma also.  Maybe Reenie could handle locating cases for Colton.

 

[surfgirl]

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand who the sad sex partner was. What struck me as the oddest thing about that scene was that the show has made Colter out to be this hot dude who doesnt want to get attached but also who we have not seen romantically with anyone, aside from some well placed innuendos from Rennie. Yet we finally get a scen with him and someone we dont know and I found it to be the most unsexy scene we could have possibly gotten from Colter. So weird.

Did we ever learn how Colter got connected with Rennie, Velma & Teddi, and Bobby?

[KaveDweller]

On 10/17/2024 at 11:18 AM, ahrtee said:

Thinking about it...10 years ago seems the magic number.  Isn't that when his dad died?  And Russell disappeared (who has now reappeared).  And clues are now showing up everywhere?  

The dad died when Colter was a teenager. I think that is when Russel took off, but clearly the sister and mother were in touch with him since then.

[Trini]

9 hours ago, surfgirl said:

Did we ever learn how Colter got connected with Rennie, Velma & Teddi, and Bobby?

I think they may have mentioned Reenie and Colter's backstory last season; and there might have been a line in Bobby's episode, but seeing as how I can't recall any details about either, maybe not. They definitely haven't given us anything about Teddie and Velma's connection to Colter.

[Lovecat]

I knew the Marshall was a bad dude the second Colter mentioned his partner and the guy practically made the Scooby noise of confusion.  I'm surprised Colter didn't see the cartoon question mark pop out of is head.  I actually yelled "C'MON, Colter!!" to the teevee.

Now that we've learned how to spell "Colter," can we work on "Reenie"?  "Rennie" would be pronounced "REH-nee," not "REE-nee." As opposed to "Renée," which is "Reh-NAY."  One of these names is mine, so I know from whence I speak :)

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, Lovecat said:

Now that we've learned how to spell "Colter," can we work on "Reenie"?  "Rennie" would be pronounced "REH-nee," not "REE-nee." As opposed to "Renée," which is "Reh-NAY."  One of these names is mine, so I know from whence I speak :)

I didn't even notice that people were spelling Wreenie wrong.

[Xarquol]

On 10/14/2024 at 10:27 AM, TheCathedral said:

Does anyone know where Reenie's law firm is located? I don't think the handlers location was ever established.

The phone number on the top of the pizza box near the end had an 870 area code. The rest of the number had the traditional fake 555 in it, but 870 is real. But it's in Arkansas, where Colter was.

(If it's become clear where Reenie's office is in later episodes, apologies - I haven't caught up yet.)

[TheCathedral]

18 hours ago, Xarquol said:

The phone number on the top of the pizza box near the end had an 870 area code. The rest of the number had the traditional fake 555 in it, but 870 is real. But it's in Arkansas, where Colter was.

(If it's become clear where Reenie's office is in later episodes, apologies - I haven't caught up yet.)

Colter's brother mentions going to Colorado to see Reenie, so at least that mystery is over. Good scoop with the pizza box tho!