Colter’s on the case of a missing Wyoming Science University student on CBS’s Tracker season one episode 11. The student, Blake Baker, was seen at a party grabbing a woman he thought was his date. That mistake earned him a few punches from her boyfriend, followed by a push into a swimming pool.
Teddi (Robin Weigert) isn’t sure why Colter (Justin Hartley) wants to take this case, but Velma (Abby McEnany) reminds everyone that Blake’s mom, Polly, is worried. She works as a janitor at the college and thinks something happened to her son. But Teddi and Colter think it’s possible Blake just needed a break.
Blake left his cell phone behind and has been missing for two days. Polly tells Colter she’s proud of her son and he’s been busy working on a research project. She admits he’s been anxious recently and has anxiety. But Polly is certain something’s wrong and confesses her brother had a psychotic break when he was Blake’s age. Blake might also have schizophrenia.
Colter has an ulterior motive for heading to Wyoming. He catches the last few minutes of a physics lecture and then speaks with the professor–his little sister, Dory (Manifest’s Melissa Roxburgh). She reminds him he’s gone a whole year without even a phone call and hasn’t returned her messages.
Colter hands over a file on their father that he stole while working a previous job. Neither knew that their dad worked for the government for seven years or why their mom would have kept that a secret. Dory doesn’t really care and thinks both their mom and dad are crazy. Colter points out they’re a part of them, and that Dory even became a professor like their parents. Dory laughs, noting she’s not crazy.
Dory’s been keeping in touch with their brother, Russell, and suggests that Colter should do the same. Colter’s not big on reunions, but Dory convinces him that he should join her for dinner before he leaves town. It’s only then that he explains he’s in town looking for missing student Blake Baker. Dory said an alert went out about him and that he’s a smart biochem grad student.
Dory’s not overly concerned about Blake; a couple students take off each year, so it’s not unusual.
Colter heads to the lab where Blake was helping research protein folding. Two students are working on the project, and the male student, Dex, believes Blake couldn’t take the pressure and just flaked out. The female student, Jada, disagrees, sure that Blake wouldn’t just bail on them. Blake loved the work too much to take off.
Professor Hewitt joins them and speaks privately with Colter. Hewitt reveals that two days ago he caught Blake falsifying his research and asked him about it. Blake’s lab privileges were revoked. “The last thing we need is another Theranos here,” says Hewitt, referencing Elizabeth Holmes.
Hewitt confirms their research has monetary value if they can scale it up. Blake changing the numbers could screw things up, and Hewitt says Blake didn’t take his punishment well. Hewitt believes Blake’s a good kid and that he’s found safe and sound.
Colter grabs a minute along with Jada after Hewitt and Dex leave. He asks for directions around campus, and they walk and talk while she shows him where to go. She and Blake are friends, but she doesn’t want to get involved and jeopardize her work on the grant.
Jada says she saw Blake two nights ago wearing a red cowboy hat outside a Wild West party. Blake didn’t respond when she called his name. Colter heads to where Jada last saw Blake and spots his cowboy hat in the weeds. He breaks into a nearby deserted house and finds a room lit by a red lightbulb. There are bondage supplies on the bed and in a hidden cupboard. Colter also finds a tablet with nude photos of Blake just lying on the bed. (What? Why would someone just leave this behind? And why is the light on?)
The cabinet contained a camera with a Code Club decal on the side. While heading to that business, Colter touches base with Bobby (Eric Graise) and learns Blake’s phone shows he was really into someone. Blake reacted to being into a girl like most college kids would, and Colter admits he can’t relate. He never attended college. Bobby didn’t know that, and Colter explains his father thought the education system was designed to weed out people who think for themselves.
Anyway, she ghosted him at the party, and then they exchanged encrypted messages setting up another meeting IRL. They exchanged nude photos, and the woman sent him an address where to meet up. Bobby discovers the woman’s name is Irene Hurtzel and sends Colter a photo of just her face.
It turns out Irene is working at the Code Club when Colter pays the store a visit. Colter forces the story out of her, and apparently her husband, Chuck, does business on the dark web. She and her husband were hired to catfish Blake and get compromising photos. The photos would be used as leverage by the client who hired her.
She and her husband were supposed to lure Blake to the bondage house to get blackmail photos. It was setup to intimidate Blake and keep him from revealing a secret about the client.
Colter sees a small throw rug that looks out of place. He lifts it and exposes a blood stain. Colter demands to see the security footage, and it shows Blake confronting Irene. (Blake followed Irene from the “sick” house they were supposed to meet.) Chuck grabs Blake and slams his head against the counter. Irene tells her husband to take Blake to the hospital. The last seconds of footage show Chuck carrying Blake out of the store.
Neither Chuck nor Blake have been seen since.
Colter has Irene show him how to get messages to the client, and Bobby takes it from there. He sends the message, posing as Irene, saying they need to meet and that she has the evidence. Irene claims she’s only involved because her husband makes her do his dirty work. Colter believes she can prove that by helping him find Blake.
Irene and Colter are in his trailer when Dory knocks on the door. Colter forgot their dinner plans and Dory can’t believe he stood her up again. She sees Irene and mistakenly thinks her brother’s on a date. Colter hurriedly explains what’s really going on and Dory suggests calling the cops. Colter insists he can’t because whoever’s holding Blake would kill him. That is if he’s still alive. It’s 50-50 that he’s already dead.
Bobby calls with news the client has set up a meeting in a parking lot about 20 minutes away.
Colter and Irene are waiting at the meeting location when a hooded figure walks up. He knocks on Irene’s window and Colter pulls his gun, ordering the person not to move. Of course, the man runs off and Colter gives chase through the woods. The man leaps into a car and drives off, but Colter shoots out a front tire. The car crashes into a sign and Colter grabs the driver. It’s Dex from the lab.
Dex claims he has no idea about any blackmail or about Blake’s whereabouts. However, he might have set everything in motion when he gave the name of a dark web service to Professor Hewitt. Hewitt needed help silencing Blake because Blake had discovered Hewitt’s results in the lab didn’t add up. Blake’s numbers were right, not Hewitt’s. Hewitt was lying to his investors about the results and needed to keep Blake quiet.
Dex was sent to the meeting point to get a flash drive from a blonde woman. He doesn’t know anything about Blake’s abduction. Colter forces Dex to agree to call Hewitt and say he’s going to get the evidence.
Next, Colter turns to Dory for help. Hewitt is probably holding Blake on campus, but Colter doesn’t know where. Dory suggests he might be using an old bomb shelter under the biochemistry building. No one goes there, so it’s a perfect hiding place.
Dory can’t describe its location and instead needs to meet her bro on campus to show him the hidden shelter. She hangs up before Colter can tell her it’s too dangerous for her to be involved.
Together, the siblings make their way toward the bomb shelter where Chuck is holding Blake. Hewitt heard back from Dex and informs Chuck that Dex got the address of where Blake stashed the evidence from Irene. Chuck thinks it sounds too suspicious and that someone’s on to them. Hewitt denies that’s possible, insisting that the evidence will allow him to salvage his research project.
Chuck wants to kill Blake now since he knows everything. The only way to bury the secret is to bury Blake. Chuck’s about to kill him when Blake blurts out that he hid the evidence. Blake insists that even if he dies, the evidence will get out.
Hewitt begs Chuck not to shoot Blake; the situation has spiraled out of control. Chuck thinks it’s the only option and Hewitt asks for the gun so he can kill Blake himself. Chuck, who had for a few brief minutes seemed semi-intelligent, proves he’s not when he hands over the gun.
Meanwhile, Colter and Dory continue to slowly make their way through the underground tunnels. They spot blood, and Colter orders his sister to call the cops. A shot rings out and Colter kicks open a door. Inside is Chuck, dead from a gunshot to the head. Noises behind another door draw Colter’s attention and more shots ring out through a closed door.
The door opens and exposes Hewitt holding Blake around the neck with one hand, a gun ready to fire in the other. Hewitt threatens to shoot Colter and Colter reminds him that if he kills Blake, he’ll never get the evidence.
Hewitt doesn’t drop his gun, even after Colter gives him plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. Colter’s forced to shoot Hewitt in the shoulder to rescue Blake.
Later that night, Polly hands over the reward money, happy to have her son back. Hewitt’s been charged with murder and attempted murder, but Dex should just get a little jail time. Blake smiles and confesses Jada’s the only person he trusts and that he hid the evidence in her locker.
They say their goodbyes and then Colter joins his sister for dinner at a nice restaurant. He’s heading off later but Dory’s just happy they get this time together. Dory believes Colter resents her because she escaped to their uncle and aunt’s place while Colter remained behind. Colter confesses he stayed behind because their mom needed him. But Dory doesn’t want to hear Colter’s excuses about their mom’s behavior. She believes their mom was complicit and willingly went along with their dad’s wild ideas.
Dory thinks it’s time for her brothers to put this all behind them. She also thinks their mom is lying to Colter about what happened to keep him around. Their mom only tells one version of events, and it may not be what really went down. Dory begs Colter to call Russell and Colter doesn’t reply.
The episode ends with Colter staring at his sister as she looks at the menu, considering what she just said.
TRACKER SEASON 1 RECAPS:
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 1 “Klamath Falls” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 2 “Missoula” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 3 “Springland” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 4 “Mt. Shasta” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 5 “St. Louis” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 6 “Lexington” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 7 “Chicago” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 8 “Camden” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 9 “Aurora” Recap
- Tracker Season 1 Episode 10 “Into the Wild” Recap
- Season 1 Episode 12 “Off the Books” Preview
- Season 1 Episode 13 “The Storm” Finale Recap
- Justin Hartley Discusses His Starring Role in Tracker
