Colter hikes through the woods in Brineport, Alaska, searching for the home of Buck Avery as CBS’s Tracker season three, episode 18 gets underway. Buck knows Colter’s been looking for him and confirms he knew Colter’s dad, Ashton. It’s been 20 years since Ashton died and Colter confesses he’s been trying to determine what happened to him.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode 18 – “Alaskan Wild” – and there are spoilers.)
Buck’s cordial enough and asks Colter in for a beer but isn’t sure he has any useful information. Colter fills him in on what he knows of his dad…he was a professor at Berkeley, and after he was fired, he moved the family to the middle of nowhere. Buck reveals he met Ashton when Ashton was up there fishing. When Colter mentions the government’s Chronostatis Institute, Buck confirms he leased land to the government, and they had a secret lab set up there.
Buck’s not supposed to talk about it but mentions the government packed it up after the accident. He mentions the name of another researcher who rented a cabin from his family who would have additional info on what happened. Buck knows that Ashton was there when the accident occurred.
Colter’s heading to his trailer’s campsite when he notices a teenager trying to break into a truck. Turns out it’s his parents’ and they’ve been missing since yesterday. Ian’s been searching for them and was hoping to find their boat tracker in the truck. Colter explains what he does for a living and Ian confesses he doesn’t have any money. Colter doesn’t care and learns that Ian’s parents never showed up to pick him up this morning.
Ian explains his parents, Hal and Vera, got scammed and lost almost all their money. They’ve been worried about their finances recently, and his dad’s been trying to get their money back.
Randy tracks the boat via its registration number and finds where it’s docked. Colter shows Ian the location and learns it’s in a bad area with drug runners.
Colter heads to the boat and doesn’t find anything. He looks around the area and spots a cabin that he enters without knocking. Colter hears grunting and pushes a chair in front of a closed door. Someone shoots from inside the room and then walks out. Colter disarms the teen, Robbie, who swears he was just protecting himself. Someone shot his friend, Leonard, and he’s dying. Leonard’s in shock and Colter cauterizes the wound with the help of a space heater. Robbie reveals Hal and Vera were there, but another couple – TJ and Molly – who brought the drugs shot Leonard.
The drug deal went sideways fast when Leonard realized the drugs were stolen from Wyatt Griffin, another dealer. When Leonard called Wyatt, Molly panicked and tried to leave. Leonard shot TJ to stop them, and TJ shot back. TJ and Molly forced Hal and Vera to leave with them in Robbie’s jeep.
Wyatt showed up and didn’t help Leonard. Instead, he chased after TJ and Molly. Robbie thinks he’ll kill all of them if he catches them.
Randy looks up Wyatt Griffin and he’s an Army marksman who received a dishonorable discharge. He’s got a lengthy criminal history. Colter believes Vera and Hal gave TJ and Molly a ride on their boat, and that’s how they got dragged into this.
Colter heads toward the next town but stops when he spots a jeep off the side of the road. There’s blood inside but no bodies. Colter looks around the area and spots a trail cam and sends its info to Randy. It appears that TJ and Molly are on foot and Colter’s following their footprints.
Randy sees TJ instructing Vera and Hal to cover up their tracks. Wyatt appears on the camera a short while later and doesn’t take the bait. He heads in the right direction instead, and it seems they’re all about half an hour ahead of Colter. Colter notices more blood and realizes TJ’s still bleeding.
A warden comes upon Wyatt just as he’s lined up a shot to take down TJ from a sniper position. Wyatt orders the warden to give him his wallet and looks at his ID. Wyatt releases him but warns him he’ll hurt his family if he calls in his location.
TJ and Molly blame Hal and Vera for leading them in circles, instead of across the water. TJ believes they’re sitting ducks and that Wyatt’s got to be close behind. And it turns out Molly was the brains behind the drug theft, and she admits she was wrong to get them into this.
Vera insists she knows where she’s heading just as shots ring out. Hal gets hit, and Molly tries to drag him to safety. TJ grabs her and forces her to leave him behind.
Meanwhile, a man shows up at the law office and Mel’s freaked out when he calls her by her full name. He drops off a package for Reenie and jokes that it’s not a bomb. Mel hands it to her boss, and it’s surveillance photos of Reenie working out and around town. It’s definitely a threat now that the judge has allowed the big case she’s working on with Maxine to add wrongful death charges.
Reenie calls Maxine from a coffee shop and then looks around, trying to figure out who’s taking photos of her. She’s so freaked out that she pops into a gun store to purchase protection.
In Alaska, Colter comes upon Hal and calms him down by saying Ian hired him. Hal is injured but will survive; however, he doesn’t know whether his wife was shot. He explains that Wyatt’s not just after them because of the drugs; Molly and Wyatt dated, and this was Molly’s way of getting payback after they broke up.
Hal insists on coming with Colter since he knows where Vera’s heading. Colter makes him call Ian first to fill him in on what’s happening.
The scene switches from the middle of the day to the dead of night (that happens a lot on Tracker when it doesn’t seem logical), and Colter and Hal are still tracking the injured TJ, Molly, and Vera, who shouldn’t be that far ahead of them. Colter follows their trail and Hal notes they’re no longer heading toward their original destination. It’s possible now that they’re trying to find shelter and Hal points out an old, abandoned cannery.
Colter’s forced to leave Hal behind when the route gets steep. Hal gives him the directions to a shortcut and Colter takes off.
TJ, Molly, and Vera are sheltered in the cannery when TJ heads out to offer Wyatt a deal. He surrenders his gun and wants to turn over the drugs, but Wyatt is more interested in Molly. Wyatt’s certain this was Molly’s idea and warns TJ that Molly can’t be trusted. She stole from him and then left; she’ll do it to him too.
Wyatt kicks the bag with the drugs back to TJ and offers to let him leave if he gives up Molly’s location. Apparently, TJ agrees because Molly encounters Wyatt inside the building as she’s leaving to check on TJ.
Wyatt claims TJ left her for the drugs, and Molly is terrified, warning Wyatt that he’ll never hit her again. She fights back and manages to make a run for it.
Colter sees TJ limping around the side of the building and forces him to sit down. He zip ties him before heading inside.
Molly runs around the building and ends up right where Wyatt is. She bites his face and he pushes her against a wall. Molly’s saved from being shot dead by Vera, who attacks Wyatt from behind. Wyatt’s gun goes off as he and Vera fight, drawing Colter’s attention.
Colter attacks Wyatt and manages to push him through a board that covers stairs. He dies at the base of the stairs. (How many people has Colter killed this season?)
The following day Colter’s preparing to leave the campsite when Ian arrives, happy to have his parents home. He doesn’t have much money and offers to do a payment plan. Colter doesn’t accept payment plans and asks what he’s studying in college. He suggests that sometime in the future Ian can pay him back or pay it forward to someone else.
Colter calls Russell and leaves a message from his “favorite brother.” He tells him he’s discovered who their dad was working with and that it’s part of a government cover-up.
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