Colter’s Hidden Shadow: Neo-Western Murder Reveals ‘Strange’ Face That Shocks Everyone!

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Tracker Season 3, Episode 4.As Tracker Season 3 continues in full swing, Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) finds himself caught up in a new case that feels like something out of a Western — and considering that’s exactly what this author wanted this season, we can’t complain. “No Man’s Land” takes Colter down to Texas for a survivalist thriller that buds into a gun-toting mystery worthy of the Tracker brand. So, saddle your horses and load your six-shooter, because this week Colter is embracing a whole new (old) genre.

“No Man’s Land” Starts With a Thrilling New Case

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The episode opens in Fort Morris, Texas, where a man named Trey Landry (Juan Riedinger) is attacked in his hotel room. Cue all your classic stalker thriller vibes. The next morning, “No Man’s Land” quickly pivots to New Mexico, where Colter is enjoying some much-needed “R & R,” though he’s not doing much resting or relaxing at all. Instead, he’s taking to his father’s old nervous tick and whittling as he recalls his life, his father’s death, and everything he’s learned about his family. But when Randy (Chris Lee) calls about this new job in the Lone Star State — making a killer Colt .45 joke — Colter jumps at the chance. A few hours later, he meets with Trey’s boyfriend Gracie (Chelle Ramos), who reveals that she never even called the police. When Colter puts pressure on her to tell him the truth, she reveals that Trey has come into some money lately — money she’s unsure where it came from.

Randy’s trace on Trey’s financials and phone calls takes him to the Bellwood Lodge, which they quickly assume is where he meets a mistress, so Colter soon heads there. But back in the Denver law office, we finally learn how Colter is getting his new jobs without the Bruins researching on his behalf. When Mel Day (Cassady McClincy Zhang) — who we’re still unsure about — asks Randy how all this works, he reveals that he’s created an algorithm that searches for new cases online by triangulating them with the type of work Colter is interested in as well as his current location. Sounds like a well-oiled machine. Just then, Reenie (Fiona Rene) arrives, clearly hung over, but the whole thing is quickly brushed off as we pivot back to Colter’s latest adventure. Breaking into Trey’s hotel room, he finds a back left on the bed with presents inside addressed to someone named Maggie. He also finds a bloodstain.

When a housekeeper (Bella Caballero) arrives, Colter asks her about Trey, learning that, while Trey often arrives with Maggie — who happens to be the wife of Sheriff Paul Holt (Patrick Gallagher) — last night was a rare exception. Interrupted by a hotel manager (who then calls someone about Colter’s arrival), our favorite rewardist looks up the local sheriff to discover that the Gracie who hired him is actually Maggie Holt. After briefly meeting with Maggie, Colter is confronted by two sheriff’s deputies who menacingly confront Colter, urging him to come with them to speak with the sheriff. Considering they’re not driving an official police vehicle, and they flash a few uncomfortable smiles, it probably isn’t the smartest move to go with them — but Colter Shaw isn’t worried. As they drive him into the wilderness, they get off the beaten path and pull a gun on Colter, who puts two-and-two together that they mean to kill him. Jumping out of the truck, he puts the corrupt cops on his tail, and with no cell service, there’s no backup in sight.

‘Tracker’s Latest Episode Pushes Colter Into Cowboy Survival Mode

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Back in Denver, Randy checks up on Reenie, who is very clearly hiding something (noting that she took work home with her). It’s an odd break in the narrative and feels like too much of a tonal shift from before, but we’re soon back with Colter, who is wandering the Texan hill country, beaten and bloody, all on his own. Using his shirt to take hold of a cactus, he finally shows off some of those “lone survivalist” skills we’ve heard so much about. Stumbling upon a herd of cows, he finds a cabin with a horse standing guard. Mounting the horse, he rides back into town, with seemingly no one home to stop him from becoming a full-blown horse thief. Wandering down Fort Morris, he makes it all the way to Sheriff Holt’s place, where he confronts the Texan lawman Western-style: gun first.

Colter demands the truth from Holt, who believed that the affair between Maggie and Trey was over. Although the rewardist believed that Holt sent the officers after him, the sheriff denies it, though he isn’t surprised to hear that there are dirty cops on his payroll. Holt shows Colter a series of police photos revealing that the two men were Wade Fairbank (Mac Brandt) and Cody Ernst (Zelman Gabriel), two cops that Holt believes are secretly working for Alonzo Diaz (Hugo Ateo), an organized crime magnet who has slowly taken over the region. If you’ve been missing the CW’s Walker, Paramount+’s Joe Pickett, or ABC’s Big Sky since they each went off the air, then seeing Colter and Holt team up to take down organized crime in the modern American West is just the fix for you.

Taking Holt to the last place that Trey was known to be, they stakeout the location. Holt wonders how Colter avoided marriage, but then waxes on about how he understands why Maggie would cheat on him with a nice guy like Trey. It’s then that Colter spots Wade and his truck, and the duo trail the goon to Trey’s veterinary clinic. Colter and Holt follow Wade inside before the officer begins to open fire back on the pair. Holt hits Wade and Colter investigates the business further. He sees that the security system is offline and a bunch of tranquilizers are missing. Having tied Wade up, Colter and Holt strong-arm the dirty cop into admitting his association with Diaz, though he claims to have never taken Trey. They learn that Trey was working for Diaz to fix up quarterhorses off the radar, paying cash to keep Trey from spilling anything else he might see at Diaz’s place.

‘Tracker’ Season 3, Episode 4 Ends By Leaving the Door Open

Colter calls Randy, who discovers via security footage that Trey was last seen with a kid named Jimmy Ferris (Martin Martinez). Soon after, Reenie pulls his juvenile records to learn that the kid lost his mother, Maria, in a targeted gang attack that was connected to Diaz, who was never actually arrested. Colter puts the pieces together and believes that Jimmy took Trey to learn about Diaz’s compound so that he could go in and get revenge on the crime lord for killing his mother years earlier. The reason they returned to town for the meds was for the sake of the horses, to keep Trey’s cover to get Jimmy into Diaz’s compound. Meanwhile, Trey and Jimmy arrive at Diaz’s home, where the latter manages to get the former through the armed security at the door, and the clock is ticking…

Colter and Holt catch up quickly, however, and soon arrive at Diaz’s compound. But they’re too late. Trey is already tied up and Jimmy is up at the house with Diaz. Colter sends Trey with Holt, as the two know they have some things to work out, while he goes to speak with Jimmy. Finding bodies along the way, Colter walks in as Jimmy has Diaz in his sights. He tells the kid that Diaz isn’t worth it, but Jimmy isn’t convinced so easily. “Listen to me, you pull that trigger and everything changes,” Colter tells him, trying to keep the kid from being killed in a crossfire. The rewardist admits that he understands where Jimmy is — and considering we know what happened in Season 2’s “Echo Ridge,” we can’t help but believe him. But everyone is distracted when one of Diaz’s men arrives, prompting Diaz to shoot Jimmy, and the kid to fire back at the crime lord in return. Colter takes Diaz’s men out in a full-on Western brawl, all while helping Jimmy outside, only to be saved in the final hour by Holt.

After Jimmy is stabilized by Trey, Colter encourages the boy to just let things go — and we’re hoping that Colter doesn’t take his own advice in uncovering the full truth about his father. Afterward, Colter is paid by Maggie (who is obviously divorcing Holt), and then says farewell to Holt — but not before offering the sheriff some money to pass along to the person whose horse he borrowed. “No Man’s Land” ends with Colter leaving Fort Morris, but Tracker leaves the door open for Sheriff Holt to return (or, rather, for Colter to return to Texas) if he ever needs the rewardist’s help. Here’s hoping he will someday.