“Eurydice” – When a grieving mother becomes the prime suspect in her missing daughter’s murder, Colter sets out to find the true culprit and prove her innocence, Sunday, Dec. 7 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ Premium plan subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured: Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw. Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Tracker Season 3 Episode 8 may just go down as one of the best of the season, aside from the show’s two-part season premiere, guest-starring Jensen Ackles.

On the episode titled “Eurydice,” Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw assisted in the case involving a missing little girl named Aubrey, but looking for her a year after her disappearance, in which her mother was named top suspect due to her rocky life and drinking habits, wasn’t looking very promising.

The mother, Sierra, called Colter for an assist after her daughter’s favorite princess dress showed up in her yard, bloodied and hanging on a clothesline.

Whoever left it clearly had information on Aubrey, and while the police and detectives who initially worked the case didn’t believe Sierra’s story, Colter has a good read on people, and he knew that she was telling the truth.

The woman simply wanted to find her daughter, and it’s unfortunate that because of poor decisions that she felt horrible about, and a guilt she carried with her daily, she wasn’t treated with any ounce of respect, especially from the now-lead detective, West. His interrogation was basically one big accusation against her, even twisting her words from her personal 12-step recovery workbook to help fit the narrative that she was an unfit mother who killed her daughter and was thriving in the attention.

Thank god Reenie put an end to that almost immediately, reminding Sierra that recovery is not linear, but the steps she’s taken shouldn’t be dismissed.

Sierra had no choice but to sit and wait for Colter to do his thing—and he did.

He pulled one string, and the rest quickly, and shockingly, unraveled.

Before West, the detective on the case was Arthur Poness, now retired. He seemed eager to help Colter in any way he could, but it was almost concerning that he missed a connection between one of the men that Sierra was seeing and partying with at the time, Spencer Flint, and the case. Sometimes, Tracker makes local law enforcement look pretty dumb, but that would’ve simply been too easy and obvious in this case.

If Poness was such a good detective as everyone was letting on, he missed a pretty glaring connection, even if he didn’t have Spencer’s son confessing that he thought his father had something to do with Aubrey’s disappearance after finding the bloodied dress in their yard.

Poness investigated and “cleared” Spencer, according to the official case, but if he had done his job correctly, there’s no way the cops wouldn’t have found the dress, strands of Aubrey’s hair, hair dye and boys’ clothes in the shed out back.

There was something more suspicious going on—and we all knew that, but it didn’t make the next twist any less shocking.

And that’s because Poness really was a good guy deep down with a promising career, so no one suspected him of meddling with the case.

However, Colter quickly tracked down Derick Flint’s last location, pulling up his corpse from the water in the process, as Randy informed him that the man had been killed on land owned by Poness.

Colter tried to warn West, but it was too late. Poness realized that he’d been made.

As for his motivation? Colter paid a visit to Poness’ house, discovering a little girl’s room, and noticing a drawing where the “mom” and “dad” are angels looking over the little girl, drawn next to her parents.

He quickly realized that Poness and his wife were Aubrey’s grandparents, a fact Sierra confirmed, noting that she never mentioned it as she wasn’t sure who Aubrey’s father was, but the resemblance to Poness’s late son, Jason, was undeniable. Poness and his wife made the connection, and when Aubrey went missing, he figured Sierra was an unfit mother for his grandchild, so they kidnapped her to provide her a safe and loving home.

The motivation may have been in the right place, but as Colter pointed out, it wasn’t Poness’ call to make, nor did it make it right.

And there’s never a world in which taking a child from their mother is the “right” thing, especially when Poness could’ve found ways to help both Aubrey and Sierra. He may not have cared much about Sierra, and clearly didn’t mind destroying her life and reputation to help the little girl, but he owed it to the little girl. And what kind of life was he actually giving her? She was constantly hiding out, scared to be seen.

His anger at Sierra being so drunk that she didn’t even hear random men come into her house and take her daughter was valid, but he could’ve petitioned to become Aubrey’s sole caretaker until Sierra got the help she needed.

There was simply a better path forward that Poness chose not to take. So, despite his actions coming from a place of love, they were deeply misguided. And any person who will willingly shoot a fellow cop in the way he shot West to buy himself some time to escape with his wife and Aubrey is disturbed. No person in their right mind does that, no matter the predicament they find themselves in. Yes, he missed West’s major arteries, but he was willing to let West die to keep up the charade.

Colter was able to track Poness, his wife, Iris, and Aubrey to his getaway boat, the Eurydice, and Poness assumed he’d killed Colter, getting him off his trail, but when he emerged from the water, unscathed, it was Iris who finally put a stop to everything before more people were hurt.

It was never supposed to be this way, she revealed, proving that she was aware of how much of the plot they lost.

In the end, Aubrey was reunited with her mother, Sierra, and though they had plenty to catch up on, it was almost as if no time had passed—Aubrey ran into her mother’s arms, happy to be reunited with the mother she was told was dead.

That’s the thing about children: they love unconditionally. And Sierra went through something terrible, but it was also a huge wake-up call for her, so she’ll never take this second chance for granted.

As Reenie informed her, she may not have been there when Aubrey initially needed her, but she’s there now. And most missing kids cases don’t have such a happy ending.

Thankfully, this one did, even if getting a call to find a missing girl taken a year ago seemed rather bleak at first.

As for Sierra, she proved to be the bigger person, never holding West’s actions against him, and even telling Colter that she kind of understood why Poness and his wife did what they did.

When Colter suggested that some people do wrong things for the right reasons, it was also a realization about his own family dynamic and the mystery surrounding his father’s death and his mother’s role in it.

For those who need a reminder, Colter found out that his mother reportedly ordered the hit on his father, though it’s unclear why. There are also questions surrounding her decision never to confront it or confide in her children, even now, as adults, and what his father was really up to with the government and a neurologist, including that mention of them watching tapes of a man hooked up to a machine.

Colter has seen some things in his line of work, so the lesson resonated and may even change his outlook on the situation, as he gets closer and closer to the answers he’s been seeking.

He may be a grown man, but that unconditional love that kids have for parents, even on their worst days, never truly goes away.

“Eurydice” was a strong installment, keeping us on our toes with unexpected twists and developments. Even Colter couldn’t believe where the case took him.

Tracker has succeeded in a show that was already resonating with audiences and making it even better for its third season.

What did you think of the episode? And are you ready for the Tracker fall finale next Sunday on Dec. 14?