The“ Tracker” season 2 ending answers a key question about Colter’s dad’s death — but raises several more

Key Points

• “Echo Ridge,” the final episode of Tracker season 2, reveals who pushed Colter’s dad, Ashton, off a cliff when Colter was a child.

• It’s not a tidy ending, however — the revelation prompts more questions than answers.

• You can stream Tracker‘s first and second seasons on Paramount+.

 The season 2 finale of Tracker found Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw learning the answer to a question that’s plagued him the entire series — who killed his father?

While the CBS action-drama keeps Colter busy with new cases that test his survivalist and tracking skills, the van-lifer has spent his downtime reckoning with his fractured family. He long suspected his brother, Russell (Jensen Ackles), of murdering their dad, Ashton (Lee Tergesen), but he’s now beginning to grasp how many secrets his mom, Mary (Wendy Crewson), has in her closet.

As its title implies, season 2 swan song “Echo Ridge” brings Colter back to his hometown, where the specter of his childhood hangs heavy. And what he finds there is bound to have major implications for the series’ future.

Read on as we unpack the Tracker season 2 finale, including its revelations about Ashton’s death.

What happened to Bill?

Tracker‘s season 2 finale centers primarily on the disappearance of Bill Weaver (Brian Keane), a local restaurateur and recovering alcoholic. As we learn by the hour’s end, Bill was murdered by Carl Murphy (Shane Leydon), the head of a child trafficking ring that Bill stumbled upon after seeing Carl with a scared child in his restaurant.

Colter was turned onto the case by his mother, Mary. When he talked to Bill’s sister, Angela (Bonita Friedericy), she revealed that Bill discovered the child in the restaurant with Murphy was reported missing, and subsequently became obsessed with finding him.

The episode begins with a brief scene of Bill exiting his car in the woods in the dead of night, calling out that he just wants to “see that he’s okay.” When he returns to his car, however, a man is waiting for him. “You made a big mistake, Billy-boy,” he says before another man knocks Bill unconscious.

Later, when Colter is investigating Murphy’s trailer, he finds Bill’s car under a tarp with Bill’s lifeless body inside.

Did Colter stop the child trafficking ring?

Yes, Colter takes down the Echo Ridge traffickers and saves seven missing children with the help of tech-savvy cohorts Bobby (Eric Graise) and Randy (Chris Lee), as well as lawyer Reenie (Fiona Rene). He gets further assistance from Joe (Drew Powell), an old friend and local lumber poacher.

Amember of Joe’s crew turns Colter onto Ronnie Yates (Artine Tony Browne), a meth pusher who Bill suspected of being involved in the trafficking ring. Ronnie denies his involvement, but reveals to Colter that Bill was looking for Murphy.

With Murphy’s name, Reenie helps Colter track him to a property owned by Murphy’s father. Inside a trailer on the plot, Colter finds a series of Polaroids of missing children. He also discovers a phone number, which Bobby and Randy use to track Murphy’s last location, a farmstead in Echo Ridge. Colter suspects that Murphy is trying to “offload” the children due to the heat around Bill’s murder.

Along with Joe, Colter infiltrates the farm, where they take out some of Murphy’s associates before shooting Murphy in the legs to stop him from getting away. There are two boys on the farm, but more in Texas. Murphy gives up the location, and the FBI manages to save the remaining children.

What’s with the wooden carving Colter finds in Murphy’s trailer?

While investigating Murphy’s trailer, Colter also finds a wooden carving created by his father, Ashton. His dad’s signature is even carved into the bottom. Confused as to why one of Ashton’s creations would be in the trailer of a sex trafficker, he asks his mother about it.

“They’re not the kind of people Dad would’ve associated with,” Colter tells her.

“There was a lot about your father I had no clue about,” she ominously replies.

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After shooting Murphy, Colter asks him where he got the carving. Turns out the carving was given to him by his uncle, Otto (Alex Fernandez). Colter pays him a visit, learning that Otto was an old acquaintance of Ashton’s. Otto explains how he helped install a wind turbine on Ashton’s property to help him stay off the grid.

“We got along OK. I helped keep the county off his back,” he says. “One night we were talking, I told him I liked these carvings he was making, and he threw one at me.”

And that’s when Otto drops a bombshell. “But that’s not why you’re here, is it? The accident…”

Who killed Colter’s father?

While the details remain murky, Otto admits to Colter that he was involved in Ashton’s death. When Colter asks him, gun raised, if he “threw my dad off that cliff,” Otto answers in the affirmative.

The circumstances surrounding Ashton’s death have been a source of mystery throughout both seasons of Tracker. For years, Colter believed his brother, Russell, to be responsible. After all, on the night of their dad’s death, Colter found Russell standing at the top of the cliff, staring down at his body. Russell, however, denies it. Their sister, Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), also believes he’s innocent.

Revelations about Ashton have become more complex throughout Tracker‘s run, with Colter learning of his father’s mysterious work with the government, penchant for asking too many questions, and affair with a family friend.

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In the final episodes of season 2, Colter finds a phone number amongst his dad’s keepsakes that belongs to a scientist, David Pearson, with a shady past and ties to the U.S. government. Pearson, we learn, died by suicide the same year that Ashton died.

In the closing moments of the finale, Otto tells Colter, “Your father had a lot of enemies.”

Still, Otto denies that he has any ties to the government. And when Colter asks him why he pushed his dad off the cliff, Otto simply replies, “Because she asked for my help.” Who? “Your mother.”

Is Colter’s mom responsible for Ashton’s death?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Mary has long been a suspicious character on Tracker, but, speaking with TVLine following the finale, executive producer Elwood Reid encouraged viewers not to jump to any conclusions.

“[Otto] doesn’t say that Mom ordered the murder of [Colter’s] father,” he told the outlet. “He said, ‘she asked me to be up there,’ so there’s much more to that story to unpack… Even though the finale gives you the next big piece of the puzzle, there’s still more out there to mine in that storyline, particularly when it comes to his mother.”

That leaves fans many questions to chew on as they wait for season 3. Did Mary want Ashton dead? Was this about the affair? Or their work with the government? And what was Mary’s relationship to Otto?

Only time (and new episodes) will tell.

Where can I watch Tracker?

Tracker airs on CBS. Currently, you can stream seasons 1 and 2 on Paramount+. Season 1 is also streaming on Hulu.

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