CBS’s Tracker season three, episode nine heads to Tacoma, Washington, and opens with a murder. A man checks on his cattle in the dead of night and doesn’t have time to react before being shot twice.
(This is a recap of season three, episode nine and contains spoilers.)
Reenie (Fiona Rene) is working on a case that she believes would be perfect for John Keaton to check out. The timing’s perfect since Colter (Justin Hartley) has just arrived in Tacoma to meet up with Keaton. He promises to pass Reenie’s request on to Keaton.
Keaton (Brent Sexton) needs Colter’s help because he hasn’t heard from his old partner Nat Dobbs in a couple of days. He popped into Nat’s house and there’s no sign of him. Keaton describes Nat as a sucker for broken women, but his latest ladies haven’t seen him. He has a bad feeling about this, and Colter agrees to help.
Nat’s house is unlocked and the sliding back door is slid open. Colter glances around and finds cat food in the trash. Keaton hasn’t seen the cat. Colter keeps looking through the trash and finds a newspaper article about the murder in the opening scene. Keaton doesn’t know why Nat would have ripped it out of the paper.
Randy (Chris Lee) calls with news that Nat’s phone is offline and sends Colter the phone’s last known location from two days ago. Colter and Keaton discover it pinged at farmer Clive Sherman’s house, and Colter believes Clive’s murder must have been important to Nat. Keaton has no idea why.
Colter confirms Clive was a dairy farmer and wonders why he would have a new excavator 100 yards or so from the barn. There’s no reason to have one, so Colter thinks it was brought in after the murder; someone was searching for something specific. It’s possible that “someone” was Nat.
There are lots of footprints around the excavator, and Colter spots a place where the ground is more compact. Colter uses the excavator and digs up the compacted area, uncovering a dead body that’s not Dobbs. Just feet away is another body, and it’s possible there are more. Whoever killed Clive knew about the killing field, and that person might have grabbed Hobbs while he was searching the area.
It turns out they’re right. Nat (Dean McKenzie) was taken and is currently tied to a chair and gagged. Nat’s kidnapper places a wire around his toe, rips off his gag, and asks who sent him to the farm. The man doesn’t believe no one sent him to the farm and demands to know where “they” are. Nat continues to deny any knowledge of the place, other than what was in the papers. That earns Nat a shock that causes him to scream in pain.
The police scour the area and reveal the freshest body is a week old, and some are as old as six months. It’s definitely a body dump. Keaton introduces Colter to the officer in charge, and she has no idea why Nat would have been investigating the murder.
Apparently, all the dead people are criminals. The cops have identified three bodies so far and they each have long rap sheets.
Keaton and Colter aren’t welcome to assist with the investigation and in fact Keaton is summoned to Police Commissioner Ross Beaugard’s office. Keaton thinks he just wants his input on the case.
Reenie ran the dead criminals’ names and there doesn’t seem to be a connection. Randy discovered the murdered farmer was making huge deposits every month, up to $100,000. They all come from shell company Oak Park Holdings, which belongs to Zhan Menassian, an Armenian crime boss in charge of Tacoma’s south end.
Reenie recognizes the name and he’s a scary dude. It seems Zhan was using Clive’s farm to dispose of bodies. They must have had a disagreement that resulted in Clive’s death. Nat must have put the pieces together and got taken.
Randy tracks Zhan’s driver, his nephew Narek, and Colter heads to its location. Meanwhile, Keaton meets with Ross (Grimm’s Sasha Roiz) and Ross asks what they’ve got so far on the murders and Nat’s disappearance. Ross confirms Zhan Menassian’s involvement and that the Russians probably killed Clive to rattle the Armenians. Ross claims he’s putting his best guys on the case and wants Keaton to step aside. Keaton reluctantly agrees.
Colter takes a seat in the back of Zhan’s car and disarms Narek. Colter demands a meeting with Zhan and orders Narek to take him there. They arrive at Zhan’s location and Narek warns Colter there will be bodyguards. Narek’s shocked when they approach the door and it’s open.
Narek calls out for help and Colter knocks him out. Colter looks around and quickly discovers Zhan dead on the floor. He calls Randy and asks about security cameras. Randy can’t find one, but Colter finds one hardwired and follows the cord. It leads him to a storage room. Colter finds a locked cabinet with the security system, and Randy has him send photos of the router’s back. Colter escapes unnoticed as the bodyguards arrive.
He meets up with Keaton and together they watch as Randy taps into the security system. The footage shows Nat confronting Zhan, appearing to shoot him before seizing his phone. But Colter notices a reflection in the window and Keaton confirms it’s contract killer Emile Lang (Mark Engelhardt). Keaton believed Lang was dead, and Randy shows he’s been off the grid for five years.
Colter wonders if Nat is working with Lang, but Keaton knows Lang is a lone wolf. Randy sees Zhan’s phone is still pinging and that’s where Colter and Keaton head next. Colter believes Keaton isn’t telling him everything about Nat, but Keaton doesn’t want to talk about it.
Colter and Keaton arrive at the phone’s location and find an overturned car and Nat in dire condition nearby. Nat’s in shock and as Colter calls 911, Nat tells Keaton that Lang killed Clive. He wasn’t working for the Russians. Nat indicates where Zhan’s phone is and apologizes before dying.
Colter tracks Lang as Keaton remains on the scene and calls the cops. It’s still daylight as he follows the blood trails, but it’s pitch dark when we see Lang carjack someone and steal a getaway car. It’s also pitch dark when Keaton makes the call to Ross to tell him Nat’s dead, breaking the news even though dozens of cops have been on the scene for hours.
Ross is surprised Nat said Lang wasn’t hired by the Russians. He says he’ll meet Keaton at the scene. Colter calls with an update that Randy discovered a Honda was carjacked nearby, and Keaton heads out to pick him up.
Lang stops in a store to pick up duct tape, a tarp, and a rifle.
Randy provides an update that the Honda is heading to a lake just as Lang enters a home pretending to be a worker checking on a gas leak. After the man lets him in, the homeowner gets a text saying, “SOMEONE KNOWS. GET OUT.” He races to his safe and gets his gun, but Lang is just steps away, suggesting they have a talk.
Colter and Keaton arrive at the house, which Randy says belongs to Bradley Weitz (Trevor Hinton), an accountant. They approach, guns drawn, and find the door unlocked. Colter finds Bradley’s housekeeper tied up and gagged, and she reveals Lang took Bradley to the garage. She also reveals Lang was asking about Cassie Lindstrom, a name she doesn’t recognize.
Keaton looks around outside and spots the Honda as Colter walks through the garage. He finds Bradley dead, shot in the back of the head. There are dozens of file boxes in the garage, but Colter doesn’t have time to look at them. Shots are exchanged outside and Colter runs out just as Lang drives off. Keaton’s been shot and tells Colter to follow Lang. Colter refuses. There isn’t any cell service, so his first priority is getting to a hospital.
Neither Reenie nor Randy can reach Colter, and Reenie’s worried because she found old records indicating Nat was on the take and getting paid by Zhan.
Keaton’s in horrible shape and apologizes for getting Colter into this as they head to the hospital. He manages to say Cassie Lindstrom might be related to the cop Lang supposedly shot at a nightclub.
Colter begs Keaton to hang on as they head to the hospital. Suddenly, shots ring out and Colter’s car is hit. It drives over an embankment and flips over onto its hood. And that’s it for the first part of Tracker season three. Episode 10 is scheduled to air on March 1, 2026.
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 1 “The Process” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 2 “Leverage” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 3 “First Fire” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 4 “No Man’s Land” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 5 “The Old Ways” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 6 “Angel” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 7 “Eat the Rich” Recap
- Tracker Season 3 Episode 8 “Eurydice” Recap
The post ‘Tracker’ Season 3 Episode 9 Recap: Winter Finale Ends on a Cliffhanger appeared first on ShowbizJunkies.
0 Comments