Tracker-Man’s Best Friend

S02E07-Man’s Best Friend-Episode Recap

Previous to the episode ‘Man’s Best Friend,’ here are some access links to previous Tracker episodes;

Here is the next installment of Tracker titled ‘Man’s Best Friend.’ The episode aired November 24, 2024. All the details are below. Enjoy!

Introduction

The scene starts with Colter putting gasoline in his truck, when he hears yelling and barking. When he investigates, he finds the gas station attendant trying to push away a German Sheppard with a broom. The dog is tearing though some garbage bags looking for food. The attendant thinks he’s a stray and has already alerted Animal Control, but Colter finds that the dog is wearing a collar, leash and dog tag engraved ‘Barkley.’ The dog seems to be hurt, and Colter finds the problem quickly and pics out a thorn from his paw.

When he takes a closer look at the dog’s name tag, he can see that the owner’s address is stamped on the back. He takes a picture of it before walking the dog back to his truck and putting him in the back seat, with the intention of delivering the dog to his owners.

Colter goes into the station to tell the attendant that Animal Control is no longer needed, but while he is in there, someone smashes the back window of his truck and takes the dog. While patching up the back window of his truck, Colter is chatting with Velma about the details of what has happened. She looks on dog rescue sites for any information about Barkley but finds nothing. Colter tells Velma that he is going to the address he found on the dog’s tag.

When he arrives at the address, he can see that the front door is damaged as though someone has broken into the home. He arms himself and investigates. He finds a young boy (Aiden) and his mother (Grace) tied and gagged on the second floor. When Colter asked Grace what happened, she said Aiden was downstairs playing video games, when she heard a loud crash. A masked intruder had broken into the house and was holding a gun on Aiden. The only thing they know for sure that the man took, was their dog Barkley.

Colter doesn’t think this was a robbery. He thinks the break-in was to take the dog. He explained to them that he found Barkley behind a gas station 20 miles away and that the dog was stolen from his truck.

Once the police arrive and are interviewing Grace, Colter has a quiet chat with Aiden. The boy is distraught about his dog. Colter tells him he had a dog when he was a boy. The dog belonged to all three of the kids and was named ‘Tuffy.’ Colter said it was his sister who named him, and it was a terrible name. There wasn’t anything tough about the dog.

Aiden is curious about what Colter does for a living, so he explains to him that when people or things go missing, he gets hired to find them. Naturally, Aiden’s next question is “Do you find dogs?” Colter says no, but Aiden offers him all the money he has, which is $187.00 to find Barkley. Colter agrees to find the boy’s dog for him.

Cast

The Tracking Assignment

When Colter finds a lost dog at a gas station in Denver and the dog is subsequently stolen from his truck, Colter makes it his mission to track him down and reunite him with his family.

–>The Crime Scene

The police are focusing on this crime as being a home invasion and robbery, but Colter pointed out that this case involves a dog that has been taken twice in a twenty-four-hour window, and he doesn’t think that is a coincidence.

The police ask Colter to leave an active crime scene so they can do their investigation. Before Colter leaves, he asks Grace if she knows of any reason why someone would want to take Barkley. Grace said that a man called her the day before, offering to buy their dog. She told him that he wasn’t for sale.

Colter asked them where they got Barley from. They got the dog from a local rescue group after Aiden’s father died last year. They thought having Barkley would help Aiden to process his grief and the two of them have become best friends. Colter told Grace that Aiden hired him, so he will be doing all he can to find his dog for him.

 –>Game Cam

Colter notices that Aiden’s game console has a video camera set up and asks Grace if he was online at the time of the break-in and she said that he was. Colter immediately reaches out to Bobby to see if he can break into it to obtain any video footage. Bobby told him he can do it using the address, and he finds Aiden’s video game account. Once he hacks in, he sends Colter a link to the video footage.

As Colter and Bobby review the footage, they cannot see the intruder’s face as he is wearing a mask, but they notice a tag hanging out of his back pocket. They zoom in and Bobby is able to get an ID number from the tag’s barcode to a car rental firm. They learn that the key is for a car rented by a man named Max Miller. Bobby sends address details to Colter.

–>Another Home Invasion

Colter rolls up on the address and notices blood on the driveway. He discovers that no one is home, but he sees evidence of what looks like another break-in. He also sees a framed photo of Max Miller on the wall. The picture includes him in his military uniform, along with other army friends and Barkley is in the picture.

As Colter is looking around, he is attacked from behind. He manages to overcome his attacker and demands information. Colter tells him who he is and why he is in Max Miller’s house.

The man is Nate Riggins. He tells Colter that he served with Max and that he got a call from him the previous morning. He was babbling about needing to find his old dog Barkley, and it was Nate who helped him find a good rescue unit for Barkley when Max was placed in rehab. As they were talking on the phone, he heard gunshots and the phone went dead. He called back and neither Max or his wife answered the phone so he immediately drove to their home from Topeka.

Nate said that Max struggled with alcohol addiction, but he changed overnight while in rehab, after meeting his wife Chelsey, and he has been clean ever since. Colter asked if it was possible Max snapped and hurt his wife, and Nate told him that Max adored Chelsey, but he also told Colter that Max suffered pretty serious PTSD. Nate offers to help Colter find Max, Chelsey and Barkley.

–>Benin Bronze Statues

Colter talks to Bobby who has done a thorough search for Max Miller and can’t see anything online that is out of the ordinary other than his call to Nate. Colter said he thought it was strange that Max and Chelsey left their cell phones and car keys behind. He asks Bobby to look into the possibility that the rental car has a tracking device.

Colter finds a note pad and can see the imprint of the word ‘Lawson.’ He asks Nate about the name. Nate tells him that while in the service he and Max were part of a peace keeping mission in South Africa. While there, Max befriended a private contractor by the name of Lawson. Nate told Colter that the guy was shady and always into some scam or another. Lawson told them that he had access to some Benin Bronze statues at an archaeological dig site. He said they were worth a fortune. Nate tried to convince Max not to get involved with Lawson, but once they were back home, he said that Max dropped some hints that he had helped him.

Nate told Colter that the Department of Criminal Investigations had interviewed Max the year before. He didn’t know more than that, as it was classified and Max said he couldn’t talk about it. Nate told Colter that Max seemed pretty nervous about it. Colter texts Reenie, who has a contact person within the DCI.

Colter wonders if Max buried the statues once he got back to the states. Nate told him that it made sense that he needed the dog if he couldn’t remember the exact burial location. Barkley was regularly used to sniff out contraband.

Colter hears from Bobby about the location of the rental car, which is close to where he originally found Barkley.

–>Twenty-four Hours

Colter and Nate found the rental car parked in the lot of a public wooded park area. Colter manages to track Barkley’s prints and move deeper into the forest. They also follow the sound of barking and eventually come up on the site of Max digging.

Max immediately recognizes his friend Nate. Nate asks him what is going on and Max tells them that Lawson has kidnapped his wife Chelsey. Max admitted to helping Lawson steal the statues. Lawson was arrested for the theft and blames him for it. Max said he did not give up Lawson to the authorities and could not remember the exact location where the statues were buried, but Lawson didn’t believe him. That’s why he needed Barkley.

Colter tells him that he is the one who found Barkley at the gas station, and he can help him. Max says he doesn’t need their help and he’s running out of time because if he doesn’t return the statues to Lawson within twenty-four hours, the man was going to torture and kill Chelsey.

–>Nasty Piece of Work

In the next scene, we see Reenie chatting with military Captain Eli Fancher. She asks him about Max Miller and his deployment in Africa. The captain refuses to share any classified information regarding an ongoing investigation. Reenie respects his position but informs him a case she is working on has intersected that investigation. Reenie tells him that Max, his wife Chelsey and his old K-9 Barkley have gone missing.

He shares a file with Reenie who sees photos of the rare Benin Bronze statues. Fancher tells her that Lawson was a civilian demolition and mining expert who was arrested for the theft of sensitive cultural artifacts, as well as the murder of two guards. He returned some of the stolen goods, but there are still some missing. Max was interviewed regarding his involvement in the case, but they could not find any evidence that linked him to the crime. At this point, the African government just wants the artifacts returned.

Reenie asked about Lawson’s whereabouts and Fancher told her that he bribed his way out of a foreign prison and is at large. He also shared with her that Lawson is a ‘nasty piece of work’ who is still wanted in America for other smuggling, armed robbery and murder charges. The military has no jurisdiction where Lawson is concerned but they have alerted the state department.

–>He Won’t Give Her Back

Reenie calls Colter and warns him about Lawson. He doesn’t sound like the kind of man who is just after what he considers ‘his.’ Which means that there is no chance he will give Chelsey back. As they are talking, Max finds what he was digging for.

Colter paints a picture for Max. He tells him that Lawson isn’t the type of guy to leave surviving witnesses, and kidnapping Chelsey is personal. Colter thinks Lawson has no intention of returning her safely. At this point, Max needs to take calculated steps, using the statues, to ensure they get Chelsey back. Nate joins Colter in convincing Max to proceed with caution.

As the scene closes out, we see Lawson pulling a tied and gagged Chelsey from the back of his vehicle and places her in a box.

–>Rolling Out a Plan

As Colter, Max and Nate make plans about how to get Chelsey back safely, Lawson calls.

Colter tells him to let Lawson know he has what he wants and play it out. Lawson tells Max to meet him in one hour at an abandoned parking lot.

Colter asks Nate about his sniper skills, and he says he can ‘tap a target at 1000 yards.’ That sounds like good news to Colter who instructs that the three of them need to get back to his truck, suit up and get ready to face off with Lawson.

Colter tells Nate to take his truck while he rides with Max and Barkley

–>She’s Not Here

Colter and Max go over the details of the plan. Max tells him he is to park away from Lawson. Get out of the truck and show Lawson the bag from a distance. They will be doing all they can to slow down the exchange, so Nate has time to set up his shot. Colter gets out of Max’s car so he can pull up to Lawson alone while Colter takes Barkley and moves in on foot.

As Max pulls up and gets out of his car, Lawson does the same. While they talk, Colter goes up to the back of Lawson’s vehicle and can see that Chelsey is not there. He does find a scarf of hers, but it is obvious that Lawson has left her somewhere else.

Things are very tense between Max and Lawson. Max wants proof his wife is okay before he hands over the statues, but Lawson tells him he is in no position to negotiate terms. Max drops the bag and tells Lawson to come and get them, so Lawson closes the distance between them and shoots Max in the shoulder. Just as he reaches him, he raises his gun again to take another shot, but before he can, Nate kills Lawson with a head shot.

Colter runs over to Max to see if he is okay and tells him that Chelsey was not in Lawson’s truck.

–>Barkley to the Rescue

Max is injured and Nate stays with him as Colter uses Chelsey’s scarf to give Barkley her scent. He uses Barkley to track her somewhere on the property.

The dog takes off and Colter follows. Colter keeps up with Barkley as he tracks Chelsey’s scent through winding corridors and levels in the building. They end up travelling down to the basement, where they encounter a locked door. Colter manages to get the door open and finds the box that Lawson locked Chelsey in.

Once he gets the box open, we see that Chelsey is still alive. Colter helps her out of the box, and they find Max. Colter takes Barkley and leaves Nate, Max and Chelsey at the scene with EMS.

–>Barkley Returned

Colter takes Barkley back to Aiden.

The boy tries to give Colter his $187.00 but Colter refuses to take it and suggests that they just call this a favour between friends.

He tells him to keep the money and maybe buy something nice for his mom.

Grace thanks him as he’s leaving. Colter gives them a new dog tag for Barkley that has his name on it, but not their address. It’s safer to just use a phone number. Before he leaves, Aiden asks why they named him Barkley and Colter thinks it’s either because he barks a lot or they named him after the famous NBA player Charles Barkley.

Aiden has no idea who Charles Barkley is, and Colter considers that a tragedy. He tells Aiden to look him up.

–>Long Overdue Visit

In the final scene, Colter shows up at Reenie’s Office and surprises her and Velma with a long overdue visit. They gift him with a dash-cam for his truck and then show him around.

The Shaw Family History

We didn’t learn anything substantial about the Shaw family history other than the fact that Colter shared a small detail about his childhood.

Colter told the boy Aiden that when he was little, he had a dog too. He said the dog actually belonged to the whole family and was named ‘Tuffy.’ Colter said it was his sister who named him, and it was a terrible name. There wasn’t anything tough about the dog, who was in constant trouble for eating everyone’s socks.

In Closing

–>Overall Opinion of the Episode

This episode had a nice feel-good element to it, as a missing dog gets reunited with the boy who loves him.

The search for a family pet was really just a surface story for a much more tense drama at play. The search and rescue of the wife of a PTSD afflicted ex-military man whose past sins collided with his current life. Luckily Colter, with the help of those involved, his crew and an ex K-9 named Barkley, saved the day and righted a past wrong.

The series is still on tap to take a deeper dive on three fronts; the Shaw Family history, some Colter-crew character development and the Gina Picket abduction with ex-police detective Keaton now working the case. We’ll stay tuned to see what unfolds in the episodes ahead.

Extra Episode Photos

Preview for S2E08

Coming next week for Tracker is episode “The Night Movers.”

Reminder

Don’t forget to watch Tracker on CBS/Paramount+ Sunday Evenings at 8:00pm ET/PT.

• Please note, all photos used in this article are courtesy of CBS, Paramount+ and/or IMDb.