Tracker-Off The Books

‘Off The Books’ is episode 12 in the Tracker series. This time, Colter is forced to team up with his estranged brother, Russell, who enlists his help to track down a former army buddy who’s gone missing after several weeks of distressing behavior. This article is part of our 5 episode recap.

Prepping for Season 2!

We are ramping things up for premiere day, October 13th/24.

Coming into Tracker Week, we are pulling together the family-rich episodes from the first season to highlight the mystery, intrigue and questions we still need answered. Next up is S01, E12, Tracker-Off The Books.

Season 01, Episode 12 – Off The Books

Season 1/Episode 12 – Aired: May 12, 2024 – Off The Books

Shaw Family History

– Like the previous episode, Colter gets to share a great many scenes with one of this siblings, this time he is finally with the man he has been avoiding, his big brother Russell.
– Russell shows up to Colter’s camp site. During their conversation we learn more about the night their father died.
– Russell tells Colter that he is not responsible for their father’s death.
– He did not push him off the cliff, so one of two things happened; either Ashton Shaw fell, or someone else pushed him.
– Russell claims there was someone else in the woods that night.
– He also remembers that their father had enemies, was distressed and very hard on them as kids.
– Colter asks, why would their mother want him to believe that Russell killed their father?
– Russell has no answer for him, but he confided that she had her own secrets.
– The man who Russell saw in the woods the night their father died was the same man he had seen once before, talking with their mom.
– Colter wants to know if their mother had something to do with their father’s death, but Russell has no idea.
– He said that the night their dad died, their mother told him that it would be better if he left and to keep quiet about what happened.
– She told him that their lives depended on it.
– Russell did as their mother requested and left.
– He was just an 18-year-old kid. As he got older, he just stayed away and then enlisted in the military.
– Russell’s father gave him a knife when he was a boy and told him that it was one of the few things that a man could count on for protection, shelter and food.

Episode Notes

Russell asks for his brother’s help in finding an old army buddy (Doug) who has gone missing, so they work together to find him.
Colter learns that his older brother has been in military special ops and in civilian life he does contract stuff, mostly in private security for “The Horizon Group,” an above black ops contractor for the American government.
During their time together, Russell shows Colter a pocket knife. Not only is the pocket knife a central object in his friends’ disappearance (Russell dropped his knife at the kill site of a Horizon job and his friend Doug went back to retrieve it, which is the reason Doug is being targeted) but it is also has ties to their father. He has had it for as long as he can remember, and his name is etched into it. Colter recognized that the knife really meant something to Russell.
The two brothers worked well together under very dangerous circumstances and seem to fall into a very natural rhythm.
Russell was shot during their rescue mission (not serious) and Colter patched him up. Russell decided to go back and eliminate his friend from any future threat by killing the man who had him kidnapped. The brothers went their separate ways, with Russell telling Colter that he would come and find him.
Colter went back to the motel where Russell was staying. Russell had moved on but left him a package that contained money, a note, and his knife. The note said, “Keep this safe for me.”

Questions

12-18. One of three things are a possibility. Ashton Shaw killed himself. The stranger in the woods killed him. Russell is lying to Colter, and he is the real murderer. Which is it?
12-19. Russell claims that their father had enemies. Who was the stranger in the woods the night Ashton Shaw died?
12-20. What does this strange man have to do with their mother?
12-21. Did their mother have anything to do with their father’s death?
12-22. Why would their mother tell Russell it would be better if he left?
12-23. According to Russell, he did not kill his father. It makes sense that he would have told his mother that. His mother told him to keep quiet about what happened, which is confusing because it sounds like Russell doesn’t know what happened. Big Question: What did happen?
12-24. Bigger Question: Why did their mother convince Colter that Russell was responsible for their father’s death?