The second episode of Tracker’s third season, titled “Leverage,” wastes no time diving again into the unnerving conspiracy launched within the season premiere. The episode picks up proper the place we left off, tightening its grip on viewers with the rising thriller of “The Course of,” a twisted system of coercion that turns atypical individuals into devices of violence and manipulation. It’s a dense, unsettling follow-up that continues to broaden the present’s mythology whereas deepening the emotional threads between Colter, his brother Russell, and the remainder of his ragtag gang.
From the opening scene, the episode units a tone of panic and dread. A tearful man named Harith Holmes drives at nighttime, visibly shaken as he receives texts from an nameless quantity asking if “the task” is full. His horror intensifies after we understand he’s not a random sufferer, however one other cog in The Course of. He’s a puppet pressured to commit homicide to guard his household. The scene instantly establishes the stakes: The Course of is all over the place, it is aware of all the things, and it makes use of guilt as its leash. When Harith confesses to his spouse that he was the one who killed Raymond’s sister, the emotional weight lands laborious. The desperation of those “everyday monsters” is probably the most chilling a part of the storyline. They aren’t evil, they’re trapped.
In the meantime, Colter and Russell (Jensen Ackles) are again within the subject, this time joined extra straight by Reenie and tech professional Randy. Their teamwork feels extra cohesive this week, and it’s refreshing to see all of them interacting slightly than working in isolation. The group suspects that Raymond, the trainer accused of orchestrating The Course of, is being arrange, and the script well weaves their views collectively as they piece by an internet of deceit. Reenie’s jailhouse dialog with Raymond is especially sturdy; her calm empathy contrasts completely with Raymond’s rising paranoia. His panic when he thinks the guard and Reenie may be in on The Course of is an eerie reminder of how invasive this technique has grow to be.
| “Leverage” – TRACKER, Pictured: Justin Hartley as Colter, Chris Lee as Randy and Jensen Ackles as Russell. Picture: Sergei Bachlakov/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The present additionally offers Russell some standout moments this week. His scenes with Reenie whereas they’re being adopted supply a mix of pressure and humor, exhibiting that he’s as reckless as he’s charming. When he pulls a 360 in her automobile to shake a tail, it’s a mixture of motion and banter that feels quintessentially Tracker: grounded but cinematic. Jensen Ackles continues to play Russell with the proper mixture of bravado and coronary heart, and his dynamic with Colter stays one of many present’s most compelling relationships.
Colter, however, spends a lot of the episode following the path by Lisa, the lady who was manipulated into violence within the premiere. Her hospital confession is among the hour’s finest emotional beats. A uncooked and painful second the place she admits how The Course of exploited her previous errors and vulnerabilities. Her concern that “they have people everywhere” captures the suffocating nature of this conspiracy. Colter’s quiet reassurance that he doesn’t decide her reminds us why he’s such a fascinating lead: he’s a person formed by empathy as a lot as by talent.
The investigation leads Colter to an important discovery but, Dr. Susanna Tate, the tutorial who by accident created The Course of years in the past as a part of a behavioral psychology experiment. This revelation is the place Tracker briefly flirts with Black Mirror-style territory. The concept The Course of started as a examine on obedience and leverage, designed to discover how far individuals would go when coerced, reframes all the storyline. Tate’s confession that she shut it down when a few of her college students grew to become violent provides a layer of guilt and tragedy. However probably the most disturbing element is that one in every of her former college students, Don Schneider, took her idea and turned it right into a real-world operation. When Colter realizes The Course of has been working for a decade, totally automated by an algorithm, it shifts from a human-driven conspiracy to one thing much more impersonal. A machine of ethical decay.
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| “Leverage” – TRACKER, Pictured: Jensen Ackles as Russell. Picture: Darko Sikman/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The ultimate act delivers probably the most direct confrontation but. Russell and Colter uncover that Schneider continues to be alive and working out of a hidden command heart stuffed with computer systems, stay feeds, and images of each sufferer and perpetrator The Course of has ensnared. The second Colter bursts in and Schneider smugly declares that The Course of “doesn’t need him” is chilling. It’s the villain’s method of claiming the system has developed past humanity. Schneider’s taunting of Colter, exhibiting him photos of his family and questioning what he’d do to avoid wasting them, ties the thematic threads collectively neatly. Tracker has at all times been about what individuals will do for these they love, and right here, that query turns into literal and horrifying.
Sadly, in spite of everything that buildup, the episode’s ending comes a bit of too quick. Schneider is rapidly subdued, and Colter and Russell destroy the servers to “end” The Course of. Whereas the sequence is cathartic, it feels considerably abrupt contemplating the intricate, psychological setup. The notion that a complete community of victims and perpetrators might be shut down by capturing up a couple of computer systems feels overly tidy for a present that thrives on ambiguity. The writers depart a small door open, one in every of Tate’s former college students, Jillian Meeks, continues to be at giant. However the instant decision doesn’t match the depth of the thriller main as much as it.
That mentioned, “Leverage” nonetheless stands as one of many present’s strongest episodes when it comes to tone and ambition. It’s clear that Tracker is transferring away from its earlier “case of the week” construction towards one thing extra serialized and morally complicated. The writing is sharper, the pacing brisk, and the performances proceed to hold weight. Hartley and Ackles have a simple chemistry that balances seriousness and wit, whereas Fiona Rene’s Reenie provides grounding intelligence to the combo. Even Randy will get extra to do right here, functioning as each comedian reduction and real investigator.
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| “Leverage” – TRACKER, Pictured: Justin Hartley as Colter and Jensen Ackles as Russell. Picture: Darko Sikman/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The emotional bond between the brothers, discussing their mom, their father’s secrets and techniques, and the mysterious cellphone quantity from their dad’s journal, units the stage for deeper private storytelling. The household dynamic has been the present’s most underused factor, and it’s good to see the writers lastly leaning into it. Russell’s line about wanting to make use of his expertise for good looks like a quiet setup for a derivative or a extra formal partnership between the brothers. And after the psychological darkness of The Course of storyline, the picture of them heading out for beers and steaks feels earned. A quick breath earlier than no matter storm comes subsequent.
Ultimately, “Leverage” is a compelling, emotionally charged hour that juggles thriller depth with philosophical undercurrents. Whereas the conclusion comes too simply, the episode nonetheless succeeds as an announcement of intent for the season. Tracker is now not only a procedural a couple of resourceful man discovering lacking individuals. It’s evolving right into a story about how programs of management, concern, and guilt manipulate atypical lives. And if this episode proves something, it’s that Colter Shaw isn’t simply monitoring individuals anymore, he’s monitoring the reality itself, regardless of how darkish it will get.
