Tracker – Season 1 Episode 6 “Lexington” Recap & Review

Lexington

In Episode 6 of Tracker, Colter Shaw is searching for Argo, a highly valuable racehorse. The case is set in Lexington, Kentucky. Hugh Lazlo, who partially owns the horse and looks after it, alleges that his ex-wife, Tina, might have a hand in the abduction. The modus operandi suggests it is a work of professionals.

Tina’s new boyfriend, Redford James, owns Argo’s direct nemesis. The Lexington Cup is due in three days and the kidnapping could be related to the race.

Colter runs into Billie, a former partner and colleague at Hugh’s house. They will compete to find the horse first and take the acclaim. In his pursuit of new leads, Colter attends a gala hosted by Tina and Redford. Present are two more owners of Argo, Stuart and Kenji. He meets them at the party but is more interested in snooping around the house to look for tangible clues.

Hugh earmarked Argo’s pedigree papers as the defining sign that Tina and Redford have kidnapped Argo. However, as he is looking for the papers, Colter finds Billie in the room too.

They do not find the papers and decide to team up…for old times’ sake. Colter is sceptical because of a major betrayal by Billie in their past. Billie’s expert work rules out Redford from the kidnapping due to the bets he made on the race before Argo’s disappearance. After going through the crime scene, Colter deduces that a single person is behind the kidnapping. Signs show that he was ridden out of the place, although Hugh is unsure given Argo’s tough behaviour. 

Dan Flynn, a professional trainer who looked after Argo in his formative years, is suspected due to his old grudge against Hugh. When the duo check out his house, they find his dead body. Flynn was killed the night of the kidnapping. Colter finds a syringe in the fields outside Flynn’s house, indicating that he might have been hired for the job. He was in desperate need of money after being fired by Lazlo for constantly drinking on the job.

Billie tracks down the tranquillizer used to sedate Argo. She visits Dr Glenn’s office and finds out that Glenn and Hugh were filling Argo up with steroids before races. The inhumane treatment ensured that Argo became infertile and incapable of studding. They go back to Flynn’s barn but someone tries to burn it down and kill them. Billie and Colter manage to escape, concluding that the owners themselves might have been behind the kidnapping to collect the insurance money. 

Argo was incapable of competing, the truth which would have come out sooner rather than later. Bobby finds out that Stuart fueled money into bets for the race through shell companies. He also purchased a parcel of land for pasture in a remote area.

The duo visit the site the next morning and find the horse. However, before Colter can take him away, Stuart discovers the ploy and holds Billie at gunpoint. Stuart confesses to everything before the duo neutralizes him. It turns out Stuart was paying off Glenn to inject Argo before races without letting anyone else know about it. 

At the conclusion, Argo is reunited with his parents, who have no idea about the steroids. 

The Episode Review

The conclusion of Episode 6 is not an isolated happening. Recently, Tracker has been winding up the episodes with very tacky endings that take away all the fun of seeing the subplots materialize. Once again, the faulty ending stands as a blemish on a decent story.

The highlight is the star pairing of husband and wife Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas. The duo look great on the screen, sharing an irresistible chemistry. Sofia might not return again in Season 1 but this gave another opportunity for fans to see them together.

With Argo, I felt that the writers could have pushed an animal welfare agenda which would have been a nice touch. But there is very little beyond the central pairing to look forward to.

The lack of development in Colter’s past is very frustrating. It has stagnated in the past few weeks and concerns should be growing. Tracker started off quite well but its form has been affected quite a bit in the lead-up to the latest episode.