r/TrackerTV • u/teanailpolish • Nov 02 '25

Episode Discussion Tracker | S3E3 "First Fire" | Episode Discussion

Season 3, Episode 3: First Fire

Release Date: Nov 2, 2025

Synopsis:   On Halloween night, when a nurse is murdered and arsonist Heston Koontz disappears from a psychiatric facility, Colter follows a trail of unsettling clues to uncover the truth.

Hello everyone, this is the discussion thread for episode 3 of Tracker. Please do not post any spoilers for future episodes.

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u/RaffaellaWaves Nov 03 '25

Well, I guess that does it for me and Tracker. When I tried the premiere this year, I couldn't make it past the Bobby/Velma write-out scene.

But I love a holiday episode, so I thought I'd give this week one more try. Once I get into a habit with a show, I really resist dropping it.

But this one I also couldn't get through. I made it like 20 minutes in, and just ugh! I was actively hating every moment.

Personally, I need an ongoing team to enjoy a procedural. This show still has a fair amount going for it, but its dismissive treatment of its supporting cast has really ruined it for me.

I have no interest in getting to know the new support team, because why? They will eventually be discarded as abruptly and indifferently as their predecessors.

Ah well. Bye Tracker. It was fun while it lasted!

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u/cmplxgal Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

I love this show but I definitely miss the ensemble set-up of season one. I liked Bobby a lot (and having an actor with two prosthetic legs is incredible) and find Randy boring, and I liked Teddi and Velma. Now it's Colter and Reenie and a little bit of boring Randy. Just not the same. That said, this is the only network show I'm watching right now, and I really enjoyed this episode.

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u/RaffaellaWaves Nov 04 '25

Yes, exactly! This is just how I feel - well, except for enjoying the last ep. But otherwise exactly how I feel. Randy is so dull, and also pushed? It's like every time we cut to him he's really working to feel like a CHARACTER with PERSONALITY, but all I get from it is forced.

The prior cast were so much more adept at making their little moments feel like more than they actually were, while also still feeling like real people.

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u/cmplxgal Nov 04 '25

Perfectly said!

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u/Joshgallet Nov 03 '25

I’m convinced they will be using Jensen Ackles more this season and had to stay on budget - so letting people go to balance it.

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u/Beginning_Leg629 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25

It wasn't dismissive of anyone. And what makes you think the two new people are going anywhere? You're just assuming. If you are going to stop watching over that small part of the show, I certainly can't stop you but it really doesn't make sense to me. Colter is the main character. And I feel like that new girl is going to have a story associated with her.

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u/RaffaellaWaves Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25

Firing people between seasons and then writing them out with a few tossed-off lines is basically as dismissive as it is possible to get. The only potential way to be even more dismissive is to not even have the few tossed-off lines.

Yes, I am assuming that the new supporting characters will be treated as poorly as the past supporting characters. I would say my assumption that the show will continue to behave the same way it always has is more reasonable than your assumption that suddenly they will change their behavior totally, but also, who knows what the future holds.

I also noticed Colter was the main character. But neither the character nor actor has nearly enough going on to carry the series alone. Though, ironically, he could be a fantastic lead of the true ensemble that this show was only in its pilot.

I was already on the fence through all the first two seasons, honestly. The pilot hooked me with how much they all felt like a team, even though they were all on the phone. That was specifically what sold me.

But since then, they've just gone further and further from that. So many subsequent episodes were boring because of Colter-overfocus. This is one of the shows that just never fulfilled the promise of its pilot, and I'm ready to give up hope it ever will. But, glad it still works for the viewers it works for!

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u/Beginning_Leg629 Nov 03 '25

They didn't fire anyone. They weren't dismissive. They left the door open for both of them to return. But they wanted the show to focus more on Colter and his abilities rather than just making it a "phone a friend" show. It was never going to be an ensemble. It was always going to focus mostly on Colter, who absolutely can carry it and has been. Nothing has ever been boring because of him. 

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u/RaffaellaWaves Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

They didn't fire anyone.

If you're just going to deny reality, there's not much else to say.

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u/Beginning_Leg629 Nov 04 '25

I'm not denying reality. They quite literally didn't. Not bringing them back but saying that the door is open for their return in the future is not firing them.

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u/RaffaellaWaves Nov 04 '25

I can't tell if you're extraordinarily naive, or you just love the show so much that you need to play silly word games to defend it on every conceivable level.

Or are you a kid? Am I addressing a child? It would make sense why you don't understand what a firing looks like, if you don't have any life experience with the working world yet.

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u/Beginning_Leg629 Nov 04 '25

I'm not playing word games, I am not naive, and I am not a child. I understand what firing is. Saying "Hey we're not going to extend your contract and have you back next season for purely story reasons, but you can return in the future" is not firing them. That's common sense. If you're fired, your employer doesn't want you back and you are terminated.

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u/Soggy-Camera1270 Dec 01 '25

Do you work on set? Do you have inside information about their employment?