Tracker Season 2 Episode 7: Man's Best Friend

The following Tracker Season 2 episode 7 recap contains plot details.

"Man's Best Friend" is Tracker's most overtly heartwarming episode, but the case underneath is concrete and violent. Colter finds a lost German Shepherd — Barkley — digging through trash at a Denver gas station, but when he steps away, someone smashes his truck window and steals the dog. The dog's tag leads Colter to the home of Aiden, a boy whose father died last year and whose mother got him Barkley to help with the grief; Aiden offers his birthday money to hire Colter. The home has been invaded: a man with a gun tied up Aiden and his mother and took only the dog — after the mother had already turned down an unsolicited cash offer to buy Barkley.

The investigation reveals Barkley's real history. The dog originally belonged to Max Miller, a former soldier who gave him to his army buddy Nate Riggins while struggling with addiction after returning stateside; Nate passed Barkley to a charity, and Aiden adopted him. Max stole Barkley back not for sentiment but because he is entangled with David Lawson, a private military contractor he worked with overseas — together they stole valuable statues, Max brought the statues back to the U.S., Lawson went to prison overseas but bribed his way out, and Lawson has now kidnapped Max's wife Chelsea to force Max to dig up and hand over the statues. Colter and Barkley track Max and Chelsea to the woods, and Barkley's instincts lead Colter to Chelsea's hiding spot; Max is saved, Chelsea is rescued, and Lawson's operation is broken up. Barkley is reunited with Aiden.

The Tracker Season 2 episode 7 ending explained: The dog theft is not a vague "small Denver criminal network" — it is a specific extortion plot by David Lawson, a private military contractor who kidnapped former soldier Max Miller's wife Chelsea to force Max to dig up and hand over statues the two men stole overseas. Colter and Barkley track Max and Chelsea to the woods, and Barkley's instincts lead Colter to Chelsea's hiding spot; Max is saved, Chelsea is rescued, and Lawson's operation is broken up. Barkley is reunited with Aiden, the boy whose father died last year, and Colter gives the dog a new tag with the family's phone number.