If I were to find myself immobilised on rough, isolated terrain, leg broken, hypothermic, with my rescue solely dependent on a walking jawline called Colter, then far be it from me to tell Colter – a man for whom the word “rugged” was surely invented – how to go about his business. Get me off the mountain, get me into one of those silvery space blankets, cup of tea would be nice. But, now I think of it, if he wouldn’t mind, maybe I would offer Colter a tiny bit of advice. When it comes to soothing rescue patter, I’m not sure that the Simon Cowell approach works. “[If] we stay put, your odds of survival – leg intact? Fifteen to 20%,” Colter tells Jessie, a poor stranded hiker who, naturally, whimpers in fear. And then he stabilises her leg, carries her away, and she’s going to be just fine. Talk about distracting us from the story.
This is the world of US TV mega-hit drama Tracker, newly arrived in the UK. Colter Shaw (This Is Us star Justin Hartley) is what some might call a mercenary. He finds missing people in order to collect the reward money, which is usually very substantial. Jessie went on a multi-day solo hike and didn’t return on schedule; her boyfriend and parents are offering $50,000 for anyone who can bring her back. Colter turns up with his photogenic Airstream caravan and does the grunt work before cashing the cheque. He prefers to call himself a “rewardist”. “I find it a steady job … Everyone’s looking for something,” he says, ruggedly.
