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In “Preternatural,” the fifth episode of Tracker season 2, Colter Shaw searches an isolated mining town for missing teenager Emmaline Trace—and finds that suspicion about her supposed healing gift has made her a target. The case becomes a different kind of witch hunt: not a search for magic, but a story about fear, rumor and the danger of treating a vulnerable person as a remedy.
What happens in “Preternatural”?
Emmaline’s brother, Jasper Trace, asks Colter to find her. The reward is small, but Colter takes the job, with Velma Bruin’s concern helping frame it as a personal search rather than a routine payday. As he follows Emmaline’s trail, accounts from people at her former workplace reveal how her reputation for helping the sick has fed suspicion in town.
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The official premise describes the case as a search for “a missing teen with a unique spiritual gift in an inhospitable mining town.” That is the episode’s fictional framing, not evidence of supernatural healing in real life.
Why is the town talking about witchcraft?
Emmaline has reportedly helped a local woman, and that reputation turns into a source of hostility. People’s belief that she has an unusual gift shapes how they interpret her actions; the “witchcraft” label gives their fear a name and helps make her disappearance seem tied to something larger than an ordinary missing-person case.
#1 Best Overall
The episode uses that suspicion to make its witch-hunt idea social as well as supernatural: Emmaline is endangered because others project hopes and fears onto her. The story does not establish that her healing reputation has a real-world supernatural explanation.
Why did the Drell family take Emmaline?
Colter’s investigation leads to the Drell family. In the episode recap, their motive is to get Emmaline to treat their ill patriarch. They abduct her because they want access to what they believe she can do, while Emmaline is reluctant to leave because she thinks she should help him.
Rank #2
That conflict complicates the rescue. Emmaline is not simply trying to escape the family: her compassion for the patriarch pulls against the danger she faces. Colter must protect her while recognizing that she has her own reasons for staying.
How does Colter get Emmaline out?
The rescue turns violent when Colter intervenes as Emmaline is threatened. The two flee under pursuit, and Colter is seriously injured before Emmaline gets free. Her wish to help the patriarch gives the escape its moral tension: compassion is part of what makes her vulnerable, even as Colter tries to bring her to safety.
Rank #3
Episode details and credits
- Episode: “Preternatural,” season 2, episode 5.
- Original CBS broadcast: November 10, 2024.
- Writers: Ryan O’Nan and Annakate Chappell.
- Director: Jeff T. Thomas.
- Cast: Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, Fiona Rene as Reenie Greene, Abby McEnany as Velma Bruin, Eric Graise as Bobby Exley, Alison Thornton as Emmaline Trace and Connor Price as Jasper Trace.
Paramount Press Express announced the original US broadcast and Paramount+ streaming terms in October 2024: SHOWTIME subscribers could watch live and on demand, while Essential subscribers could watch on demand the day after broadcast. Those were launch-era terms, not confirmation of current availability, plan names or access in every region. Check the Paramount+ episode guide for current listing information.
Tracker is based on Jeffery Deaver’s novel The Never Game, but the available episode credits do not establish that “Preternatural” adapts the book.
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Rank #4
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