Beyond The Campus Walls – Episode 11 begins with Blake Baker (Tyler Cotton) at what appears to be a frat party. Although he appears a bit out of place, it becomes clear that he’s looking for someone when he mistakenly approaches a blonde girl from behind. This unfortunately leads to a heated confrontation with a guy in a letterman’s jacket, perhaps her boyfriend.

Two days later, Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) arrives on the Wyoming Science Campus to question Polly Baker (Nicole Oliver) about Blake’s disappearance. As he discusses the case with Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma Bruin (Abby McEnany), it becomes clear that he doesn’t believe there is a case. After his discussion with Polly, his mind appears to be changed. In his incredibly perceptive and persuasive way, Colter gets Polly to admit that her brother experienced a psychotic break at around the same age as Blake. Although they did later find him, he was sleeping on the streets and ranting on hysterically. Blake’s struggle with anxiety only raises Polly’s concerns.

Later that day, Colter attends a thermodynamics lecture, given by Dorian Shaw (Melissa Roxburgh). After teasing him about not returning her calls, it doesn’t take long for her to realize he is being subversive. This leads to him sharing Blake’s case and the discovery of Ashton Shaw’s (Lee Tergesen) file with her. Although she goes through the file, she does so with little interest and claims to have already known most of its contents. This changes when she learns that Ashton worked for the government for 7 years, which is something neither Ashton nor Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson) had previously shared with them. Despite the discovery, she claims to have no interest in learning more about the family. She does, however, reveal that she’s been keeping in touch with Russell Shaw (Jensen Ackles) and invites him to a later dinner. As far as Blake’s case goes, Dory appears to share Colter’s initial opinion that he got stressed and slipped away for some recoup time.

Colter decides to visit the lab Blake was working at and meets Dex (Amitai Marmorstein) and Jada (Mika Bantog) who share completely different theories regarding Blake’s disappearance. Jada thinks Blake cared too much about their work while Dex thinks he simply flaked out on them. The discussion doesn’t get much further thanks to the arrival of Professor Lyle Hewitt (Bob Frazer) who confides in in Colter about catching Blake falsifying research data. Although Hewitt was entirely confident Blake was falsifying data, he revoked his lab privileges which didn’t go over well with Blake. Before Hewitt turns his attention to Dex, Colter learns that their work could have monetary value.

With them out of the room, Colter turns his attention to Jada. Although Jada fears getting involved because she doesn’t want to endanger her grant, she tells Colter about seeing Blake two days ago on the north side of town, drunk and wearing a red cowboy hat. According to her, this was completely out of character for the socially awkward Blake.

Colter has Bobby Exley (Eric Graise) comb through Blake’s cell phone history while he visits Blake’s last known location. Nothing appears out of the ordinary, but upon closer inspection, Bobby realizes Blake was consistently communicating with someone through an encrypted network. At about the same time, Colter discovers the red cowboy hat, along with what looks like other party remnants outside of a house. Colter wastes little time letting himself in the back door and finds what appears to be a rather extensive BDSM, along with a tablet that contains several photos of Blake. There is also a hidden camera with the ‘Code Club’ logo, which provides Colter’s next stop.

By the time Colter makes it to Code Club, Bobby has learned that Blake was not only frequently speaking with someone named, BlondieBaby, Irene Hertzyl (Siobhan Williams), but they were also exchanging nude photos. It was Irene that Blake was meeting at the party. Although she didn’t show up at the party, a later conversation reveals that she supposedly met him elsewhere that night (Saturday).

Thanks to Bobby’s efforts, it doesn’t take Colter long to identify or get her to spill her guts after unsuccessfully going for a revolver. Given that Chuck Hertyzl (Kyle Mitchell) handles most of the business end of his and Irene’s scam business, she claims that they were hired by someone on the dark web to gain leverage over Blake. Apparently, the client was fearful that Blake would use some kind of evidence against them. Colter ultimately decides to use Irene to contact the client while Bobby tracks his location.

Colter and Dory get into a bit of a disagreement when she shows up at his Airstream to uncover why he was a no-show at dinner. Seeing Irene she gets the wrong impression and attempts to storm off. Although Colter is quick enough to intervene, it’s mere seconds later that he receives word from Bobby about having a line on the client.

Colter attempts to hide in the rear seating section of his truck while Irene meets with the client. When he shows up late and arrives at the truck, Colter only manages to spook him. There is a bit of a foot chase and the client about to escape in his vehicle when Colter shoots out one of the tires. A small crash ensues and the client is revealed to be Dex. This discovery only leads to more confusion, Dex claiming all that he is guilty of is introducing Professor Hewitt to a dark web service. According to Dex, it was Hewitt who was falsifying records and Blake who discovered it.

When Colter learns that Hewitt’s phone puts him on campus, he reaches out to Dory for assistance. This is where he learns about the Cold War bomb shelters and insists on showing him where they are rather than simply providing directions. Her presence immediately comes in handy when her key card saves him from picking the lock at the entrance of the shelter.

As Colter and Dory make their way to the shelter, Chuck continues to hold Blake hostage while trying to learn where he’s hidden the evidence. When Hewitt shows up, it becomes clear that Chuck wants to kill Blake, whether they retrieve the evidence or not. After a bit of back and forth, Hewitt agrees but insists that he be the one to do it. At this time, Colter and Dory have made their way to the entrance to another section of the shelter. Colter tells her to call the cops, which requires her to go outside. After the gunshot, Colter kicks in the doors to discover the area abandoned and Chuck dead.

It’s only seconds later that Colter finds Hewitt holding Blake at gunpoint in a different section of the shelter. Colter uses a mirror to scout their location and ends up whipping around the entrance and putting a bullet in Hewitt’s shoulder. Later that evening, Blake and Polly deliver Colter’s reward money. He tells them that Hewitt is going to be charged with murder but Dex will likely be given some leniency after probation.

The episode ends with Colter meeting Dory for dinner where she questions him about being resentful for her leaving. As the conversation continues, it’s suggested that he might harbor some ill will for her choosing to go live with their aunt and uncle while he stayed behind to care for their mother. It also becomes very clear that they have a much different opinion of their mother. Colter almost sees her as a victim of their father’s wild notions while Dory blames her for meekly going along with everything he did. Despite the very different opinions, Dory says she wants both her brothers back. Although Colter ignores her insistence for him to contact Russell, his facial expression suggests that he is considering it.

 

Tracker Review

Not the greatest episode of the series. I felt that it should have been much better, given that it was so close to the finale and a lot of the content applied to the main story. At least it did a fairly decent job of setting the stage for a meeting between Russell and Colter, which I am very much looking forward to. I can’t wait to see the charisma Ackles and Hartley bring to the series as a duo. I am almost certain they will soon find themselves thrown together for some reason or another. I’d have to give the episode a 5 out of 10.

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