Tracks



Title	Tracks
Episode	1.07
Aired	March 18, 2021
Ratings	1.45mil - 0.27 (18-49)
Director	Bola Ogun
Writer	Casey Fisher & Paula Sabbaga
IMDB	IMDB
Synopsis	Captain James and Liam follow up on a tip regarding Emily's murder. The duo head to Mexico for more answers but decide to keep their trip a secret from Walker. Meanwhile, Trey escorts Stella, August and the girls soccer team to an away game but when things take a dangerous turn Trey, Walker and Micki have to team up to save the kids. Micki learns some shocking news.
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Plot

August is making breakfast for Stella and Cordell (pancakes!). Cordell is on his way to work but stops in to praise August for his culinary skills. August has been using a blowtorch on a grapefruit (is that... a thing people do?) and Cordell reaches for a skillet to move it, only to burn his right hand. He still has the bandage on his left hand from the previous episode, where he accidentally nailed himself. So basically his hands are going to be hurt every episode, it seems. Cordell informs the kids that Abeline and Bonham are still camping (though they've likely checked into the Driskill Hotel). Stella mentions that she has a soccer game in Laredo, and August and Ruby are going to be filming it. August mentions that he's also going to be filming the dance the following Friday, and he wants to ask Ruby to go with him (aw). Cordell tells August to be safe while cooking and leaves, while Stella is happily texting away (texting with Trevor Strand).

Cordell goes to Micki's and is greeted by Trey, who notices that yet again Cordell has hurt his hand. Trey is on his way out to drive the kids to Laredo for the soccer game. Cordell asks how Micki is doing and Trey confirms she looks okay, then she enters the room and speaks to Cordell herself. Cordell asks about her mom, Adriana Ramirez, and Micki informs him that her mother has been detained in San Antonio for a DWI hit-and-run. But she doesn't buy it, because her mom doesn't drink, and her "whole MO is accountability". Cordell agrees. Micki states she's going to San Antonio and Cordell offers to go with her. He can make it an official case because it doesn't involve his family.

Captain Larry James and Liam are in Mexico, and Larry is just getting off the phone with Cordell (after lying about being in the office, oh no). Liam states he's also lying to Bret and Cordell. But they need answers, and need to figure out why an innocent man (Carlos Mendoza) would lie about murder. Also they mention that Geri is MIA, so they're following the money to Reynosa, Mexico.

Back in Austin, Trey and the kids are loading the luggage onto the bus, and Trevor is late. August shows Ruby his camera before attempting to ask her to the dance. Before he can actually ask her, he gets interrupted by Todd, the newest A/V Club member. Todd mentions that he's taking Ruby (or "Rubes" as he calls her) to the dance, and August looks understandably disappointed. He then states he can film the dance alone, so Todd and Ruby can go to the dance together, but Isabel stops him from making a fool of himself by calling him over to help with her camera. Isabel could tell August didn't want to be over there with them while "Rubes" was happening. Trevor finally shows up (he's the water boy!) and Stella asks him if they should have been worried. Trevor then has a bit of a flashback moment, talking to his dad Clint West in prison (Clint says that Duke ruined their family and is the reason Trevor's mother is dead). Back in reality, they head out to Laredo.

In San Antonio, Micki leaves the police station with her mom's case file. She's bailed out Adriana, and she should be out soon. Micki thinks the arrest could be due to a case of racial profiling and even mentions getting the ACLU involved as her mother exits the police station. Adriana tells Micki that she called someone else to bail her out and she doesn't want to get the press involved. She's adamant that she'll take care of it herself.

Micki and Cordell drive to her childhood home to spy on Adriana (well Micki doesn't consider it spying, but Cordell definitely does). Micki finds it odd that there was blood at the crime scene, but there's no obvious cuts or bruises on her mother. Also, they found a religious bracelet at the crime scene, and Adriana would never wear one of those. She considers religion to be "the organized mafia of sainthood". Cordell doesn't seem super convinced, mentioning "Rocco's Radio": the simplest explanation is usually the truth. Micki corrects him, that it's Occam's Razor.

The kids are all at the hotel in Laredo. August tries to ask Trevor advice on how to get a girl to like him, but Todd overhears and gives his own advice, saying to use the "UV-13" method. This method apparently involves a lot of math, ensuring the "right light angle". He tells August that the light's incoming rays hits his "shades" at 42 degrees and it looks "kickass". Then he should walk 13% slower. This is all bad advice. August reassures them that he'd rather just be himself. "What's the point of doing it if it's not the real me?" (oops that hit Trevor hard, you can see it on his face).

Liam is at the art gallery and Carlos's niece Victoria asks him to fill out a visitor's log in her book. He pretends like he's going to, and waits for Larry to call the woman over. He's being a distraction, and Liam takes photos of the visitor's log when she's not looking. It's obvious that Larry is also flirting with this woman and Liam gives him a good shake of the head, exasperated.

Micki and Cordell have followed Adriana to a random house in the bad part of town. There are many suggestions thrown around (Adriana is possibly a drug dealer and that's her stash house, or she is just visiting a friend... which is more likely). Quick flashback to when Micki was a little girl, after having cried. Adriana used to say that the hardest nights were the ones where Micki would scream and cry at night, so she'd take her to the trolleys, and watching them would calm her down. It made her feel safe. She mentions that at some point, her mother started wanting to protect her, but Micki wanted to protect everyone else. Cordell thinks Micki just wants to make her mom proud.

They begin to question why Adriana would lie, why she'd need to protect herself. She's notorious for taking down cops, agents, and Rangers, so it could be that someone in San Antonio is threatening her or has something on her. So Cordell sends a text to Connie to send over all the old case files. He informs Micki that he always has her six, which is very sweet.

In Laredo, August is looking for somewhere to sit, and Isabel is on the phone with her parents, seated alone. So he joins her (and we learn that he speaks Spanish!). She ends her phone call and says her parents went to Mexico, because they were worried about deportation and didn't want to drag her into it. Isabel hasn't told anyone else yet, just August. Over at another table, Stella and Trevor are chatting. Or, more accurately, Stella is talking, and Trevor is very obviously distracted. She mentions something called "Thirsty Balls" (terrible name) and notices that Trevor isn't paying attention. He apologizes, saying he had just had a weird talk with his dad that got under his skin. He'd only gone there to be close to his father, but he sometimes wants to be far from him. Stella understands, saying "It's not our job to inherit our dads' baggage".

Micki and Cordell walk up to the house of Mercedes Ruiz (Cordell introduces himself as a Ranger, but says Micki is a social services appointee), and ask the purpose of the visit with Dr. Ramirez. She says Dr. Ramirez is her therapist, and she needed help, and reassures that Dr. Ramirez is a good woman. As Mercedes walks away, the camera shows a very obvious shot of her wrist and we see a similar bracelet to the one found at the crime scene. The plot thickens!

Micki and Cordell are having lunch at a food truck, going over dozens of leads. Adriana apparently had a lot of enemies with a badge. Before they can continue discussing it, they need to eat tacos. And Cordell takes a big bite of his, making a very happy noise at the taste. Micki seems proud, and Cordell asks where she found the place (now we want tacos). Micki says the man who runs it is an old friend. Well, actually, the first guy she'd ever arrested. They eat a bit and then Micki spots a name on the suspect list, Officer Mike Stevenson. He had his license suspended the previous year, and it was returned a month later. Looking at his phone records, he'd called Adriana an exorbitant amount. They decide to pay Officer Mike a visit.

In Mexico, Liam has texted Larry asking what's taking him so long. Victoria mentions that the gallery has only just taken off recently, and more flirting happens. She gives Larry her number, but he also mentions that he's recently divorced, so maybe he's not into it. After he leaves, Victoria picks up her own phone and calls someone, saying "I don't know why, but the guy who put my uncle in prison was just here" (oh no!)

In Laredo again, the kids are at "Thirsty Balls", which is Laredo's "finest underground soccer match". Also there's alcohol. It's basically just a party with soccer thrown in. August is filming everything, and he spots Ruby with Todd again. Isabel calls Todd over to "worm up" (whatever that means), before winking at August. Isabel is a good wingman. August is now alone with Ruby, and she asks if he wants a drink but he says no. Once Ruby goes off to get her drink, Trevor comes up and seems impressed that August chose being himself. And they both agree that people who wear shades indoors are idiots.

Micki and Cordell walk into Mike Stevenson's backyard where he's getting ready to grill dinner. At first he seems to think they're trespassing, but Micki mentions she has questions about Dr. Ramirez. Mike knows then that she's Micki, and says she's a big deal to her mother. Mike knows a lot about Micki, including that she wouldn't eat hearts of palm as a child because she thought they were real hearts, and her favorite movie isn't actually Fargo. Before he can say what her favorite movie is, Micki interrupts him, and she and Cordell both realize that Adriana is actually dating Mike. They're all gonna have steak together.

Liam and Larry are also having lunch, and they are going over the gallery sales. It appears that all the sales the gallery has made have come from Austin, which is odd. Looking at the photos Liam took of the visitor's log, they spot an address that's a front for the Northside Gang. So it's possible Emily pissed off a crime syndicate, or at least if the Northside Gang is involved, it makes sense why Carlos wouldn't talk. Liam then mentions that Cordell deserves to hear everything from them in person, and Capt. James agrees. He then orders a drink (even though he stopped drinking when he became Captain).

Micki and Adriana are cutting veggies and talking about dating cops, which is odd because Adriana hates cops. Cordell grabs four beers from the cooler, but Mike mentions they only need three because Adriana doesn't drink (except the "slip up" the previous week). Cordell chats with Mike, and even mentions his psych eval, and how he's not proud of it. He asks Adriana how he can avoid the same mistake in the future. He's growing! While Cordell and Adriana talk, Micki joins Mike at the grill, and "grills" him for information (see what we did there?). She mentions the crash and asks about Adriana's bruised ribs, but Mike says it's her shoulder that she hurt. Cordell gets a phone call from Trey which interrupts the nice meal, because all of the kids have snuck out and disappeared. Cordell says he's going to leave and Micki goes with him, because she has his six too. Double aw.

The kids are all drinking and playing soccer, and the sun has gone down. Suddenly, trucks and jeeps show up, driving around all the teens in circles, and ultimately parking on the field. A lot of the unknown men exit their vehicles, one in particular seeming to be the leader of the Northside Nation, named Oswald. Trevor tries to stand up to Oswald when he first mentions that there's a field fee for using the field, then makes a joke that they came to play. He's a slimeball. He asks who can score on him, and Stella volunteers (much to Trevor's dismay). She shoots the ball into the net and as it enters, one of the gang members literally shoots it with a gun. Ok then.

Trevor attacks Oswald and a gun falls to the ground (and the other gang members pull their guns on Trevor, a literal child). Oswald rolls over Trevor and hits him a couple times, and Stella shouts at him to stop. As this is happening, Micki and Cordell show up to save the day. Cordell exits the vehicle before it's even stopped, hanging off the passenger door like a monkey as they approach. Cordell tackles Oswald while Micki exchanges gunfire with the other gang members. In the chaos, Trevor picks up the gun that had fallen, and seems to aim it at Cordell. He calls him "Duke" (oh no!) but it's unclear if Cordell heard him, though it's likely he did because he looked at Trevor directly after. Trevor then decides against shooting Cordell (good plan) and gives the gun to him instead. Cordell tells Trevor to get away and then cuffs Oswald. Some of the men drive away but they at least manage to arrest a few. And Trey knocks out one guy who attempts to attack Micki from behind.

At the police station, Cordell and Micki are discussing the plans to take the kids home, and Oswald is brought in by an officer. He makes a gross comment about Stella, and Cordell moves as if he's going to hurt Oswald, but instead he uses his words. He cites Statute 61-5-27 (incorrectly) and lets the officer take Oswald away. Micki is impressed with him for deescalating without violence. Trey comes up and mentions that he's going to get a ride with the LPD, and will also call the parents. He shakes Cordell's hand and Cordell winces like it hurts, making a joke out of his hand being hurt again.

Cordell is upset with his kids and attempts to scold them, but August just hugs him. Stella joins in on the group hug and it's very sweet. August asks for one thing before they go home. We then see them at the border to Mexico, and August shows Isabel that her parents are there with a very beautiful display of fireworks. Isabel asks how it happened and August mentions that Stella gave him their number so he could prepare something like that for her. Trevor tosses them a lighter and they set off fireworks of their own, in response to her parents. Stella tells Trevor to go to the dance with her (not really "asking", literally telling him). Then they all join in watching the fireworks.

Micki has another flashback to herself as a child, watching the trolleys with her mother. But she realizes then that there was actually another person there with them. It was Mercedes Ruiz, and Micki sees her wrist (with the bracelet). She then tells Cordell she has to leave, to see her mom in person, and she leaves.

It's early in the morning and she is at her mother's house. When Adriana answers the door, Micki asks about the trolleys when she was a kid. Adriana doesn't want to say at first, but Micki presses further, and Adriana reveals that Mercedes Ruiz is actually Micki's mother. WHAT. Mercedes is Adriana's sister (so they're still related by blood, as she's Micki's Aunt), and Mercedes is an addict. She tried to go to rehab many times and she left Micki with Adriana for that period of time. Mercedes was gone to rehab for three years, and by the time she came back, Adriana had already been raising Micki for so long that she couldn't give her up. Even though Mercedes was clean at that time, she knew it wouldn't stay that way. So Mercedes said she would leave, if Adriana paid her. Ouch.

Micki is upset by this news (rightfully so), and asks Adriana what her name is. Adriana at first affirms that her name is Micki Ramirez, but she needs to know. And Adriana finally admits that Micki's real name is Nina Ruiz, and she was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Adriana states that Mercedes tracked her down after a lecture and begged her to see Micki. The two women got into a fight and Mercedes drove off, drunk. She then got into the accident that Adriana is taking the fall for. Adriana blames herself, because she was responsible for "years of her misery". Micki says she just wanted to make her mom proud, and leaves.

Back at Sacred Heart High School, Trey is giving a pep talk to all the soccer players. He mentions that Coach Bobby was supposed to be watching them (when they snuck out) and so now Trey is the head soccer coach. Isabel stops quickly to tell August that what he did for her was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for her. She asks August to the dance as friends, and Ruby can be seen sitting nearby, looking uncomfortable. Cordell is in the bleachers, talking to Micki on the phone, after she's told him about her mother. He asks if she needs him to come out there, but she says not to. She also asks him not to tell anybody about Mercedes. She hangs up and walks up to Mercedes's house, but she ends up leaving before actually seeing her birth mother.

Trevor approaches Cordell for a chat. Cordell thanks him for protecting the kids, and mentions that it takes bravery to not take the shot (in reference to him not shooting Oswald, though it's obvious that Trevor had intended to shoot "Duke"... Cordell doesn't know that though). Cordell jokes that Trevor still owes him a "what are your intentions with my daughter" chat, and Trevor goes off to his water boy duties.

Back in Mexico, Liam and Larry are about to head back home, obviously hungover. They are walking toward their vehicle, and Larry presses a button on the key fob. The car explodes!

Trivia

August says "the only people who wear sunglasses indoors are idiots", which could be considered a potential reference to a line by Dean Winchester in Supernatural (Jared Padalecki's previous show), in episode 9x5: Dog Dean Afternoon, where he said: "You know who wears sunglasses inside? Blind people. And douchebags."

Walker was picked up for a second season while the cast were filming this episode.

Music In Episode

Song Title	Artist	Scene Info
Broken Foot	Wiretree	August is making breakfast for the fam
Hate	Lincoln Durham	Cordell and Micki show up to save the kiddos (from the Northside Gang)
KaiL Baxley	Mirrors of Paradise	August surprises Isabel with some fireworks from her parents! So sweet
Sunset Canyon	Foxwarren, Andy Shauf, D. A. Kissick	Cordell thanks Trevor for his bravery, Liam and Larry's car explodes