UPCOMING – CBS’s Tracker: Justin Hartley’s Character Is a Complex Survivalist Americans Can Connect To
UPCOMING – CBS’s Tracker: Justin Hartley’s Character Is a Complex Survivalist Americans Can Connect To
He’s not a mercenary, but he respects the job, says EP
Justin Hartley is ready to venture out on his own. After six seasons of playing Kevin Pearson on the NBC ensemble family drama This Is Us, the veteran actor has returned to network television as the star and executive producer of Tracker, a throwback to classic P.I. shows from the 1970s and ’80s — think The Rockford Files, Baretta, and Kojak — but with a modern twist.
The new CBS drama series also reunites Hartley with a familiar face: This Is Us executive producer and director Ken Olin. “We were both thinking it would be fun to do something that was more recreational, was story-driven, had some action to it, and was real physical,” Olin told TV Guide of his latest collaboration with Hartley, which they began discussing toward the end of This Is Us.
Here’s How the Tracker Finale Sets Up Season 2, With an Assist from Jennifer Morrison — Plus, Grade Season 1
Can Colter Shaw trust anyone heading into Season 2 of CBS‘ Tracker?
The Season 1 finale would have us believe that even Melissa Roxburgh’s Dory has been keeping pertinent information from Colter regarding their dead father, Professor Ashton Shaw — who, as we learned in Episode 11, spent several years working as a government contractor before he took his family to live off the grid and grew more and more paranoid.
Can Colter Shaw trust anyone heading into Season 2 of CBS‘ Tracker?
The Season 1 finale would have us believe that even Melissa Roxburgh’s Dory has been keeping pertinent information from Colter regarding their dead father, Professor Ashton Shaw — who, as we learned in Episode 11, spent several years working as a government contractor before he took his family to live off the grid and grew more and more paranoid.
Melissa Roxburgh as Dr. Dory Shaw
Melissa Roxburgh as Dr. Dory Shaw Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
For two decades, Colter believed that his older brother, Jensen Ackles’ Russell, pushed Ashton to his death. Following Dad’s demise, Dory went to live with an Uncle Dave and Aunt Melissa, and Mary urged Russell to leave home. Since then, Mom had done nothing to dissuade Colter that his older brother was responsible for Ashton’s fatal fall. In fact, she insisted that Colter ignore Russell’s calls.
Can Colter Shaw trust anyone heading into Season 2 of CBS‘ Tracker?
The Season 1 finale would have us believe that even Melissa Roxburgh’s Dory has been keeping pertinent information from Colter regarding their dead father, Professor Ashton Shaw — who, as we learned in Episode 11, spent several years working as a government contractor before he took his family to live off the grid and grew more and more paranoid.
Melissa Roxburgh as Dr. Dory Shaw
Melissa Roxburgh as Dr. Dory Shaw Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
For two decades, Colter believed that his older brother, Jensen Ackles’ Russell, pushed Ashton to his death. Following Dad’s demise, Dory went to live with an Uncle Dave and Aunt Melissa, and Mary urged Russell to leave home. Since then, Mom had done nothing to dissuade Colter that his older brother was responsible for Ashton’s fatal fall. In fact, she insisted that Colter ignore Russell’s calls.
Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw
Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
It wasn’t until Episode 12, when the Brothers Shaw were reunited for the first time since 2003, that Russell shared his truth with Colter.
“I don’t know if he fell, or if somebody else pushed him, but I do know that there was somebody else in those woods that night,” he said. “Dad had enemies…. He was a crazy son of a bitch.”
That brings us to Episode 13. The final installment in Tracker‘s freshman run introduces Justin Hartley‘s This Is Us co-star Jennifer Morrison as family friend Lizzy Hawking. Colter helps Lizzy track down her M.I.A. daughter, then Colter and Lizzy catch up over breakfast, where Lizzy serves up more than just pancakes. She hands Colter fresh intel on Dad….
Years ago, Ashton worked with Lizzy’s mother. First they were coworkers, then they were lovers. “They were having an affair… but that’s not the weirdest part,” Lizzy says. “Last year, when my mom passed away, I was going through her stuff and most of it was junk… but there was this file box under her bed. Inside it were all these research papers and journals — very personal ones. At first, I didn’t know what it was, and then I realized it belonged to your father. It was his work.”
“Why would she have something like that?” Colter asks.
“I asked myself that same thing,” Lizzy answers. She brings up a recently recovered memory of Ashton visiting her mom right before he died. “My room overlooked the driveway, and I could hear shouting one night. I looked out the window, and my mom and your dad were having some kind of argument. Then they stopped, and hugged, and she carried this box into the house.”
Colter asks Lizzy if she’s still in possession of the box, but she gave it to someone else… someone we all know. “I called Dory and she had me send it to her,” Lizzy reveals. She urges Colter to leave the past behind… which is exactly what Dory recommended that Colter do two weeks ago, when she was secretly in possession of Ashton’s file box. Is Dory hiding something, or is she trying to protect him…?
If Colter wants to pursue the truth, Lizzy suggests that he get in touch with Mary. Alas, Colter isn’t so sure he can trust Mom after what Russell told him about Dad’s death.
“What are you going to do now?” Lizzy asks.
“Right now? Nothing,” Colter answers.
He leaves, he goes surfing, he sits on a beach and he contemplates his next move.
Reenie, meanwhile, has been in touch with Colter’s brother. Russell’s in Argentina, and invites Reenie to fly out and join him. Suffice it to say, she’s got her hands full at the moment: Not only is she secretly investigating Russell’s employer — The Horizon Group, a shady private security firm first referenced in Episode 12 — but she’s in the midst of a major career change. In the finale, we learn that she’s resigned from her cushy law firm. Will she join Colter’s team full time in Season 2?
As previously reported, Tracker has been renewed at CBS. Season 2 will premiere this fall (release date TBD) and air at a new, earlier time — Sundays at 8/7c — following 60 Minutes; episodes stream next day on Paramount+. TVLine will keep you posted as we learn more (and share a Season 2 trailer once it’s made available), so be sure to bookmark this page and check back soon.
In the meantime, we want to know how you’re feeling about the Justin Hartley drama now that you’ve seen all 13 episodes. Grade the finale (and Season 1 overall) via the following polls, then leave a comment with your thoughts on what worked in Season 1, what didn’t work in Season 1, and what you would like to see from Tracker when it returns for Season 2.
