Over the past few weeks, Tracker fans have taken notice of the show’s turn down a darker path, with more gruesome cases, and episodes dabbling into the horror genre more and more. Justin Hartley, who plays Colter Shaw on the series, explained why the show has taken on such unsettling storylines and defended the decision.
“I don’t know about the supernatural but I think it’s important to keep upping the stakes,” Justin, 48, told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about the subject in a Sunday, April 20, interview. “I like being Colter as a hero, finding people and all that. I also really like seeing him in a suspenseful thriller and a dangerous situation. I don’t want our audience to forget that this man is mortal, he’s not a superhero. He can die! The things he is doing are very very dangerous.”
“So, [in episode] 16, we wanted to put him in a really dangerous situation that was almost too strange to explain,” the This Is Us alum reflected. “Now that he’s in there, how does he get out? And who can he pull out with him? So that was the idea behind that story.” In season 2, episode 16, viewers saw Colter in a position like never before when he uncovered a cult and some heinous activity in the snowy mountains of Montana while on a case.
“For the other ones, I think our show has something for everyone,” Justin added. “That’s why our audience is so wide-ranging. We want to make sure there’s something for everyone, without losing sight of who the character is and what our show is. We have an obligation to tell compelling stories, and this season we have like 20 of them. That’s a lot. But there’s a lot to pull from because there’s a lot of untapped things we haven’t even discovered yet as well.”
The chilling cases will likely spill into season 3, which is expected to air during the 2025-2026 broadcast season. Fans previously voiced their shock after the show took quite a dark turn with season 2, episode 16. While the episode saw the long-awaited return of Eric Graise’s Bobby Exley, many were saddened that the case featured in the episode was so horrifying.
“Loved that Bobby was back, but this episode was disturbing and completely uncomfortable to watch with my teens,” one person commented on the show’s Instagram account after episode 16 aired. “There was no need for such a dark premise and we will not continue to watch if the story lines are this uncomfortable.”
