Tracker season 2 has announced a new cast for a romance with Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw, and I have to admit, it’s really confusing how the show will do it. Tracker season 1 was a huge hit for CBS, their most successful original show in years. Hartley was great in the lead role, along with Tracker’s fantastic supporting cast, which includes Eric Graise as hacker Bobby Exley, Fiona Rene as lawyer Reenie Green, Abby McEnany and Robin Weigert as handlers Velma and Teddi Bruin, Jensen Ackles as brother Russell Shaw, and more. Thanks to their dynamic, I’m really looking forward to seeing where Tracker season 2 goes.
Unfortunately, Tracker season 2 lost Teddi Bruin, with Weigert disappointingly leaving the show. But Tracker season 2’s story will introduce new members to the cast, and I have some concerns that not all of them will add to the story in a necessary or natural way. Specifically, Tracker seems determined to give Colter Shaw a love interest, even though he doesn’t need one. That’s been confirmed by a recent bit of casting news, which doesn’t lead me to believe that the show won’t continue to try to create a romantic relationship. A casting announcement for Tracker season 2 revealed that Floriana Lima has been cast as Camille Picket. A lot of actors have guest-starred on Tracker season 1, and season 2 will continue to do so. Lima’s casting wouldn’t be a big deal, except for the fact that she’s clearly been a huge part of Colter’s life, having been his on-again, off-again girlfriend for the past decade. As the official synopsis reads, “Haunting, compelling… Camille has been Colter’s on-again, off-again lover for at least the past 10 years. Camille’s sister went missing 10 years ago and her case was never solved—which brings up some trauma for both Camille and Colter on each anniversary of her disappearance, but also reconnects them, at least for an evening.”
This is pretty jarring, since her name never came up in Tracker season 1, and I expected her name to at least be mentioned or their time together mentioned, even if she hadn’t been cast yet. It’s a shocking reveal and not only inconsistent with the character of Colter Shaw, but with the story as a whole. It seems to me that the writers decided that Colter needed a romantic drama, and so a significant past lover was created to tick an unnecessary box rather than to serve a natural need for the plot.
Floriana Lima’s Camille returning to the picture doesn’t necessarily mean a romantic angle for Colter, but, let’s be honest: network procedurals are procedurals for a reason. Their formulaic choices are why we watch them as entertaining shows, but they’re still formulaic. It would be quite a surprise if Tracker introduced a serious lover from Colter’s past life and left that thread unfulfilled, romantically. However, if Colter and Camille were to rekindle their romance, it would surely end again, as Colter Shaw’s nomadic life doesn’t lend itself to a stable relationship.
Furthermore, while Colter showed some character growth in Tracker season 1, I don’t see him as being ready for a relationship as a person. He has a lot of great qualities that are admirable, but none of them fit into being a good partner or boyfriend. Even Justin Hartley said as much about Colter’s romance at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con during the show’s panel: “I think all of his heroics and bravery come off as reckless and selfish. Like, I’m going to leave home and go through all this and put myself in danger and you come back here worrying about me. I just don’t think that’s a good look.”
Hartley is right. He may look great in a tight T-shirt and he may be a great tracker, but let’s be honest: Colter is not a good person to date. Considering that his solitary nature and past relationship trauma have both been identified as major personality traits, his readiness for a relationship doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen anytime soon. Even if he were emotionally ready, the nomadic nature of his job would make it very difficult for him to maintain a relationship. Most people aren’t built for long-distance relationships, much less when one of the two is constantly on the move.
Most people aren’t built for long-distance relationships, much less when one of the two is constantly on the move.
✕ Remove Ads It’s unclear how Colter and Camille are still connected at this point. As the character synopsis
