Supernatural star Jensen Ackles is returning to CBS’ Tracker, where he plays Russell Shaw, the older brother of series protagonist Colter Shaw, played by This Is Us alum Justin Hartley. According to Collider, Ackles will reprise his role as Colter’s estranged brother as a regular guest star for Season 2 of Tracker. Ackles will appear in 20 episodes of the show in October.
In a new trailer for the episode, Colter and Russell reunite with their brother telling Colter how he found him in the middle of a dark web. In this week’s episode, Colter finds himself missing while searching for his father, who is also missing. Last season, Colter suspected Russell of killing their father.
“Colter’s brother killed his father, so that creates a different dynamic,” Hartley said. “This relationship with Dory (Colter’s sister) is strained for other reasons. It’s not that he suspects her of doing anything wrong, but it’s strained for different reasons.”
Hartley said Ackles was his choice for the role of Colter’s brother from the start because he wanted someone “who could go up against Colter, in a good way or a bad way, and who you believe is his brother.”
Tracker was created by Ben H. Winters and is the story of a lone survivor who helps law enforcement search for missing people. The series is based on Jeffery Deaver’s The Never Game. Ackles is said to have a more significant presence in the show’s second season.
Ackles isn’t the only notable guest star on the series. Last year, Sofia Pernas (Blood & Treasure), who is married to Hartley in real life, played a character named Billie Matalon. The episode revolved around a missing horse, but as Colter investigated the mystery, viewers realized there was a history between the two and it didn’t end well. The series premiered on October 13 and has been a hit on CBS. Tracker was the No. 1 scripted show of the 2023-24 season. Each of the heavyweight episodes drew 11.6 million viewers. The Season 2 premiere was watched by 8.3 million viewers in real time and was the No. 1 show in its time slot. Last season, the first seven episodes had 19 million views after 35 days.
Showrunner Elwood Reid previously told TVLine that despite its success, there was no spinoff in the near future.
“The show is so unique with Justin (Hartley) at the center, so it was really important that we kept expanding the world, expanding the cases and (expanding) what Tracker can do,” Reid said. “Unlike a lot of other shows — unlike a New York or Chicago cop show where they’re always solving a murder — I can go into any world. I can go into auto racing. I can go into Nashville. I can go into any world I want.” “I can go into any world I want.” Ken Olin, executive producer of Tracker, added that he was pleased to do a show. “It’s a weird show to branch out from. But also, these things don’t break out as easily anymore… I mean, look, Dick Wolf (Law & Order) was very successful and all that, but are those (shows) old too?”
