Tracker wasted no time in bringing back its most famous guest star for an encore performance. In the penultimate episode of Season 1, Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw finally came face-to-face with his estranged brother, Russell, who he thought might have killed their father. Longtime Supernatural star Jensen Ackles (who is also Hartley’s best friend in real life) was brought in to play Colter’s brother, and the two had an instant on-screen chemistry that viewers loved.
While some fans thought it might take a while to get Ackles and Russell back on Tracker, that wasn’t the case. The second episode of Season 2, which aired on CBS on Sunday night, saw Russell and Colter reunite once again, this time in one of the strangest cases we’ve seen on the series to date.
For those wondering why Tracker brought Russell back into the fold so quickly, it was actually Reenie’s (Fiona Rene) actions that drew Shaw’s brother into the case. While investigating a missing conspiracy theorist at a secret government site—where many believe evidence of aliens is being kept—Colter himself disappeared.
When Reenie and the rest of the team couldn’t get in touch with him, she turned to the only person she knew she could trust to find Colter: his brother. Russell showed up at the research site to help rescue Colter (though Colter believed the people at the facility had let them escape). For the rest of the episode, Colter and Russell worked together, and Russell made it clear that he believed in aliens.
The most interesting thing about Russell’s return—and what sets up future storylines for the fan-favorite character—is that Reenie is the one who brought him back. He spent a lot of time flirting with Reenie in his first episode of Season 1, and she wasn’t interested. In fact, there were a few scenes in the second half of Season 1 that suggested that Colter and Reenie might be headed toward some kind of relationship. But that never happened, and now it seems like Russell has arranged a dinner with Reenie as a “thank you” for helping Colter.
The thing is, Russell is a charmer, and Reenie knows it. Whatever may have happened to Colter at the end of Season 1 hasn’t really been addressed in the first few episodes of Season 2. Maybe that dinner that was meant to be something somehow turned into something?
Regardless, Reenie spending time with Russell is an easy excuse to bring Ackles back at any point in Season 2. With about 20 episodes left in the season, the chances of him returning are pretty high.
