The Shaw family has been a missing piece of the puzzle in Tracker, and the show will be fixing that in future episodes. Colter’s brother and sister were nowhere to be seen or heard from for most of Season 1, but with the news that Jensen Ackles has been cast as Colter’s brother, Russell Shaw, and Melissa Roxburgh will be playing Dory Shaw, fans will finally learn what happened to the family. Russell will return in Tracker Season 1, Episode 12, “Off the Books.” The official synopsis for the episode (below) reveals a lot about that character and the family as Colter (Justin Hartley) and his brother work together to solve a case. The episode will air on May 5. “Colter is forced to team up with his estranged brother, Russell, who enlists his help in tracking down an old army buddy who has gone missing after weeks of paranoid behavior. The investigation takes the brothers into a world of Special Forces missions, shady off-the-books programs, and conspiracy theories, all while they wrestle with their family’s past.”
It’s no secret that Russell isn’t well-liked by his family, with Colter avoiding his every call and their mother, Mary (Wendy Crewson), telling him to stay away from Russell at all costs. But Colter helps out when he’s in trouble, and Russell seeks his brother’s help. It’s unclear why he decides to help, but it could be out of curiosity, as they don’t talk much. The episode sees the two brothers stand shoulder to shoulder as they investigate a dangerous case that could put them both in danger. Chaos comes from both sides as they work to expose shady government operations while navigating complicated family relationships.
In the series premiere, the show introduced the Shaw family, who live isolated in a compound in the Sierra National Forest. Their father, Ashton (Lee Tergesen), taught them survival skills, but one rainy night, his father became extremely paranoid and ran away. Young Russell (Matthew Nelson-Mahood) followed him, but when they didn’t return, Colter ran after them in a chaotic manner. He found his father lying at the bottom of a cliff while Russell watched from above. It was heavily implied that Russell pushed his father off the cliff, leading to his death. This was the event that tore the family apart.
Hartley previously teased that the series would focus on the Shaw family in later episodes of the season. In Russell’s previous episode, fans met an adult Dory, who is now a professor, just like her parents. She enlists Colter’s help to find a missing graduate student. Not much is known about her, giving fans a chance to get to know her better.
