Jensen Ackles Returns to Tracker Season 2, Unveiling the Harsh Reality of Colter Shaw, Played by Justin Hartley
Warning! Spoilers for Tracker Season 2. Jensen Ackles returns to Tracker Season 2 and uncovers the harsh reality of Justin Hartley’s action/drama series and its protagonist Colter Shaw. Tracker premieres in early 2024, starring Hartley as the protagonist, Colter Shaw. Tracker Season 1 follows Colter’s childhood, including his father’s mysterious death when he was a child. Colter suspects his brother, Russell, played by Jensen Ackles, is responsible for their father’s death. However, when Ackles debuted in the penultimate episode of season 1, he cleared his name and allied himself with Colter, which continued in Tracker Season 2. A closer bond is forming between the two brothers in Tracker Season 2, and it mirrors the real-life relationship between Ackles and Hartley. The two actors have been friends for 20 years and have worked together on The CW. Ackles played Dean Winchester on Supernatural, and Hartley played Oliver Queen on Smallville for five seasons. Hartley has commented that despite their friendship spanning two decades, dating back to their time on The CW, they never had the opportunity to work together until Tracker. However, there is still the harsh reality that members of the Tracker cast play brothers.
In Tracker season 2, episode 2, Ackles returns to Tracker season 2 as Russell Shaw. Now that the brothers have seemingly moved past the possibility that Russell was the one who killed Colter’s father in Tracker, the two brothers are able to establish a relationship in their adult lives. In Tracker season 1, Ackles’ character told his story, but he also asserted that he was just as capable of being a reward-seeker as his brother. In “Ontological Shock,” Reenie (Fiona Rene) calls Russell to find Colter when he goes missing at a Department of Defense (DOD) site.
Colter is lucky to have someone in his life who can do the same job as him.
Thanks to his military background and contract work with Horizon Group, Russell quickly located Colter and got him out of the DOD area with incredible ease. Colter is lucky to have someone in his life who can do the same job as him, and even luckier that Reenie knows both of them and can connect them. Still, the brothers’ juxtaposition highlights the harsh realities of the series, and not only does Season 2 prove that Tracker needs a Jensen Ackles-led black ops spinoff that could expand the series with Russell’s story.
Ackles’ return to Tracker is a reminder of how much the Supernatural actor brings to the series. Colter’s appeal on the show is that he’s a man with a gift for reward based on his childhood experiences as a father who trained him to survive anything in the wild. Russell, however, has the same upbringing and brings those qualities to the small screen. Side by side, Russell is also more interesting than Colter. In addition to his quest for reward, Ackles creates an interesting on-screen presence without losing the seriousness of his work.
Prior to Tracker, Justin Hartley appeared as Kevin Pearson on NBC’s This Is Us.
Ackles’ appearance in season 1, episode 12, “Off the Books,” helped make it the most popular episode of the first season, earning Tracker its highest rating on IMDb. This proves that Ackles is one of the show’s most important assets despite his limited guest appearances. Ackles’ appearance as Russell, a fun character, highlights the choice to make Colter more serious without the quirks that Russell has. While Colter is not a fun character, appearing alongside Russell makes it clear that the main character lacks more charismatic qualities to balance out his serious quest for reward, making the character boring.
Colter Shaw’s romantic development with Reenie Green on CBS’s Tracker was disappointing, but season 2 is a better replacement.
The supporting actor will be back, though Jensen Ackles has four upcoming movies and TV shows. Ackles’ busy schedule is evidence that the actor is on the rise, which was evident in his appearance in Tracker. Ackles could have used more prominent screen time in Tracker, and the harsh reality is that he’s just as compelling a “revivalist” as Colter Shaw, if not more so. However, it’s not too late for Hartley. Colter has to have his quirks from his strange childhood, and the story could lean more into Colter’s weird side to add depth to his character.
