Tracker Star Justin Hartley Previews the Case That Haunts Colter and Jensen Ackles’ Return in Season 2

Tracker Star Justin Hartley Previews the Case That Haunts Colter and Jensen Ackles’ Return in Season 2
Prepare to Meet Colter Shaw’s “White Whale.”

In the first season of Tracker, which followed Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) as he tracked down people and items to earn a bounty, viewers saw the survivalist successfully solve cases on a weekly basis. But in season 2, we’ll discover there’s one case he can’t solve. “We’re going to introduce him as a human being, not a superhero,” Justin Hartley told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s haunted by the fact that he can’t solve it, and that’s haunted him for years.”

A decade ago, Colter couldn’t find a missing girl, and on every anniversary of her disappearance, he’s still investigating the case (and harassing the guy who’s his top suspect). “It’s not the case of the week, but we end the episode with his ‘white whale’ case, the one that he can’t get away from,” says showrunner Elwood Reid.

Part of what draws Colter back to the case is his complicated relationship with the victim’s sister. “It’s based on grief, and it’s a shared grief that they have,” Reid teases. “It’s a different way to approach the character of Colter emotionally.” After a decade, the sister is ready to move on, but Colter isn’t ready to close that chapter.

While the premiere will set up this part of Colter’s past, viewers will have to wait a bit before getting answers about secrets surrounding Colter’s father and his childhood. At the start of the series, Colter is estranged from his brother Russell (Jensen Ackles), who he believes killed their father, an eccentric man who taught Colter a lot about the outside world. In the finale, Colter is shocked to learn that his sister Dory (Melissa Roxburgh) knows more about their father’s secret than she’d led him to believe—though he keeps it to himself.

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“He’s an interesting cat, because he reacts to a certain extent,” Hartley said of his character. “But for things like this, he has the ability to sit tight until the right moment to strike.” However, the actor promised that Colter “will get to the bottom of it. He’ll find out who’s lying to him and find out why they’re lying to him.”

“It’s going to be all over the season,” Reid added of the family drama. “It really comes into play in the second half of the season.”

Before Dory returns, the Shaw brothers will reunite on a case involving UFOS. Reid revealed that Russell will appear at the “climax” of the case, and the brothers’ reunion will include a major part of their past. “There’s a secret that’s revealed about their father that both brothers know,” Reid said. “You’ll see Colter have a memory that his brother doesn’t have about Colter and their father.” Now that the brothers have a better relationship, they can really compare notes and make some progress.

Hartley is excited to have a friend back like Russell. “Jensen came in and he improved [the character] in every way. “He improved the character with the little touches that he added as an actor, so he made it his own in a big way,” Hartley said of his on-screen brother.

Despite the reunions in his personal life, Colter’s work life will be a little different in season 2: Robin Weigert will not be returning to Tracker as Teddi, leaving Teddi’s wife, Velma Bruin (Abby McEnany), to adjust to her new normal. “[Velma] and Teddy have broken up,” Reid said. “Velma is struggling with what it means to be abandoned in some way, and she’s going to figure out how to work through that emotion.”

Velma will be working out of Reenie Greene’s (Fiona Rene) new office instead of her home this season. Reid says of the new couple, “Both of these women, when they’re going through some things in their lives, are going to be able to lean on each other and get on each other’s nerves.”

Don’t expect Colter to spend much time at Reenie’s new office, though, as he’ll be on the road in his RV taking on cases one by one.