Will Tracker Need to Replace Jensen Ackles and Melissa Roxburgh?
EPs Reveal Plans for Season 2 Will Tracker have to delay any hypothetical Shaw family reunions in Season 2, now that Season 1 guest stars Jensen Ackles and Melissa Roxburgh have booked their own highly anticipated solo shows?
The May 5 episode of CBS’ Justin Hartley’s show introduced Manifest veteran Roxburgh as Colter’s sister Dory, a college professor who we later learn has kept their deceased father’s research papers and journals—something she conveniently keeps to herself as she urges Colter to let go of the past and stop trying to figure out what happened to their father.
A week later, Supernatural star Ackles appeared as Colter’s brother Russell, a former soldier who now works as a civilian contractor for a shadowy organization. For 20 years, Colter believed Russell pushed his dad to death, but Russell, upon reuniting with Colter, assured him that he had nothing to do with his dad’s death. “I don’t know if Dad fell or if someone pushed him, but I know there was someone else in those woods that night,” he said. “Dad had an enemy…. He was a crazy son of a bitch.” Suffice it to say, the seeds were planted for both Roxburgh and Ackles to return for Season 2—and in a posthumous interview with TVLine, Roxburgh seemed excited about the prospect of sharing scenes with Hartley and Ackles this fall. But since their episodes aired, Roxburgh has been tapped to lead NBC’s midseason drama The Hunting Party, while Ackles has booked the upcoming Amazon thriller Countdown. Will their new commitments prevent them from returning for more Tracker?
At the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Saturday, Hartley, who also serves on the EP, confirmed that Ackles will be back—and for more than one episode, showrunner Elwood Reid noted. “We’ve got him. He’s coming back,” Hartley said. “We’re having fun with it. It’s a great story.”
Likewise, Reid confirmed to TVLine that Roxburgh, despite her commitment to Hunting Party, will be returning as Dory. “We’re going to flesh out some things with his sister,” the EP said during the panel.
