CBS, Showrunner Elwood Reid, and series star/executive producer Justin Hartley have been going above and beyond to preview Jensen Ackles’s (Supernatural, The Boys) return as Russell Shaw for the two-part Season 3 premiere of Tracker. Now, we’re getting a chance to hear from Ackles himself, thanks to a new interview with Variety that hit on Wednesday.
“I wish I could go play with Justin and Elwood a lot more, but schedules are tight right now, so we were lucky — or I was lucky at least — to have that time available that I could dip back in and do a couple of episodes with them,” Ackles sharded about being able to squeeze in some time to film the two-episode season opener. “Justin and I chopped it up pretty good when [Colter] reveals the new knowledge that he has to Russell, and Russell is now having to absorb that. How is that going to affect their relationship? How is that going to affect Russell moving forward? What are we going to see from them?”
“You’ll obviously see the camaraderie between the two brothers that I think people enjoy, but now that we have this new information about our family, is that going to bond them further, or is it going to drive more of a wedge between them?” Ackles continued, teasing a scene between Hartley’s Colter and Russell that was a break from what Ackles is accustomed to. “I think it’s a fun thing to play that Justin and I both really, really enjoyed, and Elwood likes writing for the two of us. We did a scene — it was one scene — and I think it was like eight-and-a-half minutes long, and I was like, ‘What are we doing here? I’m not used to this! I’m not used to six-page scenes of just dialogue, just two guys just cutting it up. I was never on ‘This Is Us.’ That’s Justin. I don’t do this kind of stuff. Give me a hammer!”
Tracker Season 3 Episode 1 “The Process” Preview
Tracker Season 3 Episode 1: “The Process” – As Colter (Justin Hartley) grapples with the shocking truth surrounding his father’s death, Russell (Jensen Ackles) joins forces with his brother to help track down the missing wife and daughter of one of Reenie’s clients. Their reunion finds them mixed up in a chain of events involving a sinister underground operation known as “The Process.” Written by Elwood Reid and directed by Ken Olin.
“Jensen [Ackles] addicts are gonna get a double dose of him this season. And I ain’t gonna make you wait for it. I love writing for Jensen, and I think whenever he and Justin are on the screen, it just works. He’s so busy, I have to bargain with him to get him on the show. But I think he’s an important part of Colter’s story, and he’s able to give the audience another perspective on their childhood. Plus, the two of them together are a blast,” Reid shared with Collider earlier this summer, making it sound as if fans are getting Ackles for two episodes early on in Season 3. “I’ll take all the Ackles I can get,” the showrunner added, before adding this little gem at the end: “Spin-off ;).”
Based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, the CBS series spotlights Hartley’s Colter, a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. Produced by 20th Television, CBS’s Tracker Season 2 starred Hartley (Colter Shaw), Fiona Rene (Reenie), Robin Weigert (Teddi), Abby McEnany (Velma), and Eric Graise (Bobby). Pej Vahdat (The Old Man) has joined the cast in the recurring role of Leonard Sharf. Hartley, Ken Olin, Elwood Reid, and Ben Winters executive-produce, with Deaver producing.
