Tracker Season 3 Quietly Confirms the Best Member of Justin Hartley’s Team

Tracker has quietly confirmed the best member of Colter Shaw’s team is actually Keaton, a retired cop who worked with him on Gina Picket’s case in Season 2. Working with Keaton was the first time Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) consulted someone about a personal case, making Keaton a valuable member of Colter’s team, though unofficially so.

Tracker experienced significant casting shake-ups at the onset of Season 3, with Reenie Green (Fiona Rene) and Randy (Chris Lee) explaining Velma’s (Abby McEnany) and Bobby’s (Eric Graise) absences in the premiere. While McEnany and Graise’s exits were announced ahead of time, the series needs all the familiar faces it can get in its third run.

Keaton Will Be Back In Tracker Season 3

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Fans of Colter’s unofficial teammate will be happy to know that Brett Sexton will return as Keaton in Tracker Season 3, Episode 9. The episode will air on Sunday, December 14, likely serving as Tracker’s midseason finale, the closing episode before the procedural takes a winter holiday hiatus. Therefore, Kenton’s appearance should mark a big installment.

When Keaton returns, it’s his turn to call in a favor to Colter after helping with Shaw’s decade-old cold case. The episode’s description states, “When Colter’s old friend Keaton asks for help finding his former partner, the pair uncover a trail of bodies and a conspiracy that runs deeper than they could’ve imagined.” Therefore, Keaton’s return promises action and conspiracy.

With “Good Trouble” likely to close out the first half of Tracker Season 3, that means Keaton will return for another midseason finale. After appearing toward the beginning of Tracker Season 2, Keaton came back in the midseason finale, returning with answers about Gina’s case. Keaton proved to be invaluable to Colter, providing intel he had missed for a decade.

Keaton Is Arguably the Most Popular Member on Tracker

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Especially with Tracker Season 3’s recent casting shake-ups, Keaton may actually be the most popular member of Colter Shaw’s team. Though he was just introduced in Season 2, Keaton has returned more than any other liaison that Colter has worked with, proving he’s a trusted ally for Shaw and a favorite supporting character for Tracker’s audience.

Moreover, Keaton could be the most popular member of Shaw’s team, let alone the larger network of professionals that he has formed on the job. While Colter’s go-to lawyer, Reenie Green, one of the original characters from Tracker Season 1, remains a fan-favorite, other key players who have come on and off of Colter’s team have been more divisive.

Colter’s original handlers, Velma and Teddi (Robin Weigert), remain divisive characters, though they are long gone. Audiences also have mixed feelings about Randy versus Bobby and Mel (Cassady McClincy Zhang), Reenie’s new associate, which makes Keaton the most straightforwardly likable contributor to Colter Shaw’s missing person operation, competing only with Reenie and, doubtlessly, Russell Shaw (Jensen Ackles).

Key variables support Keaton’s popularity on Hartley’s TV show. Keaton debuted in Tracker Season 2, Episode 7, “Trust Fall,” which is IMDb’s fifth-highest-rated episode of the series to date. Keaton’s introduction as a trusted ally was a refreshing aspect for Colter, offering a liaison Shaw could work with on the case of the week and consult on other matters thereafter.

What to Expect From Keaton’s Tracker Season 3 Return

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With Keaton’s return in Season 3, fans can expect another high-stakes Tracker episode. The episode’s description states that Keaton enlists Colter to help him find his former partner, who’s also a retired cop. Any number of people could have kidnapped Keaton’s former partner, and it sounds like the investigation will yield some pretty gruesome results.

The description also notes Colter and Keaton will “uncover a trail of bodies and a conspiracy that runs deeper than they could have imagined.” Therefore, “Good Trouble” will be another case that veers away from the run-of-the-mill missing persons cases in Tracker Season 1, touching more on the underbelly of the crime world as Shaw’s more recent cases have.

Colter goes head-to-head with his first serial killer in Tracker Season 3, Episode 6, when looking for a missing girl with a passion for true crime. The promise that Keaton’s case will uncover multiple bodies hints at something just as ominous, but at least Colter will have his most trusted ally while coming up against Episode 9’s new threats.