CBS Just Revealed the Real Reason Why ‘Tracker’ Lost Those 2 Characters — and We’re Not Surprised

If you’ve been wondering why Tracker slimmed down its cast between its second and third seasons, the show’s most recent episode, “Eat the Rich,” has proven its point beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s no secret that Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) isn’t much of a team player, but even when he does work well with others, it’s usually local law enforcement or some sort of temporary alliance that ends the moment he leaves town. Yet, from the beginning of the action-packed CBS drama, Colter has always had a team in his corner to help him with all his tech and legal needs, as well as being the driving force behind how he secures each new job. Only, Season 3 has finally proven that that last job was never terribly necessary…

‘Tracker’s Most Recent Episode Reminds Us That Colter Gets Jobs Better Alone

Image via CBS

In “Eat the Rich,” Colter is pursuing his own interests when he arrives in Boston to talk to the son of a man who knew and worked with his deceased father. The only reason that Colter is in New England at all is to further his investigation into Ashton Shaw’s (Lee Tergesen) death. Nevertheless, while there, Colter encounters a distraught man whose daughter has gone missing — as it turns out, she’s been kidnapped. Our hero finds this job all on his own, with absolutely no help from any friends or handlers who act as digital bouncers regarding which cases the rewardist will tackle and which he’ll ignore. Long gone are the days when episodes of Tracker would begin with Colter on a FaceTime call with Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany), exchanging pleasantries before getting down to business. If “Eat the Rich” has proven anything, it’s that there were always creative ways to thrust Colter into a new adventure.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that this has happened, but “Eat the Rich” offers arguably the best balance of Colter and his supporting cast that we’ve yet seen on the show. Going to Reenie (Fiona Rene) to help uncover the illegal activities of the Benning family while using Randy (Chis Lee) sparingly to track certain digital elements was the perfect use of each character, never meditating too long on their interactions and using them instead as springboards to get Colter to the next goalpost. It’s when Tracker allows Colter Shaw to do his thing, to lean into his strengths as a solo operator, that the CBS drama is at its best. Never does it push Reenie or Randy to the side, exactly, but uses them to help further the plot without ever fully moving away from Colter.

The Departures of Bobby and Velma Were A Long Time Coming, If You Consider ‘Tracker’s Past

Image via CBS

While the removal of Velma and Bobby (Eric Graise) from the cast may have come as a shock and a surprise to general audiences, the truth is that their departures have been teased for years. After Teddi left Tracker between the first two seasons, it became clear that nobody was safe from fading out of Colter Shaw’s life. When you look back even at the back half of Tracker Season 1, Teddi and Velma don’t appear in the majority of those episodes, including the finale, “The Storm,” where Colter also finds a job all on his own. Likewise, Season 2 features a six-episode absence of Bobby, where he is unceremoniously replaced by his cousin Randy, who has now taken over Colter’s tech duties (and Reenie’s now that he’s moved to Denver) full-time. It seems as if Tracker had been trying to slim down its cast almost from the start, with even Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson) relegated to a small guest role from the drama’s original intent of making her a recurring cast member.

It seems as if Justin Hartley’s hopes that Tracker would be more of a one-man show were a progressive change that the network needed to be convinced of up front. Now that the series is in its third season (and just as good as ever), there seems to be no denying this fact, as Colter’s team only now consists of Randy and Reenie, who has somewhat taken a backseat this season after the events of Season 2’s “Rules of the Game.” No longer needing the additional star power of someone like Robin Weigert, nor the publicity that comes with a larger ensemble. Tracker has rightly understood that the show is at its best with Colter in the forefront and occasional guests or recurring characters — like Jensen Ackles‘ Russell Shaw or Brent Sexton‘s Keaton, each of whom returns in Season 3 — adding to their respective episodes.

‘Tracker’ Can Balance Its Current Cast With Colter’s “Lone Wolf” Style

Again, if “Eat the Rich” proves anything, it’s that Tracker can use Colter, Reenie, and Randy well when the show plays to their respective strengths. When everyone stays in their narrative lane (only crossing over when necessary), the show runs like a well-oiled machine. It also made it abundantly clear that extra characters like Teddi, Velma, and Bobby didn’t need to be around at all, that Colter was more than capable of finding new jobs all on his lonesome. But what Paladin never needed were legal services and technology experts, which is where Colter’s supporting cast come into play. Thankfully, it looks like Tracker has finally struck a balance when it comes to juggling each of these characters in interesting ways during a single case.

The only potential trouble that Season 3 offers comes in the form of newcomer Melanie “Mel” Day (Cassady McClincy Zhang). Introduced in the third episode of the season, Mel is Reenie’s new assistant who seems a bit too interested in the work that she and Randy also do with Colter. Thus far, the inclusion of Mel seems to echo the same mistakes that Tracker made with Velma and Teddi previously, adding characters for the sake of adding characters. There is no active function she presents in Colter’s life, nor does she have a particular set of skills that make her a valuable asset to the team. While Mel will no doubt feature more heavily in Reenie’s own side plot going forward, she has thus far done nothing to prove otherwise. At least when Bobby and Randy overlapped for a few episodes at the end of Season 2, they were working actively toward the same technical goals. With Mel, it seems like she has been included just to add another character to the Reenie/Randy dynamic — at least, unless there’s something more nefarious going on with her.

However you slice it, it appears that with each new episode, Tracker is making a statement to justify the show’s removal of former cast members. And, you know what, we can’t really argue with that. The show has moved gradually away from characters like the Bruins (and later Bobby), solidifying Colter’s ability to fend for himself as he wanders across modern-day America.

Tracker airs Sundays on CBS and is available the next day for streaming on Paramount+.