A Story Engine Built on Emotion, Not Just Clues
Behind Tracker’s success isn’t just a charismatic lead or a gripping format—it’s a writers’ room deeply invested in emotional storytelling. While the CBS drama delivers weekly mysteries that pull in tens of millions of viewers, its true secret weapon is the delicate balance between plot and personal stakes.
Led by showrunner Elwood Reid, the Tracker writing team doesn’t treat episodes as puzzles to be solved but as emotional journeys that mirror the inner world of Colter Shaw, played by Justin Hartley. Each story is crafted not merely to keep audiences guessing, but to explore trauma, connection, grief, and redemption. It’s a show where every clue matters, but feelings come first.
The Process: From True Crime to Fictional Catharsis
The writers’ room operates with an unusual level of care. Each season begins with thematic blueprints—what emotional arcs are we telling this time? What unresolved trauma is Colter confronting? Then, the team dives into real-life cases, researching missing persons stories, news clippings, cold case podcasts, and court transcripts. But these inspirations aren’t lifted wholesale—they’re rebuilt around the emotional message of the episode.
According to Reid, the team asks themselves: “What is this case saying about Colter?” If it’s about a missing teenager, the story might reflect Colter’s own adolescence and the breakdown of his family. If it’s a veteran who disappears, the case may unlock new empathy in Colter about survival, pain, and service. Tracker’s writers never just look for shock value—they look for resonance.
Colter Shaw: The Emotional Thread Through Every Episode
What makes the writing even more complex is that Tracker is not a traditional character drama. Colter Shaw is always on the move. He’s not anchored to one town, one precinct, or one group of people. That means the emotional stakes have to travel with him—and that’s where the show’s flashbacks and layered characterization come in.
The writers collaborate closely with Justin Hartley, who not only plays Colter but also serves as an executive producer. Hartley brings a strong voice to the creative table, often offering insights into what Colter would or wouldn’t do, and challenging the team to avoid clichés or emotional shortcuts.
This partnership ensures that Colter never becomes just a wandering action hero. Instead, each case subtly reflects Colter’s evolving state of mind: his fractured memories of his survivalist father, his guilt over his brother’s fate, and his growing discomfort with profiting from other people’s tragedies. These themes are tightly woven into the writing process.
The Mystery of Monarch and Long-Term Planning
One of the most ambitious aspects of Tracker’s writing is the inclusion of long-term arcs, most notably the mysterious figure or organization referred to as “Monarch.” While each episode delivers a standalone case, clues about Monarch appear like breadcrumbs throughout the seasons—through flashbacks, coded messages, and eerie coincidences.
Planning these arcs requires what the writers call “tiered storytelling.” On one level, there’s the weekly mystery. On another, there’s the emotional progression of Colter’s healing. And layered on top is the serialized mystery—what really happened to Colter’s father? Who or what is Monarch? And how deep does the conspiracy go?
Writers use whiteboards filled with timelines, secret connections, and color-coded arcs. Even minor characters introduced in Season 1 have been reappearing in Season 2 and will be pivotal in Season 3. It’s a level of planning usually reserved for prestige streaming shows, but Tracker is bringing it to network TV with precision.
Fan Feedback Shapes the Writing
One unusual feature of Tracker’s development is how seriously the writers take fan theories and feedback. While they don’t rewrite entire arcs based on social media speculation, they do use online reactions to adjust tone, pacing, and character focus. For example, Bobby (played by Eric Graise) was originally meant to be a recurring tech-sidekick. But after fans responded passionately to his dry wit and vulnerability, the writers expanded his role significantly.
Similarly, Reenie (Fiona Rene) has been developed more fully in response to fans wanting stronger female voices. The writers have opened her backstory in Season 2 and plan deeper involvement in Season 3.
The writers also host occasional Q&A sessions and track Reddit threads—not to spoil the mystery, but to understand what’s working emotionally. Tracker’s success isn’t just about staying ahead of the audience; it’s about staying connected to them.
Why the Writers’ Room Works
Showrunner Elwood Reid has said, “I don’t want to write plot—I want to write consequences.” This ethos trickles down to the entire writing team. Writers aren’t just asking, “What happens next?” They’re asking, “Why does it matter?”
Writers bring their own personal experiences to the room, and emotional vulnerability is encouraged. Some episodes are based loosely on events from the writers’ lives—parental estrangement, sibling loss, trauma from war or abuse. These personal roots give the show its emotional edge.
Reid also encourages writers to defy the network norm. “We don’t need a car chase unless it means something,” he told Deadline in a Season 2 interview. “We don’t need a twist unless it hurts.”
Looking Ahead: Season 3 and Evolving Themes
In Season 3, the writers are diving deeper into emotional gray zones. Colter will face cases that blur the line between justice and vengeance, and the Monarch mystery will take a personal turn that forces him to question his own moral compass.
There will be new characters, including a possible romantic interest with ties to Colter’s past, and a shadowy informant who claims to have known his father. Writers have promised more mythology, higher emotional stakes, and a structure that blends case-of-the-week with longform arc like never before.
But above all, the mission remains the same: each episode must feel. Whether it’s joy, fear, heartbreak, or peace—Tracker’s writers want audiences to walk away changed.
