In the Tracker Season 2 finale, Colter Shaw confronts Otto Waldron (played by SEAL Team’s Alex Fernandez), a mysterious lineman who reveals that, yes, he pushed Ashton Shaw off that cliff more than 20 years ago. But that’s only the beginning of this story.
Otto then tells Colter that his mother Mary (recurring guest star Wendy Crewson) asked for his help that night. Help with what, exactly, remains a question mark at the end of the hour. Did she instruct Otto to kill her husband? Or did the situation escalate beyond anyone’s expectations?
After screening the episode, I hopped on Zoom with series boss Elwood Reid — and what began as a run-of-the-mill chat about Sunday’s season ender morphed into a larger conversation about whether it’s time for TV’s No. 1 show to take more risks, color outside the case-of-the-week lines, and delve even further into the complex family mythology (which involves a grand government conspiracy) when Season 3 premieres this fall.
We know now that Mary played a role in Ashton’s death. We also know that Otto pushed Ashton off that cliff. Given how Season 2 ends, is the plan to pick back up almost immediately where we left off in Season 3, Episode 1?
I want to make one clarification: He doesn’t say that Mom ordered the murder of his father. He said, “she asked me to be up there,” so there’s much more to that story to unpack. We’ve talked a lot about this — that life is messy — and I think that Colter’s life is messier than most other people’s lives. I don’t think this is something Colter is ever going to let go of, and I don’t think there’s an easy answer to it. Even though the finale gives you the next big piece of the puzzle, there’s still more out there to mine in that storyline, particularly when it comes to his mother.
Otto denies working for the feds, but we know quite a bit about Ashton’s past — namely, that he worked as a government contractor for a number of years. How big of a role will this larger government conspiracy have in the show moving forward?
It’s funny you should ask that, because that’s one of the little, weird threads that I’m hoping to pull in Season 3. I mean, there’s the stuff that happened with Colter’s family — with his father. There have been a couple mentions, mostly through Russell, about the father not being who he seems. We saw in Episode 19, when he gets the little book and he finds the phone number in there and asks Randy to look up that number, that it’s going towards a larger thing. We’re going to start to unravel that a little bit as far as the Ashton character goes, and I think that will bring in a fun cast of characters. I don’t know if there’s an easy answer, and I’m hoping in the third season, as you picked up on, to have a storyline that \[reveals] a little bit of what his father may have been involved in. There was an episode — a couple of episodes — where some of that stuff was alluded to in Season 2 that kind of flew by people, but it’s there. It’s something that \[series lead/executive producer] Justin \[Hartley] and I have talked about quite a bit.
Viewers already had their suspicions about Mary. Now that we know she played a role in what happened to her husband, can we expect Wendy Crewson to have a larger presence in Season 3?
Yes, I think she’ll have some presence. The question is, why did she lie to Colter? And what are the implications of that? And you can see, if you’ve watched the finale — and that final scene — that all of that emotion is there. In that moment, Colter is realizing that his mother has possibly lied about his entire childhood. Not only that, but here’s a guy that had something to do with his father’s death \[that is] directly related to his mother. I think it’s everything he can do not to shoot that guy in the face, and I thought that scene was just wonderfully underplayed. Both \[Alex] and Justin went in there like two poker players, and it was really interesting to see. Just as Colter has been waiting to knock on that door his whole life, that guy has been waiting to answer that door his whole life. That was the way I put it to those guys… and Justin knew exactly what that moment was. He’s just such an interesting actor when it comes to that kind of stuff. His instincts are always right.
I’m always fascinated when a procedural takes a big swing like this. Because, naturally, this information is going to force Colter to rethink, and possibly reinterpret, a lot of what has happened in his life. But as much as this may impact him, he can’t change too much, or else it becomes a different show — and you need him to be the same guy that he’s always been, traversing the country and finding missing people, week after week. How do you intend to strike that balance in Season 3?
Well, it’s interesting. As you point out, this character is kind of this straight arrow that goes after and does things. But there have been moments around Reenie, and particularly around his brother Russell, where he kind of opens himself up a little bit, and you see a guy who’s not all together. He’s got some stuff brewing down there. That’s something that Justin and I have talked a lot about keeping that fire stoked — particularly the moments when he meets someone whose daughter or son is missing, or their mom is missing, where he’s able to access that emotional thing. He sees their pain because he has mysteries in his life that he’s never answered.
We did the whole runner about his girlfriend’s sister \[Gina Picket]. There are more of those things out there for him. I think part of the appeal of the show is he doesn’t always wear his heart on his sleeve — but when we do get to see him roll up his sleeve a little bit and get a glimpse, that’s great. It’s about those pieces, and I think Justin has been very careful about just giving you a little bit \[at a time].
Obviously, you’re playing the long game here. Seasons 1 and 2 were bookended by episodes about this greater family mystery, but everything in between has largely been contained to a single episode. At this point, you’re one of TV’s biggest shows, you’ve got a devoted audience that tunes in every Sunday night… Is it time to allow for more continuous storytelling — especially if there’s a desire on your part, and there seems to be, to dive even deeper?
I would love that. It’s interesting that you asked that question because I started my \[career] in network television, and then I spent a lot of time in streaming and cable where \[telling ongoing stories] is all you do. CBS has been very supportive of us telling those larger, arced storylines, and I think it’s what you’re seeing a lot more of on network TV these days, and I think they’re perfecting it. It’s not so deep that someone has to read, like, 10 pages of backstory to watch the show. I find there’s a barrier to some of these shows — I don’t want to do all the work to catch up — so I think it’s just about moderation.
CBS has been very supportive of us going there, and it’s something that Justin talks about a lot. It’s sort of like gas, because it’s there for his character to have that emotional story, then those little mysteries that play throughout. That’s the fun stuff that we love doing in the writers’ room. We’re going to do more of it in Season 3. It’s a long season, so you have to be careful about the way you parcel that stuff out. I’ve been on those shows where you shoot all your best shots in the first episode, and then you’ve got nowhere to go…. And look, there’s stuff about his brother, there’s stuff about his sister that we still haven’t gotten into. There are a couple other cases \[we plan to introduce], and there are some characters from last season that are going to come back in Season 3 that kind of shake up his world a little bit, so we’re always looking at building out that well. There’s another episode that I think has potential to come back to, which was the Night Movers episode. Because here’s Colter, who finds people, and here’s this woman, who disappears people. Playing with those ideas, I think, is really interesting. There’s a world out there that we can tap into \[with] those longer story arcs. And I think, I mean, you tell me… I think the audience can handle it.
Our readers, at least, seem more invested when there’s an ongoing storyline.
That’s important to be reminded of because it’s easy to do case of the week, and I think giving those little pieces of \[continuity] really work. The show has that flexibility because unlike other cop or medical shows, every week is a new world in this show. I have no rules about where I can go, so I think that lends itself \[to continuity]. I have to remind myself to be ambitious that way.
Let’s talk about Reenie. Velma is doing what she can to comfort her in the finale, but she’s clearly rattled — justifiably so! — after being kidnapped and held at gunpoint in the penultimate episode. How much will her PTSD carry into Season 3?
I think quite a bit. One of the things that I want to continue to do with these characters is build out the personal lives of Colter’s team so it’s not just “phone a friend,” and I think Reenie is a really interesting character. She’s tough, but we got to see her shaken to her core a couple times this year, and Fiona is really game to grow her character. I think where we find her in the beginning of the season is questioning what she does and maybe try to build some safety nets around her. We’re going to build up that world significantly, I think, in Season 3, so there’s going to be some fun stuff coming with her.
Midway through Season 2, Bobby (Eric Graise) disappeared for a stretch, and his cousin Randy (Chris Lee) was introduced. At the time, I assumed you only had Eric contracted for so many episodes, so you brought someone else in to fill the void. But even after Bobby returned, Randy stuck around, and they’ve been working together, side by side. What’s the plan for Season 3? Will Eric and Chris both be back? Is there room for both of them on Colter’s team?
I don’t know the complete plan, but the answer is that Chris will be back. I think he brings a lot to the show. He’s a friend of mine, so I’m predisposed to love him, right? And I know how to write for him. I know what his voice is. So I think part of that goes towards building out what Reenie’s world is going to look like. But again, it’s a weird show, because there are episodes, if you think back, where you don’t see any of the team.
I think the challenge is going to be shaking the show up so it doesn’t feel the same every week. We did an episode where Colter gets a phone call and meets Randy in Reno, and they were together, which is something fun that you never get to see. I think it’s \[about] constantly challenging the format of the show — and to do that, I have to use all my players: Bobby and Randy, and Reenie and Velma.
Don’t you think it would be easier, moving forward, to have Reenie, Velma, Bobby and Randy all working in one place?
I whine about it every week because I’m lazy. \[Laughs] I’ve worked on those shows where you go to the coffee room and there’s the guys, and you go see the boss… but I think that’s what makes the show so different. I think it’s also what makes it translate internationally. You don’t need to know anything about lawyers or cops or the legal system. Colter is just a guy. He finds people, and he finds an emotional connection with people.
Speaking of connections, what about Colter’s love life? His relationship with Reenie has evolved into this great, platonic relationship, which Justin has advocated for in previous conversations I’ve had with him. A few weeks back, Colter and Billie (played by Hartley’s better-half, Sofia Pernas) hooked up, and I can’t foresee you finding someone with whom Justin has better chemistry. What’s the plan there?
I don’t know. I mean, this is a show about a guy who lives in a trailer that drives around the country. You’re right, with Reenie, there’s a really deep emotional \[connection]. Those two care for each other. But there was a scene in Episode 3 with Billie \[where] she lets her guard down. We never thought we would do that with Sofia’s character. She’s kind of pretending to be this sophisticated, tough-ass person, but deep down inside, she and Colter have kind of a similar background — they come from broken families — and I think that there’s something deep about that, and I think that’s something to develop. As you said, this chemistry that those two have, the ease that they have… there’s also the spark. What was important to me this season was showing that there’s a different level there. It wasn’t just two people sleeping together, right? There was a deeper connection made there \[once] he learned something about her.
Going back to the season opener this year, we \[also] got to see him with his old girlfriend \[Camille, played by Floriana Lima] that, you know, every time he drives through her town, they probably hook up, and there’s this darkness that we saw there. There are going to be other things in Colter’s past we’ll be able to bring up — old cases that haunt him — and we’re going to bring back some characters from Seasons 1 and 2. It’s a really fun sandbox that we’ve created with this thing. The thing that makes the show hard is the thing that makes the show different, and interesting. I have to keep reminding myself of that, so these questions help.
