Tracker Season 3 Seems to Be Replacing Velma and Bobby With Reenie — and Fans Aren’t Happy

When Tracker returns with season 3, its cast will look a lot different, and that’s because the show seems to be sabotaging itself. The CBS action drama, created by Ben H. Winters, is based on Jeffery Deaver’s book, The Never Game, and follows Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw. Colter is a survivalist who finds people for a living, but he doesn’t do it alone.

In Tracker season 1, Teddi and Velma Bruin assisted Hartley’s character by finding cases for him and researching anything he needed while on the job. Meanwhile, Bobby Hexley was Colter’s hacker, and Reenie Greene was his lawyer (and love interest). However, Teddi left Tracker after season 1, and now, two more characters are set to join her at the beginning of season 3.

Velma & Bobby Will Exit Tracker In Season 3

Abby McEnany & Eric Graise Are Leaving The Show

Photo by Sergei Bachlakov for CBS, Courtesy Everett Collection

Months ahead of the Tracker season 3 premiere, news of Abby McEnany’s (Velma) and Eric Graise’s (Bobby) departures surfaced. Their exits came as a shock, given that they are both original cast members. Nevertheless, McEnany and Graise aren’t expected to appear in the upcoming episodes, and it’s unclear whether the producers of the CBS action drama TV show will ever bring them back.

The Tracker season 2 finale gave no indication that either Velma or Bobby would be leaving. As such, the season 3 premiere must explain their absences without McEnany or Graise around to give their characters a proper goodbye. The good news is that it has been confirmed that neither Velma nor Bobby would die, but that doesn’t make their exits sting any less.

Meanwhile, Hartley’s Colter, Fiona Rene’s Reenie, Jensen Ackles’ Russell Shaw, Chris Lee’s Randy, and Brent Sexton’s Keaton will return in season 3. Out of that group, though, only Colter and Rene will seemingly act as series regulars in the Tracker cast. It’s quite unusual for a network TV show’s main cast to consist of only two actors, but that’s the new reality for Tracker.

The CBS Series Is Essentially Losing 2 Original Characters Because Of Reenie

Tracker’s Showrunner Explained The Reasoning Behind Velma & Bobby’s Exits

Image courtesy of CBS

While speaking with TVLine ahead of the season 3 premiere, Tracker‘s showrunner, Elwood Reid, touched upon Velma and Bobby’s departures from the show. He confirmed that their absences will be explained (likely in the premiere). However, while teasing the reasoning behind their characters’ exits, Reid also addressed exactly why Velma and Bobby needed to leave the CBS series. The Tracker showrunner said:

“With Velma’s character, she’s going off to be with Teddy [and Bobby] seized on a good opportunity. That doesn’t mean these people can’t come back, but we wanted to consolidate and build out Reenie’s office a bit more.”

Velma will finally be reunited with Teddi in Tracker season 3, while Bobby bids farewell to Colter and co. farewell to pursue another job. Of course, that all makes sense (even if their exits remain frustrating). But the second half of Reid’s quote is much more interesting as he reveals the reasoning behind booting Velma and Bobby from the CBS action drama series.

It sounds as though the Tracker writers are sacrificing Velma and Bobby for Reenie in season 3. As the showrunner said, he and the other minds behind Tracker wanted to focus on developing Reenie and her law office in the upcoming episodes. Evidently, that meant getting rid of Velma and Bobby, despite them being the furthest thing from weak links.

If anything, Velma and Bobby could have strengthened Reenie’s practice. Velma was directly assisting Reenie in Tracker season 2, and the attorney could have easily employed Bobby to work as her hacker in season 3. The two characters wouldn’t have dragged down Reenie’s law firm. Instead, Velma and Bobby likely would have helped it expand and evolve, but it’s too late for that.

Now, only two original series regulars remain heading into season 3, and two original Tracker characters are exiting. This move is quite strange and certainly isn’t a good thing. Hopefully, the action drama proves this statement wrong, but as of now, it just feels like CBS is actively trying to sabotage Tracker (one of its most successful TV shows).

How Tracker Season 3 Can Still Be A Success Without Velma & Bobby

Velma & Bobby Need Worthy Replacements

©CBS / Courtesy MovieStillsDB

On the bright side, not all hope is lost for Tracker. As previously stated, it’s one of CBS’s most-watched series (and it’s even one of TV’s most-watched dramas). So, it’s unlikely that it will lose a majority of its audience in season 3. However, the episodes still need to make up for the mistake of losing Velma and Bobby.

The first thing that Tracker needs to do is find replacements for Velma and Bobby. They both played significant roles in the story, and it’ll undoubtedly feel like something is missing if they’re gone and no one is there to take their place. Randy will presumably step in for Bobby, which is a good start. The action drama still needs its Velma, though.

Ultimately, the best way for Tracker to continue being a triumph is to find new cast members to play intriguing characters. This way, the series can distract viewers from Velma and Bobby’s absences with a couple of shiny new toys. While Velma and Bobby were great, Tracker needs an upgrade regarding its cast because it has haphazardly lost too many original stars.