“What’s the Truth Here?”: ‘Tracker’ Star Teases Russell’s Return and Exploration of Family Secrets

Tracker sidelined the secrets in the Shaw family and explored Colter’s (Justin Hartley) missing person case from a decade ago. Now that what happened to Gina Pickett is out in the open, the show circles back to the hanging storylines, chief among them being what happened to Colter’s father. These secrets are closely tied to his family members, each having a piece of the puzzle. Colter and his brother Russell (Jensen Ackles) have mended their relationship; they can dive into the secrets his parents tried to hide and uncover who killed their dad. When Russell next appears, “It’s trying to get up to speed and make sure that everyone’s up to speed and that I have all the information that he has, and that it jives,” Hartley told TV Insider. “What’s the truth here? What actually happened? Were we both being lied to or was I being lied to? Were you in on the lie? What are you protecting me from? Because Colter’s not lying,” the actor added, teasing some big questions for his character. Hatley discussed how sidelined Colter feels, saying:

“The audience knows what Colter knows, but the question is, if the siblings know more than he does, why? What’s the point of protecting him? Are they talking to each other or are we all just kind of in the dark here? Colter is the one that is pursuing this, and everyone else is like, well, just let it go, who cares? It’s dangerous. It’s not worth it. Nothing can change the past. But that’s just not the way that Colter operates.”

Colter’s Opinion About His Dad Might Change

Everyone believed Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen) was paranoid at best and crazy at worst. Who moves their family to the middle of nowhere? Hartley teased that these notions might be challenged, especially in the main character. “Colter is very skeptical just by nature, and part of it is his job, part of it is upbringing, all the lessons that his dad taught him. He hung out with this guy who became more increasingly paranoid, and that can rub off on you. But then, as he is growing older, he’s realizing, ‘Oh, snap. Maybe my dad wasn’t so crazy. Maybe he was onto something,'” the actor said. He added:

“And so that’s where it starts to unravel. There’s a sense of responsibility that comes with that, too. If you start to treat things like an eye roll and you just ignore it, and then all of a sudden, a year later, you realize, ‘Oh no, those were cries for help. I shouldn’t have been rolling my eyes,’ there’s sort of a sense of responsibility and a sense of, I don’t know, shame that comes along with that.”

Russell’s return in Season 2 is pending confirmation but stay tuned to Collider for updates. Watch new episodes every Sunday on CBS and catch up with past ones on Paramount+ in the US.