Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: tracker

Tracker: Jensen Ackles Is "Waiting for the Phone Call" for Season 4

Based on what Jensen Ackles had to share, it sounds like he's ready if Russell Shaw is needed for Justin Hartley-starring Tracker Season 4.

Earlier this month, the word came down that filming was underway on the fourth season of CBS and Showrunner Elwood Reid's Justin Hartley-starring Tracker. Could that mean a return of Jensen Ackles' Russell Shaw, too? Based on how the previous season wrapped up and with all the interesting storylines still left dangling, it would seem more a matter of when he returns than if he returns. In fact, we recently made the case for Russell getting his own spinoff special, based on the Season 3 finale (more on that below). Based on what Ackles had to share over the weekend, it sounds like he's ready to go. During Creation Entertainment's The Road So Far… The Road Ahead: Creation Toronto, Ackles was asked about his upcoming projects. Admitting that he was looking to take "a nice little break" after "working pretty much non-stop for about two years." But he did remind the audience that "Vought Rising" was on the way "early next year," and that he does "dip in and out" of Tracker. After noting that filming on the fourth season had just gotten underway, Ackles added, "So, I'm waiting for the phone call."

Here's a look at Ackles alongside Rob Benedict and Richard Speight during the main panel this weekend, with the Tracker comment included in Ackles' response about his future projects beginning at the 9:00 mark (and thanks to Robyn Phillips for posting the panel):

Tracker Season 4: Jensen Ackles/Russell Deserve "Punisher" Treatment

With the hit series making the move from Vancouver to Los Angeles with the upcoming season, CBS's Tracker is definitely going through some changes with Season 4 on the horizon. But if Colter (Hartley) thinks the new season will be a chance for a fresh break from the ghosts of his family's past – well, it looks like he's going to be more than a little disappointed when the s**t hits the fan between him and Russell.  After his military source sells him out in a big way, Russell's forced into a little run-n-gun to stay alive, which he does – but not without a nasty bullet wound for his troubles. That leads him to hit up Reenie (Fiona Rene) for help tracking another person, but he doesn't want Colter to know about it. Hmmm.

After the good guys prevail and folks get sent off to (hopefully) greener pastures, Colter feels more confident than ever that he's ready to turn the page and move on from his past. Except… remember that help Russell needed? It seems Russell has gotten himself pulled back into the Horizon Group's web. The leverage? A file on Colter and Russell's dad that, based on Russell's reaction to the few parts we saw him read, seems to implicate "dear old dad" in experimenting on Colter when he was a kid. If Russell wants the file, then he's got to perform… wait for it… one last mission. And that's where Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, comes into play. No, not the character; something that Marvel Studios did with the character recently that the producers behind Tracker might want to consider.

With fans increasingly pushing for a Russell Shaw spinoff, why not give his final mission its own streaming spinoff film? You could stream it on Paramount+, and then screen a more network-friendly version on CBS sometime after. We added that last part because if you're going streaming, then you need to dial up the action and violence. It would be a great way to give the storyline the importance it deserves, especially when it connects directly to what's going down in the main series. It would also be a great way to "test run" the viability of an ongoing Russell Shaw series. Basically, we're looking at what Marvel Studios is doing with its "Special Presentation" series, which recently spotlighted the Punisher in A Marvel Television Special Presentation: The Punisher: One Last Kill and previously focused on Werewolf by Night. With studios more and more hesitant to pull the trigger on a series order, it might just be the next best thing.

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