Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: Jensen Ackles, tracker

Tracker Season 2: Hartley on Jensen Ackles' "Pretty Heroic" Russell

Tracker star Justin Hartley shared some new insights into the impact that the return of Jensen Ackles' Russell Shaw will have on Season 2.

When we last checked in on how things were going with CBS's hit Justin Hartley (NBC's This Is Us)-starring series Tracker, it was the start of August, and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, The Boys) had put the word out that he had wrapped filming in Vancouver. Earlier this year, Hartley confirmed that Ackles' Russell Shaw – brother of Hartley's Colter – would be returning in the second episode of the second season – and now, with the episode having wrapped and the series inching closer to its October 13th return, Hartley is sharing some insights into what Ackles' Russell is bringing to the game this season and how there will be layers added to the overarching questions surround their father and the family's history.

"It has more to do with the family thing. We left off first season with Colter having a lot of questions. He doesn't even know who he can trust anymore. At the very beginning of last season, he thought his brother was involved in his father's death, and then come to find out, wait a minute, he might not have had anything to do with it. Also, why is Dory [their sister, played by Melissa Roxburgh] hiding all this stuff?" Hartley shared, noting that Ackles' return will also see a deeper dive into the mysteries surrounding their family's backstory.

"So, Russell comes back, and Colter's got a couple of questions for him about this Dory situation and the box that she has and does Russell know where it is? Russell's also pretty heroic in Episode 2 and they get involved in this really black ops, kind of strange thing. And these government officials start asking about our dad out of the blue, and you're like, 'Whoa, what's this all about?' So, in every episode, Dad is becoming a little more vindicated, maybe, or just maybe completely nuts. We don't know. We dive a little bit deeper into that," Hartley added.

"Tracker" EP Elwood Reid Talks Season 2

Speaking with TV Insider, EP Elwood Reid offered some insights into how Colter's family mysteries will see Russell and their sister, Dory (Roxburgh), continue to play a role in the overarching storyline – as all three begin to realize that their parents held many more secrets than they realized. "They'll be coming in and out of the show," Reid shared. "If we can drop a few bombs into Colter's life with those characters and then see how he wrestles with those, then we'll earn them coming back to sort of sort out— because, I mean, the evidence we have in the show right now is his sister definitely has a point of view about what he should do, which is just forget about it and leave it. And then you look at Jensen's character, Russell; he seems to have sort of put it all away in a box in some way and kind of just dealt with it. But you'll learn in Episode 2, he's got very different memories of something that happened in their past that Colter has no memory of."

With the revelation that Russell wasn't involved in his and Colter's father's death ("at least not in the capacity that Colter thought he did") and the other mysterious family dynamics in play, Reid believes that there's much more to the overall family story still left to tell – which means more opportunities to have Ackles and Roxburgh back. "Jensen's coming back, which is great. Can't wait to see him. We always have so much fun together. He's a riot and a super-talented actor as well. So we're very lucky to have him. And I love Melissa as a person. She's a close friend, and so I think there's a lot more story to tell there, so would love to have her back."

Based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, the CBS series spotlights Hartley's Colter, a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family. Produced by 20th Television, CBS's Tracker stars Hartley (Colter Shaw), Fiona Rene (Reenie), Robin Weigert (Teddi), Abby McEnany (Velma), and Eric Graise (Bobby). Hartley, Ken Olin, Elwood Reid, and Ben Winters executive-produce, with Deaver producing.

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