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

Tracker Showrunner, Hartley on Colter/Russell Apology; "Darker Forces"

Tracker Showrunner Elwood Reid and Star/EP Justin Hartley explain why Colter (Hartley) and Russell (Jensen Ackles) both needed that apology.

Though we're going to avoid any spoiler deep dives into the Season 3 premiere of CBS, Showrunner Elwood Reid, and series star/executive producer Justin Hartley's Tracker, Reid and Hartley had some interesting insights to share on Jensen Ackles' (Supernatural, The Boys, Countdown) return, that emotional moment between Russell and Colter (Hartley), and what the new information they have on their family's backstory means going forward. Just to be on the safe side, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer – you've been warned!

Speaking with TV Line, Reid was asked if Mary's (Wendy Crewson) decision to enlist Otto's (Alex Fernandez) help to leave Ashton (Lee Tergesen) as his behavior became more threatening could now be seen as less ominous and more understandable and relatable. "If we did it right, it should be 50-50. You can understand her desperation — maybe she didn't have a choice — but there were other options she didn't take. She made a decision that probably was going to end the way it did eight times out of 10," Reid shared.

The showrunner continued, "Was she trying to protect her kids? Sure. But we're also going to learn about some darker forces surrounding the Shaw family — the things that made Ashton lose his mind. And we'll question whether he was right to be paranoid. When we finally sit down with Mary, she'll be able to give context… but whether you trust her or not is another matter. I don't think either brother does — and neither should the audience."

As for that heartcrushing moment between Colter and Russell, when Colter apologized to his brother for listening to their mother and believing Russell had something to do with their father's death, it was something that Hartley and Reid both believe the brothers needed before they could move foward. "Two grown men who go about their business in different ways, and just one guy apologizing from the heart to another guy to his brother, and then his reaction, which was just, 'Apology accepted and move on.' … There's no bells and whistles on this part of 'Tracker.' We're just sitting down, two dudes talking, two brothers talking, and it works," Hartley shared with TV Insider, addin that the apology "was pretty amazing."

"I think that was something that we kind of owed from last season. That moment was really interesting because when Colter says it, he's looking at Russell and reading Russell. And I think, for me, it's one of the bigger emotional moments of their arc because I do feel like they've forgiven each other," Reid shared. "Remember, Russell knows that Colter was not brainwashed or poisoned, but he was pissed at Colter for believing that he would be capable of [killing their father]. And they didn't overplay it. No one was crying or hugging or touching each other. It was just there. Those guys were very present. We just got out of the way and let the guys do their thing."

Tracker Season 3: S03E02, S03E03 & S03E04 Previews

Tracker Season 3 Episode 2: "Leverage" – After discovering they've disrupted a sinister underground operation called "The Process," Colter (Justin Hartley) and Russell (Jensen Ackles) must race to find the source behind these chained events and end it once and for all. Written by Sharon Lee Watson and directed by Jeff T. Thomas.

Tracker Season 3 Episode 3: "First Fire" – On Halloween night, when a nurse is murdered and arsonist Heston Koontz disappears from a psychiatric facility, Colter follows a trail of unsettling clues to uncover the truth with assistance from local officer Dundee (Derek Richardson). Written by Ryan O'Nan and Annakate Chappell and directed by Aprill Winney.

Tracker Season 3 Episode 4: "No Man's Land" – When a man disappears in a lawless Arizona desert town, Colter's (Justin Hartley) investigation uncovers a hidden relationship that draws him into a dangerous power struggle – and leaves him facing the hard conditions of the wilderness. Written by Alex Katsnelson & Travis Donnelly and directed by Joel Novoa.

Showrunner Reid on Season 3, Ackles/Russell & Hartley/Colter Dynamic

"Colter's kind of fallen off the grid a little bit, and it's no surprise that who comes and finds him is his brother, played by Jensen Ackles. That conversation continued after the [Season 2] cliffhanger, and we'll learn some of the contents of that conversation when he speaks to his brother in the opening of this season," Reid shared recently with TV Insider. With Colter dealing with what he learned may or may not mean, Reid says that it's crucial for him to have someone on a personal level to compare notes with.

"It was a pretty heavy bomb we dropped, hearing what Colter thinks that bomb means and then hearing what his brother Russell thinks it could mean, and then you kind of put these two things together. It was just a way to make it more active for Colter with someone who — remember for a long time, he kind of blamed his brother with having something to do with it," Reid explained. "So, I'm really proud of this scene and I'm really proud of, it's just two guys in this little tiny set in the Airstream talking and it's very tense. It's an interesting scene for our show."

As the two work to piece together the answers to their family's history, Colter and Russell will have a chance to bond as brothers. "Where I think it ends up, as you'll see, is that they become closer, but then another central mystery arises. Not just the bombshell we got, but the why of it all, and that's something that we're going to carry through the season a little bit," the Tracker showrunner shared. "I think one of the things I wanted to do, because I have Justin, is I wanted to do it emotional because it goes without saying he's a great actor, but he's got that real emotional accessibility and to be able to get there — we have a fun bar fight in the beginning of the episode — to the scene where it's just two guys talking about their emotions in the way that guys do, which is not very verbose half of the time, is a really fun scene. It was really fun to write, and we just kept taking away and taking away because I think both of the actors were really game to kind of play with each other. It was so much fun to shoot."

Reid also shared that there are "some little nuggets" about what's been going on in Russell's world since we last saw him. "Suffice it to say, when you get to that scene, just like when you got to the scene at the end of last season, the brothers realize — the audience learns how tense and heated and some of the external forces that were on that family previous to the father's death. And Russell being older, he has a different, probably darker memory of it that was shielded from Colter, if you remember, because Russell disappeared and Colter stayed back with his mother. So, I think that's where a lot of the anger and the blame came in, was from him blaming him for leaving him with this sort of mystery and this kind of aftershocks of what happened to his father," he explained. "But then we hear Russell's side of it in this scene. So, it is a really interesting scene. It doesn't close any doors. It opens up a deeper mystery, but I still think — at least what I feel in the performances — you come away with it that Colter is still damaged and reckoning with what he learned."

Regarding Colter looking for answers about both his father's and mother's backstories, Reid notes that Russell's perspective should be one that Colter keeps in mind before rushing to judge their mother. "In that conversation that we're going to have in opening of the season, it kind of becomes, 'There's so much to talk about it and I need to know more before I go back there' because there's one version where like, 'Hey, you had dad killed.' I don't think it's that simple. I think it's far more complicated emotionally. And part of what the conversation gets to there is that idea that — this is from Russell's perspective. 'Colter, you don't know how bad dad was at the end. There's things that I saw that you didn't see.'"

Finally, The Tracker showrunner noted that Episode 2 will offer some more insights into Russell's world. "In Episode 2, you'll get that. I'm hoping the fans take note and start howling because it would be — I mean, for some reason, Jensen just really fits in this world. I don't know what it is. I mean, I have so many ideas and Jensen's always one of my first call guys, but I do dangle a little sort of carrot out there in the end of Episode 2 and you get to see more of him with Reenie [Fiona Rene], which is a lot of fun, too," Reid added.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!