'Tracker': Justin Hartley Teases Jensen Ackles' Season 2 Return

Ackles is set to return as Russell Shaw in the second episode of 'Tracker' Season 2.

By Megan Behnke

The Shaw brothers are reuniting once again in the second season of Tracker, and things could get complicated. It was previously announced that Jensen Ackles would be reprising his role of Russell Shaw in the new season of the CBS drama, bringing viewers to assume that he and Justin Hartley's Colter Shaw will be digging more into their complicated family background. With Ackles returning in Episode 2, Hartley teased what's to come while speaking with TV Insider.

"It has more to do with the family thing," Hartley shared. "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 (Colter's sister, played by Melissa Roxburgh) hiding all this stuff?"

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"Off the Books" – Colter is forced to team up with his estranged brother, Russell, who enlists his help to track down a former army buddy who's gone missing after several weeks of paranoid behavior. The investigation takes the brothers into the world of Special Forces missions, shady off-the-books programs and conspiracy theories, all while they contend with their family's past, on the CBS Original series TRACKER, Sunday, May 12 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured: Jensen Ackles and Justin Hartley. Photo: Michael Courtney/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

- Michael Courtney/CBS)

"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?" Hartley continued, "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."

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When Russell first came into the picture last season, it was revealed that his relationship with Colter was not the best, and it went all the way back to their dad dying. But now that Colter has some questions about what exactly happened and who their dad really was in regards to his secrets, it could make for a pretty interesting storyline. It can also be expected that Melissa Roxburgh will return at a later point, as the actress has a new show on NBC. Hartley said that she wraps filming before Tracker does, so it's very likely.

At the very least, it's comforting to know that Jensen Ackles will be returning to Tracker in the midst of his busy schedule. The Supernatural alum will lead Prime Video's new series Countdown and The Boys spinoff Vought Rising and will also appear in The Boys' fifth and final season. It would be hard to solve a Shaw family mystery without all three Shaw siblings or, at the very least, one other Shaw sibling besides Colter, so fans will want to tune in to Season 2 of Tracker beginning Sunday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS to see what happens.

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