Tracker

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Justin and Jensen as the brothers Colter and Russell Shaw in Season 1
Jstin and Jensen on set from jensen's IG "Working with old pals never gets old. Good times @justinhartley … thanks for the laughs, my brother. 😂 Let’s do it again. Catch us on @trackercbs soon!!!

Jensen has been cast in the role of Russell Shaw, older brother of the Colter Shaw, the main character in Tracker, played by Justin Hartley.


Tracker is the story of Colter Shaw, a man who travels across the US in an Airstream with a big bag of daddy issues, making money by finding missing people (or sometimes objects and on one occassion a horse!) and collecting the reward money. The series is primarily a case of the week episodic format, with a ongoing thread about the mystery of Colter's family.


Jensen appreared in the penultimate episode of "off The Books". In the episode, "Colter will have to team up with Russell, to track down a former army buddy who’s gone missing during a bout of paranoid behavior. The investigation will see the brothers investigating Special Forces dark ops and conspiracy theories, while they deal with their family's past.

The Show has already been renewed for a second season. It has been confirmed that Jensen will return in the role in future epsiodes

What's Tracker About?

Tracker is the story of Colter Shaw, a man who travels across the US in an Airstream, making money by finding missing people (or sometimes objects, and on one occasion a horse!) and collecting the reward money. As a kid, his parents taught at Berkeley, until his father was involved in some sort of scandal. Becoming increasingly paranoid, he moved his family off the grid. There he taught Colter, his older brother Russell, and younger sister Dory survival skills. One night his father announced that people were coming for them and tried to get the kids to leave, but they resisted as their mother was out. After an argument the father left. Colter later found him dead at the bottom of a rock wall, apparently killed by Russell.

As an adult, Colter is estranged from his siblings, but still visits his mother. Throughout Season One, Russell has been trying to contact Colter, but his mother has advised him to ignore the calls. A case reunites Colter with his sister Dory, who wants a closer relationship with him, but he has a long history of avoiding her. She urges him to return Russell's calls. Colter's childhood experiences impact all of his relationships, with him being unwilling to open up emotionally to those around him, but driven to help people.

Getting by with a little help from his friends

Colter is supported by a rag tag team:

  • Velma (Abby McEnany) and Teddi (Robin Weigert) Bruin - the lesbian couple who finds Colter's cases, provides intel, emotional support and light relief.
  • Bob Exley (Eric Graise) is Colter's tech support, based in Chicago. He is a double leg amputee.
  • Reenie Green (Fiona Rene) is a lawyer who helps Colter with legal matters. They once had a fling but he avoids getting close to her again.
  • Billie (Sophia Peras) - another reward hunter with a past with Colter, although trust is lacking given she double-crossed him once. Played by Justin's wife Sophia Peras.

Who does Jensen play?

Jensen plays Russell Shaw, older brother to Colter Shaw. It was Russell who found their father dead, although he denies killing him. At his mother's urging he left home and joined the military, where he served for 18 years in Special Ops. After leaving he has done mercenary work for an organisation called the Horizon Group. He has kept in contact with his sister Dory.

Season 1

In the first Season we see Russel and Colter as teens in flashbacks, including the night their father died, when Colter saw Russel on top of a rock face and their father dead at the bottom. Throughout the season, Russell calls Colter but he doesn't respond. Colter's mother tells Colter not to speak to his brother. Rusell contacts both Colter's sister and Reenie who tell him to call his brother.

Episode 12 "Off The Books"

Colter's brother Russell turns up at his RV, having missed a previous meeting that Colter agreed to. Russell tells Colter that he did not kill their father - he either fell or was pushed by someone else. That night he did see a man in the woods, someone he had previously seen talking to their mother. Colter takes in the information without responding. Russell then explains that he missed their previous meeting because he was searching for a buddy - Doug Thompson - with whom he had served in Special Ops, and who now works for the same dodgy military contractor, the Horizon Group.
They visit Doug's wife, who has been delivered a severed finger in a box. The Shaw brothers identify it as belonging to a recently decased man. When Russell's charm fails to work on the receptionist at the morgue, the boys break in, and are promptly arrested.
Reenie turns up and gets them released. Russell is rather taken with her, but while Colter denies there's anything between him and the lawyer, he declares her off limits to his hot brother. After tracking down some men Doug may have visited to get a blessing (or a curse), Russell works out that Doug's disappearance is connected to a man they killed while on a job. Returning to the scene to retrieve a knife that had Russell's name on it, Doug was identified. The dead man's brother is now out of jail and searching for him.
Russell's handler from Horizon directs them to a safe house where Doug may be, but they find him already gone. A hidden camera gives the Shaws information on their vehicle, and they track them down. They manage to rescue Doug and kill the kidnappers, although Russell is shot in the arm in the process. He leaves Doug with Colter, vowing to hunt down Colter. When Colter drops by the motel where Russell was staying a couple of days later, he has already checked out, but has left the knife his father gave him behind for Colter.

Easter Eggs

  • The motel where Russell is staying is in the style of the motels in which Sam and Dean stayed.
  • Doug disappeared near Roanoke, which is where the word Croatoan was carved into a tree when the colonists disappeared in the 1500s.
  • At the motel, we get a glimpse of his car, which he pats fondly. It looks a lot like a certain '67 Impala.
  • Doug "went out and hasn't been home in a few days" which recalls Dean's line in the 1.01 Pilot that John "was on a hunting trip and hadn't been home in a few days".
  • Breaking into a morgue was a regular occurence in Supernatural.
  • Russell says "Son of a bitch!" one of Dean's favourite sayings.
  • Rennie says "Balls!", Bobby's favourite expletive.
  • Russell says he makes good home-brewed beer, his plan is to earn enough money to open a brewery. It was after Justin stored his small pilot brew systems at Jensen's house in Malibu that Jensen and brother-in-law Gino started experimenting with brewing. This eventually led to the Family Business Beer Company.
  • Russell is wearing a Stevie Ray Vaughn t-shirt - a classic rock shoutout!
  • We see Jensen's actual tattoos in the episode.

Season 2

On the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of a woman called Gina, Colter visits the main suspect in her case. An annual ritual, Colter roughs Frank up but gets no information. Later he visits Camille, with whom he has a "messed up people with benefits" relationship. Colter has promised he will find out what happened to her sister, although Camille seems like she wants to move on with her life.
Rennie is setting up her own law firm, and Velma is helping her renovate her new office. Velma's wife Teddi is looking after her mother, and Velma is giving them some space. (In reality the actor who played Teddi - Robyn Weigert) has left the series).

Episode 2 Ontological Shock

Justin and Jensen in Ontological shock

Colter is employed by Scott Palmer's daughter to investigate his disappearance. Scott had been obsessed with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena - UAPS which used to be known as UFOs - and had been communicating with an astrophysics professor Dr Iris Blair about his work before he disappeared. Colter speaks to her but doesn't get any helpful information. With Bobby's help Colter travels to Scott's last known location,. When he gets there he finds Scott's car, but strange sumbols appear on his phone, an intense light appears and he passes out.
When Colter doesn't check in for 12 hours, Rennie decides to ask Russell to find him. Using his contacts in the black ops world, Russell finds and rescues his brother from a Defence facility. Colter is surprised that Rennie called Russell, who jokes that they are phone friends because he keeps asking her to dinner. Colter is not amused. He reflect that their escape was all a bit easy and deduces that he is being tracked. Russell smashes Colter's phone and diggs a small tracking device out of the back of Colter's neck. They return to Dr Blairs house, where Russell makes himself a sandwich. Dr Blair admits to discussing UAPs with Scott in a prviate chat group to protect her reputation. They work out that a communication Scott had intercepted are coordinates and leave to see if that is where Scott can be found. Dr Blair tries to leave to get somewhere safe, but is intercepted by government agents who kill her and make it look like a suicide.
At the site of their coordinates their is a lot of military activity and a countdown underway. Russell is convinced its related to UAP activity, but Colter is sceptical. When they split up to look for Scott, Russell finds a lab where he his confronted by one of the government agents who had held Colter captive. He knows who Russell and Colter are, and taunts Russell that his father asked too many questions he shouldnt as well. Russell manages to knock him out, and on the way out of the lab grabs a sealed vial.
Meanwhile Colter has found Scott and they escape the base along with Rusell. A black van which Rennie has arranged meets them. They return Scott to his daughter. Russell shows Colter the mysterious metal in the vial and says he is going to get it tested by his "alloy guy". Colter is still sceptical - and also a bit peeved when Russell says he's heading to Colodaro to have dinner with Rennie, as a reward for saving Colter. They briefly discuss what the agent was implying about the boy's father Ashton and Colter mentions the box of his belongings that their sister Dory has. Russell quickly dismisses them being of any importance. Maybe a little too quickly.

Easter Eggs

  • Russell is driving a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu SS Convertible - a classic car reminiscent of the Impala
  • Russell making a sandwich is reminscent of Dean's love for food.
  • At the end of the episode he tells Colter that "“this baby doesn’t drive on gravel.” "Baby was Dean's nickname for the Impala.


  • On July 14 at the Television Critics Association 2024 Press Tour, it was been confirmed by both the showrunner and Justin Hartley that Jensen would return as Russel for a "multi-episode arc" in Season 2.
  • At Comic-Con 2024 Justin said that Jensen will start filming on 29/7/24 for the second episode of Season 2 of Tracker.

Trivia

  • Justin played the role of Oliver Queen in Smallville, a show in which Jensen played Jason Teagues.
  • Elwood Reid is an executive producer on Tracker and was also the EP and showrunner on Big Sky in which Jensen played Beau Arlen, in the third and final season.
  • After being seen in Vancouver, fans have collated other hints dropped by Jensen which suggested he may have filmed a role in the series Tracker.

Links

SEASON ONE

SEASON TWO

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