‘Tracker’ Season 4 Can’t Complete Its Biggest Story Without Jensen Ackles

Season 3 of Tracker did something the CBS procedural has been careful about since the beginning: It made Colter Shaw’s (Justin Hartley) family history impossible to separate from the cases he takes on. What started as a question about the mysterious death of Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen) has expanded into something far more unsettling, with the Season 3 finale suggesting that Colter may have been subjected to experiments as a child. And Russell Shaw (Jensen Ackles) is now the only person standing between Colter and the truth.

Russell’s disappearance at the end of Season 3 is more than a convenient way to accommodate Ackles’ increasingly busy schedule. Russell left Tracker with information Colter desperately needs, a dangerous assignment from the Horizon Group, and no intention of telling his younger brother what he knows. Season 4 can let Russell remain a sporadic presence — Ackles has already made it clear where his character stands— but it cannot simply leave this story hanging.

Russell Shaw Became Too Important to ‘Tracker’ to Just Disappear

Russell was never designed to be Tracker’s second protagonist, but still is Colter’s older brother, a former soldier and Horizon Group security contractor who tends to appear when the show needs to pull Colter’s personal life into the action. His limited availability is part of what has made Russell work; when he shows up, it usually means something important is about to happen.

Season 3 pushed that idea considerably further. Russell became directly involved in The Process, a disturbing psychological operation that forced people to commit crimes by threatening their loved ones. He and Colter worked together, survived increasingly dangerous situations, and, for a while, seemed to be rebuilding the brotherly relationship that had been fractured by their father’s death.

The Chrono Stasis storyline subsequently kicked into gear. The brothers discovered that Ashton had been connected to a covert government program involving experiments on gifted children. Colter and Russell eventually helped rescue test subjects Danny and Lola, but Russell’s investigation took a darker turn when he was given a file containing information about what Ashton allegedly did to Colter.

Season 4 Needs Russell to Solve the Mystery About Colter’s Childhood

The most interesting thing about Russell’s exit is that Colter doesn’t know what Russell knows. Russell is offered a deal: complete another job for the people behind the operation, and the evidence concerning Ashton will disappear. More importantly, the file apparently contains proof that their father experimented on Colter. Russell agrees, leaving Reenie (Fiona Rene) with instructions to keep Colter from finding him.

It is a remarkably cruel position for Russell. He is trying to protect his brother by withholding the truth, but that protection also means Colter remains completely in the dark about his own childhood.

The finale even leaves room for the especially disturbing possibility that Colter’s memories may not tell the entire story. If Ashton really experimented on him, what did he do? Why was Colter chosen? What abilities, if any, did Ashton believe his son possessed? And how much of Colter’s childhood has been buried beneath the version of events he has spent years believing?

Jensen Ackles Is Already Leaving the Door Open for a Return

There is also no obvious reason Tracker needs to force Russell back into every episode. Ackles has plenty on his plate, including Vought Rising, and Russell has always been a recurring character rather than a permanent member of Colter’s team. But Ackles recently gave fans a pretty encouraging answer when asked about his future on the series. With Season 4 already underway, he said he “dip[s] in and out” of Tracker and is “waiting for the phone call.”

Russell’s sporadic appearances could make the eventual reunion more effective. He doesn’t need to be around long enough for the character to lose his sense of unpredictability. A handful of episodes could be enough to bring Russell back, reveal what he learned, force him to confront the consequences of keeping Colter in the dark, and finally move the Shaw family mystery forward.

The Season 3 finale deliberately put Russell on a dangerous path. It would be strange for Season 4 to pretend that path never happened. Tracker has always been at its strongest when Colter’s professional life collides with the unresolved questions in his personal life. Russell is now at the center of that collision. Whether Ackles appears for one episode or several, Season 4 needs him to finish what the finale started because Colter Shaw may be very good at finding other people’s missing pieces, but right now, the most important one belongs to his brother.