At the Tracker panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, star Justin Hartley may not have been able to offer reward money to fans, but he did reward them with some secrets from season 2 of the CBS hit.
The series, which is also executive produced by Hartley, follows a man named Colter Shaw who helps track down missing people (and sometimes animals) in exchange for the reward money. But he also has some mysteries in his past, including the unexpected death of his father.
In season 1, viewers were also introduced to Colton’s younger sister Darby, played by Melissa Roxburgh, and his estranged older brother Russell, played by Jensen Ackles.
Hartley confirmed earlier this month that both would be back for season 2 — and during his Comic-Con panel, he revealed that Ackles would be filming with him this week in Vancouver. He’ll appear in the second episode of the season.
Michael Courtney/CBS
Also revealed during the panel: a time jump.
The season 1 finale saw Colter learn a few things about his father — and his siblings. And the new season will pick up a few months later.
In March, only a few episodes into season 1, Tracker was renewed for a second season after its instant popularity. Not only was it CBS’s most-watched show since Young Sheldon’s 2017 premiere, but according to Nielsen, Tracker was also the No. 1 show on cable since it premiered as well.
Hartley talked to PEOPLE earlier this year about some of his favorite aspects of Colter’s personality.
“The fact that Colter doesn’t have a girlfriend, I think that’s one of the things I wanted to sort of keep,” Hartley, 47, said. “I feel like if he has a wife and a girlfriend and a family, and he continues to do all these dangerous things, that’s kind of selfish.”
Asked at Comic-Con how Colter really feels about his friend Reenie (Fiona Rene), Hartley clearly still feels this way.
“I think all of the things about him that are heroic and brave become reckless and selfish,” he says. “It’s like, I’m going to leave my house and go through all this stuff and put myself in danger and you’re back here worried about me. I just don’t think that’s a good look.”
Darko Sikman/CBS
He also explained that Tracker has been a “labor of love” for him on Live with Kelly and Mark in April 2024.
“When This Is Us ended, our directing producer, Ken Olin, came to me and said, ‘I’d really like to keep working with you,’ and I said, ‘Likewise,’” he explained.
Hartley continued, “So we found this book, The Never Game, written by Jeffery Deaver and took the character Colter Shaw and developed it for TV.”
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Tracker season 2 will premiere Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
