Warning: spoilers are ahead for the Season 1 finale of Tracker, called "The Storm."
Tracker spent the last couple episodes before the Season 1 finale dropping more and more clues about what really happened the night that Colter's father died all those years ago, and the last episode of the 2024 TV schedule didn't disappoint in thickening that particular plot. After Colter went all-out to find the daughter of childhood friend Lizzy (played by This Is Us alum Jennifer Morrison), she had a bombshell to drop on Colter. Justin Hartley spoke with CinemaBlend about the game-changer and what comes next.
How Tracker Season 1 Ended
Just when it seemed that Colter had finished the job and was going to head off into the hiatus with no new burdens to bear, Lizzy told Colter that his dad and her mom had been having an affair when they worked together. Colter responded that there's a lot he didn't and doesn't know because he only has pieces of the puzzle. And it turns out that the affair wasn't even the big news that Lizzy had for him.
When her mom had died the previous year, she found a hidden file box under the bed full of Ashton Shaw's research papers and "very personal" journals, and that sparked a memory that Ashton had visited Lizzy's mom shortly before he died. They argued, hugged, and he gave her the box. And if that wasn't enough to blow Colter's mind already, Lizzy revealed that she'd sent the box to Dory, who neglected to tell her brother that when Melissa Roxburgh guest-starred earlier this season.
He had a lot to think about, but told Lizzy that he wasn't going to do anything about it for now. The Season 1 finale ended with "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones playing as Colter walked into the ocean with a surfboard, and I'm surely not the only viewer relieved that CBS had already renewed Tracker before this very open ending!
What Justin Hartley Told Us About The Ending
When I spoke with Justin Hartley about reuniting with Jennifer Morrison after their mutual This Is Us days, we also discussed the events of those final scenes of the Season 1 finale. I asked the Tracker star if the news about the affair changes Colter's perception of his father or if he's more numb to bombshells by this point, and Hartley shared:
I don't think he's numb to it. I think maybe [there’s] initial shock, and that line when she says, 'What are you going to do?' She dropped all this stuff on him. She knows him. He's not a maniac, but he's certainly a dog with a bone, right? And she's like, 'What are you going to do?' Almost like fear in her eyes, like, 'Oh, shit, now what?' And he says, 'Nothing for now,' or whatever he says. Basically all that does… I mean, his whole life, he's believed that Russell is singlehandedly responsible for the father's death because he was so awful to the kids. And he's been living with that, and now to have all these other questions. I mean, that certainly creates a motive, doesn't it? For someone else to murder.
Colter wouldn't be as great at finding missing people if he wasn't like "a dog with a bone" about catching clues to solve mysteries, and news that his father was having an affair with his childhood friend's mom has wider implications implications than just cheating. Instead of Russell initially seeming like the most obvious culprit in killing Ashton, Lizzy's dad had a great reason to want revenge on Ashton all along. Hartley continued:
I mean, if you find out that some guy is sleeping with your wife, that's motive right there. Now he's like, 'Okay, wait, hold on a second.' Imagine that! Imagine everything you thought about something, probably the most pivotal moment in your life. Imagine realizing twenty years later that everything you thought about that seminal moment was wrong. That was completely wrong. That is a mind F like you would not believe. And it's like, 'Wait a minute, what have I been doing with my life, that I steered my life in a certain way because of that moment, because of everything that I thought about that moment.' And now I have this life based on that, and all of that was wrong.
While Colter pretty much kept his cool in front of Lizzy after hearing about their parents' affair and that Dory is keeping secrets from him despite seeming to want to completely wash her hands of it, it was clear from the very last scene that it had affected him. Hartley shared some insight into how this affected his character:
I mean, you're in a freefall now, right? And imagine Colter Shaw in a freefall. He doesn't do that. He doesn't go into a freefall. And so I think we'll play a little bit more to that in Season 2, also. That is a crazy thing to think about, isn't it?
A "freefall" might not bode particularly well for Colter if he wants to start jobs again ASAP in Season 2, but it certainly should be fun for fans to watch! It's easy to be sympathetic to Tracker's leading man, however, as he received bombshell after bombshell over just a few weeks. Melissa Roxburgh debuted as Dory in Episode 11, followed by Jensen Ackles' arrival in Episode 12 (complete with Supernatural Easter eggs), followed by the finale on May 19. Justin Hartley weighed in on Colter getting so many reveals so quickly, saying:
He got a lot of them within a few weeks, and he got a lot of them within five minutes of that last conversation. For me, I was reading that and she's like, 'What are you going to do?' And for me, it was just like, 'Well, when I can feel my feet again... There's nothing I can do now. I'm going to do something but nothing right now.' He's gonna try to think this through. He's a very methodical guy, right? But that's a lot to unload on someone. That's a lot.
Suffice it to say, Colter has a lot to think about after he comes back from blowing off some steam in the ocean! Justin Hartley went on to share some ideas for Season 2 based on how he interpreted the script for the series finale:
I'm not giving you any spoilers, but I'm just saying this is the way my brain works. It's like, 'Wait a minute, am I sitting across from the daughter of the man who killed my father? What is going on here?' There's just a lot. 'And who knew about it? What's in this box? Why is my sister not telling me this? Why are my brother and sister talking and not talking to me? Why didn't Russell come to me sooner?' All of this stuff. So we still have a lot of questions to answer. A lot of new questions to answer.
After how Season 1 ended, one of my biggest questions is definitely whether Melissa Roxburgh and Jensen Ackles will reprise their roles sooner rather than later in Season 2. It seems that Dory might be the Shaw sibling with a lot to hide instead of Russell, as Colter had believed for so long, but only time will tell.
Tracker will return to CBS for Season 2 on Sundays in the fall. For now, you can revisit the full first season streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, and check back with CinemaBlend for more from Justin Hartley in the coming days.
