Tracker debuted earlier this year on CBS and immediately became a huge hit, earning a renewal for Season 2 just weeks after its post-Super Bowl premiere. The wait for that second season is nearly over with the upcoming premiere in the 2024 TV schedule, and Fiona Rene – who stars as lawyer Reenie Greene opposite Justin Hartley's Colter Shaw – opened up to CinemaBlend about an important scene between Reenie and Colter as well as the "craziest part" of being part of the hit show.
As fans who had been eagerly awaiting Justin Hartley's return to primetime after This Is Us undoubtedly remember, the show that had been in the works since 2022 didn't get the expected fall 2023 premiere due to the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike. The Tracker team wasted no time in getting to work once deals were struck, though, and earned an early February 2024 premiere with Hartley as Colter Shaw and Rene as Reenie Greene.
When I was recently fortunate enough to speak with Fiona Rene, the Lincoln Lawyer and Fire Country alum shared how fast the pace was once they could actually start working on Season 1 after the strikes:
That was the craziest part, because honestly, we knew that we were going to start shooting. You don't know anything until you're actually on set, but we knew that it was going to come, and then the strike hit. We were just kind of like, 'Okay, well, when it's over, we will shoot.' And I remember getting the phone call. The strike ended on a Thursday, and that Friday morning, I got a phone call that was like, 'Pack your bags. You're leaving in four days. You're going to Vancouver in four days. Pack all your crap. You gotta go.' And I was like, 'Alright, cats, in the car!' I packed my whole life within four days and moved up here, and it was just so fast and so crazy. Supposedly, we were one of the first productions back.
The hard work, grueling schedule, and very fast turnaround paid off, because Tracker was the first CBS show to arrive in primetime early this year and aired its pilot directly after the Super Bowl, becoming the #1 non-sports show on television for the 2023-2024 TV season by the end. I asked Rene what it was like to film the remaining episodes of Season 1 after Tracker blew up in popularity, and she shared:
Honestly, I think it took me until the renewal [and] even past. It took me until getting on set for Season 2 to accept and realize that it's been that great of a success. I've honestly just been grateful to be here, grateful to be here, grateful to be here, and hopefully it keeps going and doesn't stop. It's just been a whirlwind of gratitude, and there really hasn't been much time, oddly enough, to celebrate.
While the second season won't premiere until October 13, the cast began shooting Season 2 back in July in Vancouver. When I noted to Rene that it really was notable when Tracker was able to premiere so early in CBS' winter 2024 lineup, she agreed:
It was wild. It went very quickly, and getting the pickup for Season 2 went quickly. A short month and a half, two month hiatus in between seasons – that went quickly. I moved out of my place. I remember going back home and then being like, 'Oh, I gotta go back to Vancouver now. Where has the time gone?’
Not too much is known about the storylines for Season 2 at the time of writing, although Jensen Ackles will return as Russell Shaw, Colter has a bombshell family reveal about his sister to process, and Reenie made a bold career move to leave her job and start out on her own as a lawyer... which hopefully leaves her with the flexibility to come to Colter's legal rescue when he'll inevitably need it.
In the Season 1 finale (which you can stream now with a Paramount+ subscription), Colter invites Reenie to come spend some time with him after she quit her job and he closed the case. Considering that even Justin Hartley commented on how beautiful the filming locations were for the finale, it seemed like Reenie must have been tempted to spend that time with Colter for more than one reason. So, ahead of Season 2 reuniting the characters on screen, was she truly tempted? Fiona Rene weighed in:
Oh my gosh, of course! Even in the moment, I remember when we shot that scene, there was this moment where it was like, 'Of course, I want to do that.' And if you watch her face during that scene, I hope you can see that she is thinking about it. But there's something bigger at play.
Since the moment between the characters happened over the phone rather than in person, Colter couldn't see the wistful look on Reenie's face that viewers could. According to Rene, Reenie wasn't going to allow temptation to potentially ruin something special:
I haven't talked to the writers about this, but I think for her, there's some [sense that] she knows how important this relationship is, and she's not willing to sacrifice what's super important about the relationship for a getaway weekend that may be because one or two parties are lonely or it's not for the right reasons for them. So instead, let's keep it the way it is right now, because it's working. But of course, she thought about it! Oh my gosh, she probably got off the phone, went home, had that glass of wine, and thought about it more.
Hopefully Tracker fans can all agree that Reenie deserved that glass of wine and night in, if she wasn't going to gamble everything for a getaway with Colter. It should be interesting to see how different their dynamic is (or isn't) in Season 2, now that Reenie has more power in her career without anybody to answer to. For now, check out the trailer for Season 2:
See Fiona Rene in action alongside Justin Hartley and the rest of the cast when Tracker Season 2 premieres on Sunday, October 13 at 8 p.m. ET. Check back with CinemaBlend after the episode for more from Rene as well! Plus, if you want a last-minute refresher on the end of Season 1, you can find the finale and all the other episodes so far streaming on Paramount+.
