Tracker became an immediate hit for CBS when it debuted earlier this year, and Justin Hartley's grueling schedule paid off with an early renewal for Season 2. The first episode of the fall was originally scheduled for the last weekend of October in the 2024 TV schedule, making the wait to see payoff of Colter's bombshell family reveal feel quite long. Now, CBS has some very good news for viewers who have been dying to see what comes next, but some news out of an entirely different platform has me wondering if Jensen Ackles won't be able to return as Russell.
Let's start with the good news!
Tracker's Updated Season 2 Premiere Date
CBS initially scheduled Tracker Season 2 to premiere on Sunday, October 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET ahead of The Equalizer's fifth season premiere. Now, the network has shuffled the schedule to launch the second season of Justin Hartley's series two weeks earlier on Sunday, October 13 at 8 p.m. ET instead. This means that Tracker will not only kick off CBS' fall premiere week, but also lead into the Season 26 finale of Big Brother.
The hit drama will then move to the 8:30 p.m. ET slot starting on October 20. If the timing of a an hour-long drama in a half-hour time slot seems strange, it's worth remembering that CBS' NFL broadcasts on Sunday nights affect typical primetime scheduling. All in all, Tracker coming back two weeks early is worth celebrating for fans!
What About Jensen Ackles As Russell Shaw?
Tracker spent the last few episodes of the first season digging up the Shaw family dirt, starting with the introduction of Melissa Roxburgh as Colter's sister Dory, followed by the debut of Jensen Ackles as Colter's brother Russell. Ackles' episode packed in some fun Supernatural Easter eggs for fans of that longtime show to catch, and Justin Hartley was able to take credit for recruiting his fellow former CW star to the CBS drama.
And the Shaw siblings' stories were very much left open at the end of Season 1, with Colter facing the fact that Dory lied to him and Russell in the wind. Russell leaving the way he did immediately gave hope that Jensen Ackles could reprise the role in Season 2, but that was before the news broke that Ackles would be starring in Vought Rising, a prequel to The Boys that will be available with Amazon Prime Video subscriptions.
And it honestly sounds like a fun series, if The Boys is your kind of entertainment, but I imagine that it could interfere with Ackles returning to Tracker as Russell. Admittedly, details about when production starts, how many episodes there will be, and if Vought Rising will be a one-off aren't available just yet, and Ackles had already signed on for a different Prime Video series.
All in all, there are more questions than answers about whether the prequel to The Boys will affect the odds of Jensen Ackles continuing to guest star opposite Justin Hartley, but we can certainly celebrate the news that Tracker will be back earlier than expected. As summer hiatus continues, you can always revisit the first full season streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
