‘Tracker’: Justin Hartley Explains Keaton’s Fate & Why Colter Didn’t Want Russell Involved

When we last saw rewardist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) on Tracker, things weren’t looking good. One of the people he can trust, Keaton (Brent Sexton), had been shot, and the car the two were in was run off the road on the way to the hospital.

Now, the CBS series has returned on March 1 with the midseason premiere, and as we knew from showrunner Elwood Reid telling us after the fall finale, Colter, too, has been shot. But he has bigger problems to deal with, like the fact that he’s been framed for murder. And so it’s with help from fellow rewardist Billie (Sofia Pernas, also Hartley’s wife) that Colter gets to work untangling the complicated conspiracy he’s walked into just for trying to help Keaton find his missing partner. As Hartley tells us, this is just the latest in an already rough season for his character. Warning: Spoilers for Tracker Season 3 Episode 10 ahead!

For most of the episode, Colter is on the run, with the local police pinning the murders on him. And with the feds at Reenie’s (Fiona Rene) law office for any files related to him, he can’t turn to her or Randy (Chris Lee) in the way he usually can. Fortunately, Billie shows up to help him and he’s able to get Keaton the help he needs so his friend doesn’t die. But that doesn’t mean everyone makes it out alive.

Rather, it all goes back to a dirty task force, of which Simms (Jes Macallan, for a Mistresses reunion with Hartley) was part. (Those cops were the ones to shoot at Colter and Keaton in the fall finale. They’re also the ones to kidnap the wife of a dead cop, to draw out the assassin who’d killed him — and then gotten involved with her.) But she was transferred out when she started asking questions, so she wasn’t part of the group taking kickbacks from a crime boss. The commissioner (Sasha Roiz), however, was involved, and he kills Simms when she confronts him after a chat with Billie.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

As the episode ends, Keaton’s still alive (but with a long road ahead of him) and Colter’s name has been cleared. Billie asks how Colter’s doing, and he tells her, “Better now,” thanking her for helping. He knows he’s going to have to start working on the tab he’s building up with her, and what better way to start than with beers?

Below, Justin Hartley breaks down the midseason premiere and what’s to come, Keaton’s fate, Colter and Billie, and much more.

Good news: It looks like Keaton is going to be OK. We at least know he survived this episode. Will we be hearing any updates about him in upcoming episodes?

Justin Hartley: Yeah, I think so. As we go forward, yeah, for sure. He came on to do a few episodes that had to do with tying up Colter’s origin story, sort of thing, his white whale case, back when we first introduced ourselves to Keaton, and he became, quite frankly, one of my favorite recurring stars and characters. And yeah, there’s no way I’m going to let anybody get rid of him. No, we are going to have him back. He adds a lot of texture to the show, and people really love to see him when he returns. So yeah, we’ll have him back on. He’s one of our favorites.

Speaking of that, because Colter has been through so much, how would he have handled it if Keaton had died?

Oh, they’re kindred spirits, and I think he fills a lot of voids that Colter has, and I think it just would’ve been a very sad thing. He’s not out of the woods yet; he’s still in the hospital, but it looks like at least they got him to the hospital, and a guy like that has a lot of fight in him. So I just think they just get each other, those two, and it would’ve just been a really sad way to end that storyline.

I loved that last scene in the hospital room with Colter and Billie. You’ve talked about how it’s complicated between these two. They clearly care about each other. We see her willing to be arrested for him in this episode. They make those plans at the end. But you’ve also said it’s the “what if” with them. So, are they kind of staying passing ships in the night, and when they see each other, they see each other?

I mean, that’s what it’s been. My hope and goal is always to make the show as emotionally deep, connected, and complex as we possibly can. I love the procedural element of our show. I think it keeps the pacing up, but I think when you fall into this plot-heavy type of show, that’s just plot, plot, plot, plot, and no character, that’s not really something that I’m quite frankly interested in doing. So, the character work, and the relationships, and the emotional connectivity, and all of that stuff mixed in with the procedural is a show that I’m really jazzed about doing and interested in doing. So that’s what we’ll continue to do. And I think their relationship will be ever evolving, as will all the other ones as well on the show. But that’s a really interesting special relationship that those two have, someone from your past that you just wonder if this would’ve gone this way, maybe this would’ve happened. Everybody probably has those at one point in their lives. And so, yeah, I think that’s something that you just keep exploring that relationship, and it’s an ever-evolving thing with the two of them.

Are there any firm plans to see her again this season yet?

I will tell you absolutely yes. How about that? Yes. Yeah, she’ll come back. She comes back in a big way.

Anything else you can tease?

I don’t think so right now, but yeah, she comes back in a very big fun way.

Darko Sikman/CBS

Colter tells Reenie not to get Russell (Jensen Ackles) involved. Why?

I think that was important because when I was reading these scripts, it was one of the first things that I thought was, well, if he’s in this much danger, why are they not calling him? Of course, he could help. She’s done that in the past. She called him in the past when Colter’s in trouble, why wouldn’t she call him now? And so I just thought it was important to address that. And he’s in trouble, and he’s in way deep, deeper than he’s ever been. And I think the least amount of people that he can involve that he really cares about the better. And also, the way that Russell handles things might not be the best — he might not have the best temperament for this. He tends to come in with a sledgehammer; maybe this one needs more of a scalpel.

What’s coming up when it comes to Colter’s family and any talks with his mom (Wendy Crewson), like the one he still needs to have after that Otto (Alex Fernandez) conversation?

Yeah, we’re going to tackle that as well, and there’ll be a nice payoff there. And I think that’s a storyline that has been, I think wonderful and hopefully played out to perfection and the payoff will come and that way the audience can — because when I watch these shows, I’m a fan as well, and when I watch a show and there’s a really good payoff, I go, oh, that was worth it. Great, thanks. And it leaves you feeling fulfilled and satisfied. So that’s our goal with that.

Is he yet ready to talk to his mom again?

He’s eventually going to have to be. I mean, communication is the key. He’s smart enough to know that. And I think you don’t want to say things in the heat of the moment, but eventually you do have to address those things. And it’s a really weird thing that he doesn’t have all the information about yet. So, yeah, I think he has to be eventually.

What are the chances of getting a full Shaw family sit-down dinner or something this season?

Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, the food that would fly across that table.

So are we going to see Melissa Roxburgh (who plays Colter’s sister Dory) again?

I hope so. She’s busy. She’s got her own show, so we’ll see. I don’t know about that. She’s definitely busy.

Colter hasn’t been having the easiest time as of late. There’s the conversation with Otto, everything going on with his family and his mom, now being framed for murder. How is he doing?

Not well. He’s handling it the best that you can imagine. And it’s so funny that you say that because I’ve been sort of working privately on this thing. He’s starting to — it’s only a matter of time before all this stuff just starts to get to you. And, like you said, he’s having a tough time, and how strong can he be through all of this, and the hits just keep on coming. Eventually, you might see a little crack.

Yeah, especially because alone on the road, it’s not like there’s someone with him to push him to talk about things.

Right, exactly. Yeah, so we’ll see that come out a bit as well. We got a lot going on here in the last 13 episodes.

Because it’s so easy to just hang up on someone if they try to bring it up to him.

[Laughs]

Reenie’s also been going through some stuff from last season into this season. Is Colter at all aware of that? Because it’s not easy to pick up on something like that just over the phone.

I think he’s becoming more and more and more aware of it. He starts to inquire a little bit about it because he can sense shifts in her attitude and her patience and how she’s dealing with things and blowing things off and sloughing things off. And I think you can pick up on some stuff over the phone. So, he starts to inquire a little bit about that.

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I’m interested in the character of Mel (Cassady McClincy Zhang) because it seems like she has this ulterior motive for wanting to work in the Colter area, but then she also does want to work for Reenie. And we haven’t really gotten much Colter Mel stuff. Is anything coming up there?

I will tell you, we won’t tackle that this season in a big way. We have a lot to wrap up and a lot to pay off, and that’s sort of a newer add to our show. But to your point, yeah, that’ll be more of a Season 4 thing.

Are there any returning characters coming up?

We have a really great, I guess, list of characters that we’ve had in the past and actors that we’ve had play those characters that if we can get them to return, and I think they will, they all really love Tracker. It’s cool. I always like the idea of seeing returning characters and going, oh, I remember when they had that conversation. That was cool. Oh, OK. That’s an old friend that he can trust. Oh, cool. Now she’s in trouble, or oh, she needs his help with something. Yeah, I think there’s a huge payoff there. I think you gain a lot by doing that, so yeah, we’ll do that.

Are there any specific ones you can mention?

I can mention Sofia. Keaton.

What about MC? Because Italia Ricci was good and that dance between your characters in that last scene…

Yeah, that has to come back. That has to come back, for sure. And she was great. Yeah, Sofia and I have talked at length about a whole thing. We’re fans as well, so we talk about these characters as well, like, oh, wouldn’t it be cool if…? We have a couple of ideas. And Elwood [Reid] and I have discussed it as well, so, yeah, that would be good. That’s a really good one.

Tracker, Sundays, 9/8c, CBS