‘Tracker’: Justin Hartley Previews Jensen Ackles’ Season 4 Return

When Tracker Season 3 ended, it did so with a big mystery that sees rewardist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) in the dark about something; his brother, Russell (Jensen Ackles), is protecting him from finding out what their father did to him as a kid by taking on some shady work. (It’s nothing too new for him.) Ackles will be back early on in Season 4.

“Well, right now he is about probably 100 meters away from me,” Hartley told TV Insider with a laugh at the end of August. “He’s in at least one [episode], and we’ll have him back when we can. I think probably in the new year, we’ll have him back for a few.”

But Russell’s not coming back to give us (and Colter) answers about that file he read. (“We’re going to put that away for a little bit,” says Hartley.) Rather, he needs his brother’s help.

“What’s he been up to is he won’t tell me. Well, he kind of can’t, right? I mean, there’s a quid pro quo thing that happened at the end of Season 3, and he’s like, ‘As long as my brother doesn’t find out about this, I’ll do this thing for you,'” Hartley pointed out.

Sergei Bachlakov/CBS

“But when we find him and when he reaches out to Colter, he needs help with something. One of his buddies is in dire straits, big time dire straits — and not a self-inflicted thing, just sort of something that happened to him, and he thinks of his brother Colter, and he’s like, ‘I bet you Colter can help you with this,'” he continues. “So, he reaches out and of course Colter’s willing to help and it reunites the two brothers and they go on this pretty epic journey.”

The series started with the two estranged, with Colter thinking that Russell might have had something to do with their father’s death, but they’ve mended fences onscreen. And while Russell may be keeping something from Colter, don’t expect to see that affect their relationship in this upcoming episode.

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“I don’t think necessarily he’s suspecting anything new. I also think that he always assumes that his brother is keeping something from him,” admitted Hartley, confirming they’ll be in a good place. “So, I don’t know if it completely changes. I don’t think there’s anything new necessarily about his brother, new suspicions, but I think that this lingering suspicion that his brother’s always keeping something from him is still there.”

With one Shaw sibling returning, we can’t help but wonder about Colter and Russell’s sister, Dory, played by Melissa Roxburgh.

“It’s possible,” said Hartley. “All these people that I thought, what a great idea to have on the show, they’re all so damn busy now, right? It’s not a secret that they’re all really good, so they’re all working a lot. So, anything’s possible. We’ll see.”

What are you hoping to see from Jensen Ackles’ next appearance on Tracker as Russell Shaw? Let us know in the comments section below.

Tracker, Season 4 Premiere, Sunday, October 4, 9:30/8:30c, CBS