‘Tracker’ Season 2 Needs To Deliver on the Series’ Biggest Missed Opportunity
The drama series, Tracker, has been a clear runaway hit for CBS. Not only is it the most-watched new network series of the 2023-2024 season, it’s also the most-watched network television series altogether. It even snagged an impressive 18 million viewers for its premiere episode, which debuted after the Super Bowl on February 11. After just four episodes into its first season, CBS renewed the well-received show for a Season 2. Tracker isn’t just popular with viewers; critics have also praised the show, earning it a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88 percent.
Tracker is based on a series of novels by Jeffery Deaver. The first book, called The Never Game, came out in 2019. The television show follows the same main character, Colter Shaw, who is portrayed by Justin Hartley. Colter is a survivalist and tracker who helps locate missing people (often with a hefty reward payout attached). He is supported by a team who assist with each case he takes on. There’s Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany), who often find cases for Colter to investigate and do background research for him, Bobby (Eric Graise), who acts as a skilled hacker for Colter, and Reenie (Fiona Rene), an attorney who helps Colter with legal matters (which frequently includes bailing him out of jail). It’s obvious that Colter couldn’t find these missing people without the help of his dedicated team. But the series has made a massive mistake by not spending any time diving into who these characters actually are during Season 1.
‘Tracker’ Should Dig Into the Backstories of All Its Characters
It makes sense that Tracker focuses mainly on Colter’s journey. Each episode needs to consist of a case that Colter must solve using his impressive tracking skills and innate powers of observation. However, by ignoring its side characters, the series ends up feeling formulaic. Velma and Teddi are often only on screen for a few seconds; they’re either quickly telling Colter about a case he should work on, or they’re doing searches on their computers for information Colter requires about specific suspects or persons of interest. Bobby also shows up usually pretty fleetingly, though he did get a little more of a spotlight in Episode 7 when a friend of his disappeared. Overall, he acts as a tech guru for Colter in just a few brief scenes per episode. Reenie has more to do than the other three — she pops in to flirt with Colter, and, so far, has received more storylines where she gets to be featured (including being kidnapped in one episode and getting to work alongside Colter to find missing individuals in a few instances). But the other side characters are treated like their entire purpose is just to serve Colter, which makes them feel bland and under-written.
There are so many questions that could be answered about who the supporting characters are as people. How did they get involved in this field? How did they get connected with Colter in the first place? How do their backgrounds inform the work they’re doing for Colter? For each character, the tasks they’re completing are complex and risky (particularly since they’re digging into people that are often criminals or who are linked to nefarious acts). Plus, the field they’re working in is connected to stories that are dark and offer a view into the twisted side of human behavior. It would be interesting to see how Teddi and Velma specifically got drawn into this work, and how they deal with these types of triggering situations in their day-to-day lives. Without this dive into their backstories, these characters feel wooden and one-dimensional. They say a few lines to Colter, and then exit. With more in-depth histories, Teddi and Velma could feel like they’re truly part of Colter’s team, not just there to add in a few pieces of boring information.
The Talented Cast of ‘Tracker’ Isn’t Being Properly Utilized
The drama was able to bring in some truly great guest-stars in Season 1. Jennifer Morrison (Hartley’s former This Is Us co-star) shows up in the finale episode as a friend from Colter’s past, Melissa Roxburgh (Manifest) appears as Colter’s sister, and Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) joins the show in Episode 12 as Colter’s mysterious brother, Russell. All three of these characters serve to help Colter uncover more of his family’s secrets, as well as to further drive the storyline about what led to his father’s death. But Tracker’s supporting cast is just standing on the sidelines during these episodes. While the show could benefit from adding to the backstories of these characters, there’s also the fact that the actors portraying them are supremely talented and are being severely underused so far in the series.
McEnany wrote and starred in a hilarious two-season comedy called Work in Progress, and Weigert won an Emmy nomination for her astounding portrayal of Calamity Jane in Deadwood. Graise also appeared in nine episodes of Netflix’s fantasy series, Locke and Key. This proves that all three actors can handle much more than what the Tracker writing team is currently allowing them to do. McEnany could add some additional comedic relief to her scenes, while both Weigert and Graise are capable of dialing up the drama with future plotlines. By leaning into the talents of the supporting cast, Tracker could steer away from being a strict procedural that feels predictable at times. If the writing team focuses on placing more of a spotlight on the supporting characters, they would be able to add to the show’s sense of drama and realism. The actors are skillful enough to do so much more than just pick up Colter’s phone calls or do a Google search for him, and allowing them to tap into their gifts with more detailed storylines would also open up many intriguing plots for the series as a whole.
There are lots of possibilities for Tracker to use its supporting cast in a more effective way. And it seems like Hartley agrees. In a recent interview with TV Insider, the actor was asked about the opportunity to see Teddi, Velma, and Bobby in different situations going forward. He mentions that Season 2 will have 22 episodes, where Season 1 just included 13, making it more likely that the series could focus on the supporting cast going forward. He notes, “I think we’ll dive into those characters a little more and see them do more stuff… We’ll see what the writers do.” Because of the cast’s impressive resumes, it’s clear they can take on much more high-stakes stories, and the show could certainly benefit from characters that feel realistic and well-rounded. Tracker will need to retain its level of success if it wants to continue dominating the ratings, and fleshing out the supporting characters is one clear way to do it.
Season 1 of Tracker is now streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S
