Tracker season 2 announced a new casting for a love interest for Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw and I have to admit, it leaves me really confused as to how the show will pull it off. Tracker season 1 was a huge ratings hit for CBS, its most successful original show in years. Hartley has been great in the lead role, alongside Tracker’s great cast of supporting characters, including Eric Graise as hacker Bobby Exley, Fiona Rene as lawyer Reenie Green, Abby McEnany and Robin Weigert as handlers Velma and Teddi Bruin, Jensen Ackles as brother Russell Shaw, and others. Thanks to their dynamic, I’m really looking forward to seeing where Tracker season 2 goes.
Unfortunately, Tracker season 2 is already losing Teddi Bruin, with Weigert disappointingly exiting the show. But Tracker season 2’s story will introduce new cast members, and I have some concerns that not all of them will add to the narrative in a way that is necessary or natural. Specifically, Tracker seems determined to give Colter Shaw a love interest, despite him not needing one. That’s been confirmed by a recent bit of casting news, which does not give me confidence the show won’t keep trying to force a romantic entanglement.
Tracker Season 2 Casts A New Love Interest For Colter Shaw
Supergirl Star Floriana Lima Has Been Cast As A Flame From The Past
A casting announcement for Tracker season 2 reveals Floriana Lima has been cast as Camille Picket. Plenty of actors made guest appearances in Tracker season 1 and season 2 will be more of the same. Lima’s casting wouldn’t have been a big deal, except for the fact that she is, apparently, a huge part of Colter’s life, having been his on-again, off-again girlfriend for the past decade. As the official synopsis reads
“Haunted, attractive… Camille has been Colter’s off-and-on lover for at least the past 10 years. Camille’s sister went missing 10 years ago and her case was never solved — which brings up some trauma for both Camille and Colter on every anniversary of her disappearance, but also causes them to reconnect, at least for an evening.”
This is more than a little jarring, considering that her name never once came up in Tracker season 1, and I would have expected that her name would have at least been mentioned or their time been referenced, even if she wasn’t cast yet. It’s a reveal that comes out of left field and feels not only incongruous to the character of Colter Shaw, but also to the story. To me, it reads like the writers decided that Colter needed romantic drama, and thus, a significant lover from the past was created to check off an unnecessary box rather than to fulfill an organic narrative need.
Justin Hartley Says It’s Difficult For Colter To Have A Girlfriend In Tracker
Colter’s Personality And Lifestyle Aren’t Relationship Material
Floriana Lima’s Camille re-entering the picture doesn’t necessarily have to mean a romantic angle for Colter, but, let’s be honest: network procedurals are procedurals for a reason. Their formulaic choices are why we watch them as comfort shows, but they’re still formulaic. It would be quite a surprise if Tracker introduced a serious lover from Colter’s past life and had that thread go nowhere, romantically. If Colter and Camille were to reignite their romance, however, it would certainly end again, because Colter Shaw’s nomadic life just does not lend itself to a stable relationship.
What’s more, while Colter has shown some character growth in Tracker season 1, I don’t see how he’s ready for a relationship as a person. He has a lot of great qualities to admire, but none of them lend themselves to being a good partner or boyfriend. Even Justin Hartley said as much about a romance for Colter at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con during the show’s panel:
“I think all of the things about him that are heroic and brave become reckless and selfish. It’s like, I’m going to leave my house and go through all this stuff and put myself in danger and you’re back here worried about me. I just don’t think that’s a good look.”
Hartley is right. He might look great in a tight t-shirt and he might be a heck of a tracker, but let’s be frank: Colter is not relationship material. Considering that his lone-wolf personality and the trauma of his past were both established as key character-shaping traits, his readiness for a relationship doesn’t appear to be something that will happen any time soon. Even if he were emotionally ready, the nomadic nature of his job would make it awfully hard for him to hold down a relationship. Most people aren’t built for long-distance relationships, much less when one of the partners is constantly on the move.
Right now, it’s not clear in what way Colter and Camille are still attached. As the character synopsis says, they still come together for one night a year on the anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, but is that one night considered the “on” part of their relationship, ephemeral as it may be? Does it mean she’ll only be in a one-off episode, or will she stick around? It’s not clear, but I also don’t think it’s something the show needs at this point in time.
Tracker Season 2 Doesn’t Need A Love Interest For Colter Shaw
He Has More Than Enough For Character Development Without A Romantic Entanglement
Considering the will-they/won’t-they dynamic of Tracker thus far has been between Colter and Reenie, throwing a longtime lover into the mix seems really unnecessary. Colter only just, at the end of Tracker season 1, started to express his appreciation for his closest allies; at this point, I’m not sure I’d even call them his friends, because he keeps them all at arm’s length. The existing relationships are the ones I want to see him develop first: Bobby, Velma, and Reenie on his team, and deepening and repairing the relationships between his brother, Russell, and childhood friend, Lizzy. Colter Shaw is one of the few network TV characters who doesn’t need a love interest to grow in an interesting way.
Beyond those platonic relationships, another former romantic interest/partner was already introduced in Tracker season 1: Billie. Sofia Pernas’ bounty hunter and former business partner of Colter was a great addition to the show, albeit for one episode, as she was arguably the only character who could outsmart Colter and get under his skin. Their dynamic was great, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering Parnas and Harley are married in real life. I’d much rather Billie return to be a fun thorn in Colter’s side than an old, haunted lover. Besides, she already understands the life, living it herself.
Tracker season 2’s story already has more than enough character development potential for Colter without throwing an old romance into the mix. And that’s setting aside how awkward it will be considering Camille was never mentioned in the first season despite being such an important person to him. It’s too much, too soon, so I hope that Camille’s time on the show, like other Tracker characters, will be contained to a one-episode story.
