Why ‘Tracker’ Producers Don’t Want to Solve Ashton Shaw’s Murder…Yet
Episode 12 of the hit CBS show, Tracker, was one of the most anticipated episodes of the series so far, and it duly delivered. From the onset, we were made acutely aware that the Shaw family was unlike any other. As Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw traveled throughout the country bringing closure to the wounds of others, he carried with him one that had been festering for a long time regarding the murder of his father, Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen). The addition of Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles to play Russell Shaw — Colter’s older brother who is believed to have killed their father — and the reunion of the pair onscreen, helped build up the hype for the show’s most recent episode.
Titled “Off the Books,” the episode showed Russell and Colter reconnecting after many years in an albeit tense fashion. Russell tracks down Colter, seeking his help in tracking down an old Army buddy of his, and despite Colter’s initial hesitance, the pair ultimately set aside their differences and work together. The reunion of Russell and Colter was expected to see the pair iron out their issues and unravel the mystery behind their father’s death. However, Tracker producer Steve Harper, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), revealed that it was a deliberate decision to kick the can down the road. Harper writes:
“In the writers’ room we figured that once Russell showed up they’d have to solve the mystery of Colter’s dad’s murder before there could be another case. But that’s not how it went down. By having Russell give Colter a case (that was important to him) and then having Russell disappear by the end of the ep, the mystery gets left for another day.”
The Shaw family are a mysterious bunch, and that is putting it mildly. The Sierra National Forest became the family’s home after their parents, both professors at Berkeley, decided to move after Ashton faced some challenges. After a horrible night recanted in flashbacks, that sees Ashton struggling with paranoia and ultimately passing away, with his oldest son implicated in his murder, the family becomes deeply fractured with his wife, Mary (Wendy Crewson) the chief protagonist. Harper goes on to note that Mary knows a lot more than she has been letting on, as the episode sort to reveal, adding:
“The one part of the mystery that is solved in this episode is the fact that Russell did NOT kill Ashton Shaw, and that their mom knew that when she sent him away.”
Dory Is Right After All — Russell Didn’t Kill Their Dad
The events in “Off the Books” and Harper’s comments tally perfectly with the suspicions of another member of the Shaw family. The show introduced Melissa Roxburgh as Colter’s younger sister, Dory. In the episode that brought the pair together, Dory made it clear to Colter that she remained in contact with Russell and was intent on setting aside their family drama and history. However, it was equally clear that Dory was convinced that their mother knew a lot more than she was letting on while driving a wedge between her sons.
Speaking on her character’s thoughts regarding her mother, Roxburgh explained, “Dory is pretty smart, and I think that she clocks a lot of what her mother is doing. She knows that there is way more to the story [about Dad] than Mom has let on, for whatever reason. For Dory, trying to have a healthy life at this point means maybe not being close to Mom.”
New episodes of Tracker air on CBS on Sundays. Past episodes are streaming now on Paramount+.
