Tracker
Tracker Season 3 Episode 2 Review – Colter and Russell Find Leverage Against The Process
Tracker Season 3 Episode 2, titled ‘Leverage,’ gave us a continuation of the storyline introduced in the premiere episode.
It’s one of the best cases of the series, which is a huge feat considering the Justin Hartley-led series gave us plenty to work with for two season, becoming one of the most-watched shows on primetime television, but the idea of shaking the formula up and adding in a two-part episode to deepen the mystery was also executed perfectly and gave the plot and characters more layers.
As the Shaw brothers continued on their hunt against whoever is running the sinister organization known as “The Process,” every twist, turn, and development kept audiences on their toes and on the edge of their seats.
The case was resolved by the end, sending Jensen Ackles’ Russell Shaw packing (and hopefully, returning sooner than later because the brotherly dynamic is proving a necessity for the series), but he seems forever a changed man thanks to the work he put in with his brother, revealing that he may set out on his own to help people in the same way Colter does. At that point, why not unite forces for the greater good? (The great good being us, the fans!)
They always say it’s about the journey, not the destination, and that couldn’t be more true for the case involving “The Process.”
When Colter and Russell finally confronted the duo running the show, with former psych grad student Don Schneider the ultimate brains behind the operation, it felt a little lackluster. Sure, Don was unhinged and on a bit of a sadistic power trip, but in the grand scheme of things, it was kind of a “meh” reveal, though that isn’t a bad thing considering the meat of the story was the hunt for the suspect.
And naturally, while they were hunting the entity behind “The Process,” they were also being hunted by “The Process.”
Any normal person pulled into something this sinister would crumble under the pressure, but Russell and Colter didn’t seem phased at all, even though this was arguably the most dangerous case they’ve ever dealt with. When Russell realized he and Reenie were being followed, he didn’t even flinch. Instead, the man, who revealed he was “trained for this,” hit the gas and essentially ran the driver off the road through a test of willpower, which later allowed them to fool “The Process” by faking Russell’s death, getting them more insight into the next victims on the entity’s radar. While Russell was working directly with the victims, Colter was following a different lead from Lisa, finishing the job he had interrupted when he questioned her and breaking into the suite to find the briefcase that held leverage against Raymond Ockmann.
“Leverage”. Pictured: Jensen Ackles as Russell Shaw. Photo: Darko Sikman/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Randy (who has truly been working overtime for Colter) was able to trace the briefcases to Dr. Hannah Tate, a retired psychology professor, who definitely knew quite a bit about “The Process,” since she started it as an experiment before shutting it down when it went off the rails. She was able to identify the students who had a power intoxication due to the cruelty. She actually confessed, “I think I created a monster,” which is true, but coming clean, which led Colter to Don’s lair, where he didn’t give in to any of Don’s manipulation tactics, even when he tried to leverage Colter’s own family against him.
Colter wasn’t interested in playing the game. In fact, he immediately identified the game and wasn’t phased by anything Don said to get under his skin, which stripped him of any power and leverage. And once Don was no longer a threat, Colter and Russell did “the impossible” and shut down “The Process,” which Don previously described as “self-sustaining” with an algorithm that strategically and automatically picked targets by selecting flawed subjects who weren’t likely to call the police. While impressive, and likely why Tate wanted to study it in the first place, in the wrong hands, as seen, it was easily abused and destructive.
“The Process” did its fair share of damage, with many victims being claimed across the two-part episode, including Kurt (who may have been running a crypto scheme but died protecting Lisa’s daughter, Hailey, from the kidnapper Ockmann), Ockmann, whose prison suicide was faked by the security guard who took him out, and Ockmann’s sister, a true victim on every sense of the word, who was killed when Ockmann failed to complete his mission.
As for Colter and Russell, they ended things by going to get beer and burgers, because how else do you celebrate bringing down a deadly operation by shooting your gun at the computers and drives?
They also established that they still need to dig into the mystery of the phone number in their father Ashton’s journal, with Colter expressing that, unlike Russell, who shakes things off, he still needed time to deal with their mother’s lies. Naturally, this will bubble up further in the season, but for now, at least we know that Colter and Russell’s relationship has been remedied.
And when I champion for Russell to become a permanent character on the series, it’s because the progression from guest star to main cast member is natural. Look at how well he works with Randy and Reenie! Randy and Russell were both in awe meeting each other because they are “legends,” while Reenie may pretend she’s annoyed with Russell most of the time, but she does find him endearing… at least she will again as soon as he fixes the damage to her car.
Tracker Season 3 kicked off with a multi-episode arc that was one of its strongest to date, giving us plenty to dig into when it comes to character development and character interactions that are further building upon the dream team. When Hartley said he believes this is the best season yet, he wasn’t lying! Keep it up Tracker!
Tracker has gone to some dark places before, but human smuggling may be the darkest storyline yet.
Kicking off Season 4 with Colter single-handedly taking on Russian organized crime is a bold move, immediately raising the stakes and signaling that the series isn’t holding back or messing around. And it’s pushing Colter into even more dangerous territory, forcing us to suspend disbelief a bit.
At this rate, he needs a full-blown tactical team at the ready, though, as always, Colter proves he’s more than capable on his own.
His near-perfect aim also remains intact… and we’ll let the show have that one so he can remain the hero we all need each week. The world is bleak, so we need a good guy to root for!
In the Season 4 premiere titled“Safe Harbor,” Colter takes on a case involving a missing father of two, with the man’s son, Charlie, who reaches out after finding his information on Reddit.
Charlie claims his brother is missing, but Colter quickly catches on to the truth—fearing DCFS would separate him and his sibling, Charlie lied to get help.
Colter agrees to take the case anyway, understandably, as he understands the hardships single parents face.
He also recognizes the emotional weight Charlie is carrying, as he knows what it’s like to have to step up after losing a parent to be there for your siblings.
Colter’s investigation leads him to a connection between Shawn and a woman named Stephanie, who works at the port.
Shawn recently purchased a gun to protect her, so it’s obvious they’re wrapped up in something dangerous.
Things escalate quickly when Randy tracks their last location to a crime scene with a male’s dead body. Thankfully, the victim isn’t Shawn but rather Stephanie’s ex, Brent.
Still, this is no romantic dispute gone wrong—it runs much deeper.
“Safe Harbor” — Coverage of the CBS Original Series Tracker, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Pictured: Derek Phillips as Sean Wooledge, Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, Hiram Murray as Security Guard, Photo: Tyler Golden/CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Using his charm, Colter secures surveillance footage from a nearby gas station, revealing that both Stephanie and Shawn were taken following the tussle at the house. A partial license plate gives him just enough to track the couple down before it’s too late.
Shawn gives Colter a brief breakdown of the situation—Stephanie’s ex worked for dangerous people and had been pressuring her to make a container disappear, something she refused to do.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck case, as
Reenie digs into the ex’s background and discovers he was tied to a federal investigation.
The people Brent was involved with? The Russians. And what were they trafficking in that container? People, not good.
Even in the face of that danger, Colter doesn’t hesitate, risking everything to save Stephanie—and everyone trapped inside the containers.
Thankfully, he succeeds, bringing Shawn home safely to his children, who had already lost too much.
Some of the most compelling Tracker moments come when Colter takes cases that aren’t about the paycheck, this being one of them.
He knew Charlie couldn’t afford it, but he saw himself in him, even praising him for showing good judgment and instinct, doing exactly what he would’ve done.
Charlie feels like a future Colter 2.0—and without that instinct, the case would have ended very differently, as Colter found Shawn and Stephanie just in time.
As far as season premieres go, this was a solid hour, smoothly dropping viewers right back into Colter’s world without missing a beat.
Colter remains a lone wolf, for now, while relying on his network for intel, though hopefully that won’t be the case all season—especially with hints that he may be getting a more permanent love interest.
Reenie is also eyeing a new office space, a subtle way of addressing the show’s shift to filming in California instead of British Columbia.
The premiere also sets up a new (or rather, old) connection for Reenie. Maxine reveals that Adam—someone who remembers her from their school days—is interested now that she’s single.
Reenie may not be smitten with Adam just yet, but fans of The Vampire Diaries surely are, as Adam is played by Michael Malarkey (TVD’s Enzo), who is described as “disarmingly handsome,” (again, we know), intelligent, and sophisticated—with just enough of a bad-boy edge. He works as a private investigator for high-end law firms.
Could this finally be the answer to Reenie’s love life? Let’s be honest—her track record hasn’t exactly been great.
Tracker fans, it’s almost that time again!
The fourth season of Tracker is upon us, and Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw is in fighting shape in the first look released on CBS today.
Returning on Sunday, October. 4, 2026, the series doesn’t miss a beat, jumping right into the action as Shaw—and his biceps (they did not take a summer hiatus!)—return to find people and save the day.
“Randy, you got something for me?” Shaw asks his go-to right-hand man, who informs him that there’s a case of a missing single dad “who left home last night and never came back.”
In another scene, a woman asks Shaw to “please find” her daughter, as he promises, “I’ll do everything I can.” And we know he means business, as he’s seen climbing cliffs, dodging boulders thrown his way, and throwing some mean punches. I’d hate to be the guy on the receiving end.
The promo also gives fans a look at the new scenery following the show’s shake-up, relocating from Vancouver to Los Angeles. You may not be able to tell at first glance, but the tone is warmer and sunnier. Is that a tan we’re seeing?
Hartley previously revealed to The Wrap in May that he didn’t think the background change would be a big deal, as the show’s setting changes weekly as he travels the U.S., taking him wherever his cases are.
Not much is known about the direction of Tracker Season 4, for now, but the first episode, titled “Safe Harbor,” embraces the L.A. backdrop right off the bat, as the season premiere takes him to “a dangerous criminal operation at the Port of Los Angeles.”
As for what fans can expect, we know Chris Lee is coming back as Randy, with Fiona Rene returning as Reenie.
And yes, Russell Shaw, played by Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles, has also confirmed his return in a guest-star capacity, which is reassuring considering Russell took a dangerous job to keep his brother safe in the season 3 finale.
“What he brings to the show is pretty extraordinary. He’s really talented and extremely ugly. It’s really hard to look at,” Hartley quipped during the Televerse 26, adding, “But other than the looks, he has this incredible work ethic and charm and charisma and talent and all of that. Wonderful, and everybody knows that.”
Fans have loved seeing Hartley and Ackles bring the Shaw brothers to life on screen, so whenever Russell returns, we’ll hopefully get insight into what it is he found out about what his father was doing to Colter when he was a child.
Again, Tracker returns Oct. 4, 2026—watch the promo below:
Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw may be the lead on Tracker, but the best character on the series is his brother, Russell Shaw, played by guest star Jensen Ackles.
With Tracker Season 4 on the horizon, fans are wondering whether Ackles will return this season, and the actor just revealed what he knows about his character’s fate.
Turns out, they’ve been keeping the Supernatural alum in the dark. And despite the season already in production, Ackles hasn’t gotten the comeback call… at least, not yet.
“I dip in and out of the show, Tracker. Just started its fourth season, so, I’m waiting for the phone call,” he reportedly said during Creation Toronto 2026, according to Robyn Phillips’s YouTube.
Obviously, that’s not a no, and it seems as though Ackles is confident that the phone call will come when it’s time to reconnect with Russell and his storyline.
Fans may remember that Russell’s absence isn’t going to be too suspicious to Colter, as his brother typically peels off until his presence is needed again.
And in the Tracker Season 3 finale, Russell learns a shocking secret about something his father, Ashton Shaw, may have done to Colter as a child (apparently, that Colter doesn’t even know about), which stops him from killing the man in charge of the Chrono Stasis project. Instead, he makes a secret deal, accepting a dangerous assignment from the leader to protect his brother, telling Reenie to make sure Colter doesn’t come looking for him.
Naturally, this buys Russell some time, but ensures that we’ll see him again down the line once he wraps up his mission and returns to help his brother out with whatever case he may need.
And the fact that a major change is coming to Tracker Season 4 also means that it may be easier for Ackles to guest-star on the series more frequently, as the storyline allows, considering production is moving from Canada to Los Angeles.
Hartley is still the star of the show, but there’s no denying that the brotherly dynamic elevates the entertainment factor. The stakes are higher when the two of them have to navigate working together.
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