The year 2024 has been nerve-wracking for television fans. No shows are safe, and many reigning champs are seeing the end of their careers.
Did any of us really expect to see long-running success shows like Station 19 or Blue Bloods end?
But they are ending as networks try to tighten their production budgets. That means saying goodbye to some of our favorites to make room for the new and improved.
It can be tricky to get attached to a freshman season of any show. You can get attached to the characters, only to find out it was for naught when the season doesn’t succeed.
Thankfully, that’s not the case with Justin Hartley’s new series, Tracker.
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Fans instantly loved the procedural suspense drama for its ten-episode freshman season.
We recently learned that a second season of Tracker is in the works. Now, we’re wondering which characters will return next season.
Returning Cast Members
A show is only as successful as its cast, so it’s crucial that you pick the right people to star in a series.
If you get even one character wrong, it could spell disaster for the entire show. No one wants the legacy of a one-season series.
Justin Hartley is a fan favorite, no matter what character he plays. So, he made the perfect pick for Tracker’s lead character. But supporting characters matter just as much as the lead.
Without the right dynamic, your plot is dead in the water. Luckily, the magic isn’t limited to Hartley for Tracker’s success.
He’s got a powerhouse crew of actors to flesh out the intriguing cases Colter solves each episode.
Related: Tracker Season 1 Report Card: Best Moments & Missed Opportunities
Here are the cast members and their characters you can expect to see coming back for Tracker Season 2.
Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley)
Justin Hartley plays the role of the head character Colter Shaw, a survivalist expert tracker who makes a living helping people find what they’ve lost — people and items.
He has quite a crew helping him with his cases and trying to keep him in check as he falls down the dark path of his father’s death decades later.
Fans fell in love with Shaw’s closed-off robotisms, contradicting his heart of gold and impressive tracking skills.
His genius at deductions and MacGuyver problem-solving dazzled fans for the first season, giving a fresh touch to the tedious lineup of spinoff franchises.
Before Hartley portrayed the aloof tracker, fans enjoyed him as the voice of Batman on Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind.
He also starred in long-term roles on This is Us, The Young and the Restless, Mistresses, Passions, and The Green Arrow in Smallville.
Teddi Bruin (Robin Weigert)
Robin Weigert plays one-half of Colter’s handler duo, helping pick cases and doing research to assist in solving them.
She and Velma act as Colter’s voice of reason, talking him out of bad ideas and supporting him when he experiences random emotions.
Related: Robin Weigert: Tracker Star Was a TV Legend Before CBS’ Newest Hit
We see Colter share more feelings and emotional connection to Teddi and Velma than the rest of the world.
Seeing those chips in his armor made fans adore Colter even more.
Before Tracker, we saw her in TV series like Chicago P.D., We Were the Lucky Ones, Castle Rock, American Horror Story, Big Little Lies, Sons of Anarchy, Hawthorne, Life, and Deadwood.
Velma Bruin (Abby McEnany)
Abby McEnany makes up the other part of Colter’s support duo. Their love is one for the ages, hopefully inspiring Shaw to explore something more with his chemistry partner.
Like Teddi, Velma helps Colter with his investigative cases. Her keen research skills and smarts make her the perfect complement to Colter’s more detailed, action-oriented self.
Before joining the Tracker cast, McEnany had less acting work than others, largely due to leaving acting to work for a financial services firm.
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She started with Second City before taking a break. She returned to appear in films like Roomies, Just Like That, and Work in Progress.
Bobby Exley (Eric Graise)
Despite rarely being around each other, Bobby is the closest thing Colter has as a best friend.
He’s the team geek and Colter’s right hand when he needs juicy online deets. If someone has a secret, Bobby is sure to find it.
Fans love his loyalty to Colter and his amazing optimism for life, not to mention his genius nerdiness that often saves Colter’s butt.
Eric has shared his talents with several shows on the big and small screen over the years. But most of his earlier work is unknown.
You’ve likely seen him on Step Up High Water, Locke & Key, Queer as Folk, Teenage Bounty Hunters, and a few uncredited roles in The Walking Dead.
Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson)
Mary Dove Shaw is the misleading and secretive mother to Colter and Russel. She’s spent Russel’s entire childhood telling him not to ask questions about his father’s death.
She even went so far as to let him believe his older brother was who killed him. Not really good mother material.
So, it’s no surprise that she and Colter have a strained relationship. This helps us understand his behavior a bit more.
Hard to feel close to a family if you never really were much of one.
Wendy Crewson found plenty of success before grabbing the supporting role on Tracker.
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Over the years, she’s racked up over 100 credits in film and television in the US and Canada.
Some of her notable roles include Good Sam, When Hope Calls, Saving Hope, Revenge, 24, The Doctor, Air Force One, and The Santa Claus.
Reenie Greene (Fiona Rene)
Reenie is Colter’s guardian angel, appearing in several episodes throughout Tracker’s freshman season to save him from a jail cell.
Her law degree is only part of what Colter likes about her. They have a past we don’t know all the secrets to yet, promising more hidden gems to come out in the show’s sophomore season.
So far, we know they had one passionate sexual encounter before Colter took off the next day to take a job.
And yet Reenie is always ready to jump to action any time Colter needs her help.
She quit her corporate law office job at the end of Tracker Season 1. So we wouldn’t be surprised to see her go on the road with Colter to assist with some cases in the upcoming second season.
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Reenie’s charisma outshines Colter’s more closed-off persona, adding a flair of sarcasm, wit, and fashion to the team.
Rene has also shared her talents with series like The Lincoln Lawyer, Rebecca from Fire Country, I Know What You Did Last Summer, SWAT, NCIS: Hawai’i, and Stumptown.
Russel Shaw (Jensen Ackles)
The actor playing the older Shaw brother needs no introduction. Fans have swooned over his charming smile and bad-boy sexuality for decades.
Fans leaped for joy when they found out Jensen Ackles would be taking the role of Colter’s older brother.
The dynamic worked better than we could have predicted, with their chemistry being the season’s highlight.
Russel’s smooth-talking ways charmed everyone except the snarky Reenie. He helped Colter answer questions about their past and raise just as many more.
It will be great seeing Ackles and Hartley pair up again during the sophomore season.
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But there is no word on how many appearances he will make during the show’s upcoming filming schedule.
In the meantime, Ackles is Soldier Boy in The Boys and has appeared in shows such as Smallville, Big Sky, Dawson’s Creek, and Days of Our Lives.
Lizzy Hawking (Jennifer Morrison)
In the Tracker Season 1 Episode 13 finale, we met Lizzy Hawking, a family friend with surprising information on Father Colter.
Hartley’s This is Us co-star appeared as Hawking, a mother on the hunt for her missing daughter.
After a successful mission, we finally saw Colture agree to spend time with someone after a case.
While having dinner and catching up, Lizzy handed Shaw a folder on his father and a story from their past that could change their future.
It will be interesting to see where they take the story in the next season. We expect Morrison to return in at least one episode in the second season.
Related: John Brotherton Talks 9-1-1 Role As Tim Nash & Bobby’s Relationship With His Father
Billie Matalon (Sofia Pernas)
Hartley will spend some quality time with his real-life wife, Sofia Pernas, on the set of Tracker as she reprises her role as Billie Matalon.
Billie is Shaw’s rival, competing with him for jobs with a hefty price. While we only saw her once, it was enough to know there is plenty beneath the surface to work out with Colter in the coming seasons.
On the screen, we may see Billie become a potential love interest for Colter. It would be interesting to see his aloof mannerisms navigate a romance.
When Sofia isn’t playing her husband’s rival, she’s appeared in some of our favorite series, like NCIS, Quantum Leap, Blood & Treasure, The Brave, Jane the Virgin, and The Young and the Restless.
Over to you, Fanatics! What did you think of Hartley’s new role as Colter Shaw? Are you a fan following him from This is Us?
Or do you have a thing for him as the Green Arrow like us? He’s no Stephen Amell, but we loved him just as much!
Leave your comments on this exciting series’ return.
And tell us which show you are most excited to see coming back this fall!
Sara Trimble is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow her on X.