Justin Hartley answered a burning question about whether Colter murdered someone ahead of the season 3 premiere of Tracker.
Before the CBS show returned on Sunday, October 19, Hartley, 48, was asked whether his character killed the man who revealed in the season 2 finale that he killed Colter’s dad, Ashton (Lee Tergesen). Hartley told The Hollywood Reporter, “I think it’s safe to assume that [Otto lived].”
The actor went on to hint at scenes that didn’t end up airing.
“I don’t think it made the cut, but we did do a line where he says, ‘It took everything within me not to kill him,’” he noted. “But I think at that point, it would have just been murder. It wasn’t that Mom called Otto and was like, ‘Come over here and kill my husband.’”
Tracker got viewers invested in Justin Hartley‘s Colter and the rest of the Shaw family — but how are the characters related to each other amid multiple cast exits? The hit CBS series, which premiered in February 2024, focuses on fictional survivalist Colter Shaw (Hartley) as he travels the country to help solve various missing […]
Hartley continued: “There’s way more to it. The intention was, ‘Come over and be a mediator. My kids are in danger. We need to get away from this guy.’”
Tracker picked up after Colter connected his father’s mysterious death to a case he was working on in his hometown. In the season 2 finale, Colter met his dad’s former friend, who confirmed he pushed Ashton to his death — after Colter’s mother, Mary (Wendy Crewson), seemingly asked for help.
“That story will be far more complicated than you’re led to believe at the end of the season,” executive producer Elwood Reid exclusively told Us Weekly in May. “His brother Russell [Jensen Ackles] has some of the answers to that question. His sister Dory [Melissa Roxburgh] might have some pieces of that. His childhood friend Lizzy [Jennifer Morrison] might have some pieces of that too.”
The revelation will continue to affect Colter moving forward.
“Going way back to the genesis of the show — and it’s even in the book — is that Colter’s childhood was not what you would call a rosy childhood. He’s got a lot of questions and mysteries surrounding his childhood. For a guy each week that goes out and solves things, he’s someone who hasn’t been able to answer questions about his own life,” Reid continued. “I don’t think anyone thought necessarily that anything having to do with his family and the death of his father would be anything but pretty complicated and dark.”
The Tracker finale revealed who was involved in Colter’s dad’s death, but what does this mean for season 3 — and what other surprises should viewers expect? During the season 2 finale on Sunday, May 11, Colter (Justin Hartley) connected his father’s mysterious death to a case he was working on in his hometown. Colter […]
Reid added: “We’ll pick up that element not as a whole season. But we will be able to see Colter struggle with learning the truth about what happened with his mother and his father and the rest of his family. His siblings have other pieces of that truth. That’s what’s interesting about the show is we’re able to mix the light in the dark all the time.”
Hartley, meanwhile, caused some fans to get concerned after discussing Colter’s mortality.
“I don’t want our audience to forget that this man is mortal, he’s not a superhero. He can die!” the actor told The Hollywood Reporter in April. “The things he is doing are very, very dangerous.”
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.
