Justin HartleyColter was involved in a near-death experience in Tracker after viewers expressed concern about the character’s fate.
During the Sunday, Nov. 30, episode of the hit CBS series, Colter met a man desperate to find his daughter after she went missing while working a courier route. Colter was later drawn into a mysterious disappearance linked to a wealthy family.
While investigating the woman’s disappearance, Colter realized his brakes were tampered with while he was behind the wheel. Colter ended up in a car accident while trying to get the car to slow down, which is when the person responsible attacked him. Colter took the lead and subsequently killed the hitman.
The incident comes after Hartley, 48, warned fans that the character could die in the future.
Since Tracker premiered on CBS, Justin Hartley has taken it upon himself to remind viewers that his character Colter Shaw can and will die. Based on the novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, Tracker centers on a survivor named Colter who travels the country helping find missing people (or sometimes dogs) and solving cases. […]
“It’s important to keep raising the stakes. I like being Colter as a hero, meeting people and all that. I also really like seeing him in a suspense thriller and in a dangerous situation,” he said. The Hollywood Reporter in April. “I don’t want our audience to forget that this man is mortal, he’s not a superhero. He can die! The things he’s doing are very, very dangerous.”
based on Jeffery Deaverthe novel the never game, Tracker centers on Colter, who travels the country helping find missing people (or sometimes dogs) and solving cases that others couldn’t or wouldn’t. Hartley, who is also an executive producer, hinted at how far the show will take his character.
“I love that when you watch a show like that and you tune into season 1 and then you tune into the final season, you see the character development and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, they’re playing different roles?’ But then, if you look at it over the years, you experience those things with the characters,” he previously told TV Insider in September 2024. “As competent and confident as Colter is, I don’t believe for a second that he doesn’t have a lot to learn, especially about himself and his family and all that.”
Hartley continued, “Going forward, I think this is how the series will live down a long runway: We’ll continue to develop this character and he’ll get better at what he does. He’s a restless man, and for an audience member, at least the shows that I love to watch, you love to see a character’s growth and we get that.”
Most recently, executive producer Elwood Reid intervened in Colter’s fate, he says Us in October, “Part of the danger is here because he’s not a cop. He’s a guy who sticks his nose in places. The network always says, ‘He can go broke, he can lose a fight, he can get hit in the head and they can pull a gun on him.’ Justin pitched an idea for the Season 3 midseason finale where it doesn’t go well for Colter. That’s what makes it fun: He’s not a superhero.”
Reid noted that Tracker is always looking for ways to surprise viewers.
“When I watch a lot of shows like this, the moment the character becomes fallible or perfect, I stop being interested,” Reid explained. “I like it when characters are flawed, make mistakes, are deadly, can get hurt and make mistakes.”
He continued, “I’m very conscious of not making Colter too perfect. We’re wearing him down, letting him make mistakes, and letting him do the wrong thing. I think that’s what makes writing the character fun, at least for me.”
Tracker It airs on CBS on Sundays at 8 pm ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.