How Justin Hartley Personally Cast Jensen Ackles as His Brother on ‘Tracker’: ‘I Was Half Joking’
It all started when the ‘Supernatural’ alum texted him about his ‘ugly mug.’
Get ready to follow the trail again because Tracker is back.
After a five-month hiatus, Justin Hartley returns as Colter Shaw in the action-packed third season of CBS’s breakout hit, premiering Sunday, October 19, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.
For those keeping score (and clues), Season 3 will also be available for streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. and JioHotstar for viewers in India.
Ahead of the premiere, Hartley visited CBS Mornings to chat with Gayle King, Nate Burleson and Vladimir Duthiers about the highly anticipated season.
Familiar Faces Return to ‘Tracker’ Season 3
One of the biggest returns this season is Jensen Ackles as Colter’s brother, Russell Shaw. As Hartley told the morning show, the casting of Ackles seemed to be a happy accident.
“When the show was starting out, they would put all these ads on during football to try to get people [to watch Tracker],” Hartley explained.
According to the This Is Us alum, his longtime friend, Ackles, jokingly sent him a text that said, “Will you get your ugly mug off my TV? I’m trying to watch football and you keep popping up.”
“I sent him a text back, I said, ‘You should come play my brother,’” Hartley recalled. “I was half joking but I was also, like, serious. And he goes, ‘When and where?’”
That moment gave a glimpse at their future on-screen dynamic and ended up being the start of a new chapter. “I called everybody else and I was like, I think I got the brother, I think I know exactly who it should be. And everyone was like, ‘Of course it’s him,’” he shared.
“He didn’t mind seeing your ugly mug anymore,” King teased, as Hartley exclaimed, “No,” adding that “it became worth it.”
“I think it’s fun to see what’s going to happen with the two of you,” she added of the brotherly bond being “key” to the storyline.
As fans know, Tracker isn’t just about witty banter and brawls.
The show’s emotional gravity comes from its fractured family core — including Colter’s mother, Mary Dove Shaw (played by Wendy Crewson). Also returning to the fold are Fiona Rene as attorney Reenie Greene and Chris Lee as Randy, who stepped up after the departures of Abby McEnany’s Velma and Eric Graise’s Bobby Exley.
Hartley Believes The Best Is Yet to Come
While it sometimes takes a show a bit to find its groove, Tracker became an immediate hit for CBS. Now, Hartley is teasing that, in his personal opinion, “this is the best season yet.”
As a producer, he notes that he “wouldn’t just say that” if he didn’t truly believe it, going on to explain why he thinks that.
“Now, we’re dialed in,” revealing that there are 22 episodes this year, along with “two-part episodes,” allowing them to “dive deeper into the storylines” and characters.
“It’s really great,” he teases, giving some insight into the first episode, which reunites Colter and Russell as they get involved in a dangerous situation and share an “eight-minute, heartfelt, really emotional scene” in the airstream.
A Darker Mystery Ahead—That’s Personal
Adapted from Jeffery Deaver’s The Never Game, Tracker follows Colter, a survivalist-turned-investigator who roams the country solving missing persons cases while chasing down the ghosts of his own past. Season 3 reportedly dives further into that personal history.
After last season’s finale revealed new details about Colter’s father’s death — including his mother’s possible connection — the new episodes promise a deeper emotional reckoning.
CBS’s official synopsis teases: “As Colter grapples with the shocking truth surrounding his father’s death, Russell joins forces with his brother to help track down the missing wife and daughter of one of Reenie’s clients. Their reunion finds them mixed up in a chain of events involving a sinister underground operation known as ‘The Process.’”
So yeah — it’s personal.
The Tracker Season 3 premiere airs October 19 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
