SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “Echo Ridge,” the Season 2 finale of CBS’ “Tracker.”
As a self-described lone wolf survivalist, Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) has used his expert tracking skills to help crack all kinds of mysteries for private citizens and law enforcement across the United States. But for two seasons of the CBS drama “Tracker,” Colter has slowly begun to unravel the decades-long mystery surrounding the death of his own father, Ashton, whose paranoia about government surveillance had forced the rest of their family to live off the grid as survivalists.
While he had long suspected that his estranged older brother, Russell (Jensen Ackles), was responsible for fatally pushing their father off a cliff on a rainy night in the woods, Colter could not shake the feeling that he wasn’t being told the full story. After asking for Colter’s help on a case involving one of his missing Army friends in Season 1, Russell insisted that he wasn’t at fault and that there had been another man in the woods that night who was responsible for Ashton’s death — a theory that their college professor sister, Dory (Melissa Roxburgh), also posited. In the penultimate episode of Season 2, Dory finally delivered a box full of Ashton’s journals research papers which she had received from Lizzy (Jennifer Morrison), an old family friend whose late mother was revealed to be Ashton’s mistress.
Sunday’s season finale saw Colter returning to Echo Ridge, the California town where he grew up, to investigate the disappearance of a diner owner (Brian Keane), who Colter discovered had been murdered after stumbling upon a horrifying child trafficking ring. With the help of his childhood friend Joe Marsh (Drew Powell), Colter is able to stop the victims from being smuggled away from an old farm late one evening — but he has an even more personal reason for going after Carl Murphy (Shane Leydon), the registered sex offender who had presumably killed the diner owner.
During his investigation, Colter stumbled upon Carl’s trailer, which he had used to stash away his victims, and found a carving of wolf with the name “Ashton” scratched on the bottom. While he was held at gun and knifepoint, Carl revealed that he had gotten that figurine from his uncle, Otto Waldron (Alex Fernandez), who had worked as a lineman for the county and helped the Shaws install their wind turbines. In the final scene, after Colter drops by his home unannounced, Otto admits that he had pushed Ashton off that cliff — at the behest of Colter’s mother, Mary (Wendy Crewson).
Courtesy of Colin Bentley/CBS
“I think what’s really cool about it is we still have to answer, ‘Why would she do this?’ — if, in fact, it’s even true. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it is true, because I wouldn’t approve that [otherwise],” Hartley, who also serves as an executive producer, tells Variety. “I think she definitely had something to do with it, and it went down like he said, but we still have to figure out why people do desperate things like that. Was it justified? How could it possibly be justified?”
Below, Hartley breaks down how that cliffhanger will further complicate Colter’s difficult relationship with his family — and explains the secret sauce that has transformed “Tracker” into the most-watched show on network television.
You’ve remarked in recent interviews that the Colter you’re playing now is not the same one we met in the pilot. How do you think the character has evolved in these first two seasons, and what new layers did you find in the playing of the character this time around?
We talk about that a lot, actually. We have this show that has a serialized element to it but is, at its heart, a procedural, and one of the things that’s very important to me is to make it a little bit different than your typical procedural. Not that there’s anything wrong with a typical procedural, but how can ours be a little bit different? I would love this character to evolve. If you watch your classic 1970s procedural, the character never really changes; the character is always the same every single week. I think the audience finds comfort in that, but I thought it would be cool to have our guy evolve.
In other words, by the time he gets to the end of a job, he learns something and takes that into the next time we see him. He’s seen some pretty dark things in the second season, and I think it has made him a little more cautious. He starts to understand a little bit more why people out there might not think that people are as kind as he would think. Before, Colter was like, “I think at the heart of everyone, there’s a nice person.” Not that he’s changed that [mindset] necessarily, but I think he understands more why other people might not think that if they’ve gone through certain things.
In the second season, I was thinking to myself: “He spends a lot of time alone. He doesn’t have a lot of friends. And when he is around people, it’s via phone, voicemail or FaceTime.” So what I’ve done in Season 2 — I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but I thought it would be fun that he talks to himself a little bit, in order not to lose confidence. He’ll say something, and then he’ll agree with himself. I’ll do something where I’ll be like, “Well, this is a blood trail, isn’t it?” And then I’ll go, “…Yep.” He’ll answer himself, because he’s lonely. I don’t know what I’m going to do for Season 3 — maybe I’ll have a tick or something. But I think it’s a cool thing for an audience to watch the show from the beginning and have that payoff, and be like, “Oh, I remember when he learned that,” or “Ever since so-and-so happened, he’ll never do that again,” and just try to keep true to all of that.
Courtesy of Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Is there a particular episode or storyline this season that stands out to you as indicative of that growth in the character?
I think it was Episode 15 when [Colter’s ex and fellow rewardist] Billie [played by Hartley’s real-life wife, Sofia Pernas] comes back and he goes, “Hey, I need you to do me a favor. You owe me one. It’s not a big deal, and you’ll be fine. I just need this information. Just infiltrate this woman’s prison.” Well, she almost gets killed in there. I think that’s one of the first times it’s dawned on him that you can’t just ask people to do things for you that are that dangerous. For a guy who sees and maps things out, and tries to be so cautious and so protective and make sure that, “OK, this is the only outcome that is possible,” and for him to overlook all of those possible pitfalls and all of that danger that he put her in. I mean, that is an eye-opening smack in the face when you go, “Wait a minute, maybe this guy’s being reckless. Maybe he’s flying by the seat of his pants. Maybe he’s not being thoughtful. That was a bridge too far.” So I think he will definitely carry something like that with him. And I think it was Episode 19 when Reenie’s [Fiona Rene] calling him, her phone goes dead, and then he tries to call her back and she doesn’t pick up. He just senses something’s wrong, he gets into a dead sprint, and he just goes after her. Those are things that I will try to build and carry with the character as it goes on and on, hopefully beyond Season 3.
So much of the show’s original premise was built around the mystery of Ashton’s untimely death. What kinds of conversations did you have with the rest of the creative team about this final twist about who was involved in his death?
We knew the mother was involved. But as far as the actual, specific details, the dialogue in the scene and how I was going to get the information, we didn’t really know until [showrunner] Elwood [Reid] came up with it and pitched it. I think what’s really cool about it is we still have to answer, “Why would she do this?” — if, in fact, it’s even true. I’m going to go out on a limb and say it is true, because I wouldn’t approve that [otherwise]. If we come in Season 3 and we realize that guy was just lying and she has nothing to do with it, I think that’s just lame.
So I think she definitely had something to do with it, and it went down like he said, but we still have to figure out why people do desperate things like that. Was it justified? How could it possibly be justified? You have a woman who’s married to someone who’s putting her kids in danger, and she needs to take care of that problem, but I still don’t know how that action is justified, especially given Colter’s code and the rules he lives by. So we have a lot to unpack going into Season 3, but I love how we ended Season 2 because I think it closes up some loops that we’ve left open for a while and for good reason.
Courtesy of Colin Bentley/CBS
Could you give voice to Colter’s internal dialogue in the final minutes of the finale as he arrives at Otto’s front door and then holds him at gunpoint?
I don’t think he’s going there to get that particular information. I think he’s hopeful that this guy has something to give him. Colter is a dog with a bone, and he will chase, chase, chase, and he’ll follow any lead he can. He has that carving, so he is hopeful that this guy might know more. And when he gets there, I mean, boy did he ever! But here’s a guy who thinks his mother is a liar, who thinks his mother is lying to him. I guess you can lie to someone without being a liar, but he thinks his mother is lying to him about something. She’s withholding information, and maybe this guy has something that will shed some light on what happened because this haunts him. And if you can figure out the answers to what’s haunting you, sometimes you can find peace in that. But I think what he finds out is not at all what he was expecting.
Otto has now implicated Mary in Ashton’s death. How would you characterize the existing relationship that Colter has with his mother, and how do you think the reveal of that dark family secret will throw that relationship into further disarray?
For years, he was convinced that his brother was involved. He’d looked up and seen him where his father had fallen from. He’d filled in the parts that he didn’t see, and what that looked like in his brain was that his brother must have pushed him over. He stopped talking to his brother and shared that information with his mom, and his mom just said nothing about it. She let him believe that, knowing that it’s not true. Now, we know that she knew. It’s one thing to go, “Man, I can’t believe that my son thinks that my other son killed their father. I mean, I wasn’t there, but I seriously don’t think that’s true.” And it’s another thing to go, “I’m going to let him believe that, even though I know it’s not true.” That’s fucked up! But that’s what she did.
And now, to find out that she was involved and perhaps even put a hit out on him on top of that — look, I’m going to leave that to Elwood, and he can deal with that because he’s created this mess, so he’s got to mop it up, right? I’m kidding. I love where the story is going, and I love how twisty it’s becoming.
Elwood will continue to unravel the messy, dysfunctional family storyline in collaboration with the rest of the team, but as an executive producer who developed this project from the ground up, how involved are you in the direction of the story? Is there anything you’d like to do with the character?
I love the idea — and we haven’t seen it yet — of Colter getting a typical job [gone wrong]. He gets a phone call from whatever, there’s a reward, and he goes in and finds out a little bit too late that this whole thing is a setup, and someone is trying to pin this murder on him. This is a bad version of it, but now he’s got his prints on everything, and it looks like he did it, so now he’s on the run. I like that idea, sort of like a fugitive theme. I don’t know how long that could go on, but that could go on for several episodes. Then, while he’s on the run, he’s trying to evade the authorities, and he’s also trying to figure out who’s responsible for the murder. I really, really like that idea. I have a bunch of pitches that I have given the room, and I have a few more that I still have to give the room that I think are compelling, and hopefully people agree.
The procedural format is versatile but can also feel constraining, but for two years in a row, “Tracker” has been the No. 1 show on network television. To what do you credit the overwhelming success of the show? How exactly have you and your creative team been able to break through in such an overcrowded genre?
It’s a great question, and I think it’s changed a little bit. Initially, we got really lucky. We have a studio and a network that really believed in us. They gave us all the tools, and they gave us all the opportunity with the advertising and post-Super Bowl [premiere slot]. After that, you just have to prove yourself, because obviously you’re going to have a big audience after the Super Bowl, but then you have to have a really good show. Otherwise, people are not going to return over and over and over again. People are busy! We try to come up with really compelling stories that people haven’t seen before, and we try to put this guy in believable situations that are quite harrowing at the same time.
One of the things that we do is, for instance — gosh, without getting too specific, and I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, but I’m not a huge fan of these shows [where] the music kicks in before anything happens, and you’re sort of telling me how to feel, you know what I mean? I always give this example: It’s like Colter hasn’t even picked up his [ringing] phone yet, and the music’s already going. It could be his girlfriend. It could be Amazon. We don’t know. Why do we have this music? Why are you telling me how to feel? Sometimes, I think you can get rid of all of that and just have a scene that’s dry with two actors talking. So I guess we try to push the boundaries that way, and the studio and the network are receptive to all of that.
We’re also very aware and respectful of the fact that we have an audience that finds comfort in the formula that we have, so we’re not going to go off the rails into a musical or anything like that, but we just try to make the best show that we can every week. My goal is to make every single episode better than the last.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
