What to Know About Season 2 of Justin Hartley’s Hit Show ‘Tracker’: Sofia Pernas’ Return and More
Fans of Justin Hartley's hit CBS series Tracker don't have to wait too long for a second season.
The procedural, which is based on Jeffery Deaver's novel The Never Game, premiered in February after Super Bowl LVIII and immediately found its audience. Viewers were settling in every week to see their favorite fictional survivalist a.k.a Colter (Hartley) travel the country to help solve missing person cases, track down information on criminal cases and so much more.
Tracker initially appealed to fans because of the show's lead and the wide variety of mysteries Colter got to solve. Season 1 only got more intriguing as guest stars such as Hartley’s real-life wife, Sofia Pernas, Melissa Roxburgh and Jensen Ackles made appearances on screen. Hartley even got to reunite with not one — but two! — of his former costars from This Is Us: Jon Huertas and Jennifer Morrison.
After the show's first season finale, viewership numbers confirmed that Tracker was the most watched series from the 2023-24 TV season. This didn't come as a surprise for CBS though since they already renewed Tracker for a second season.
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Keep scrolling for everything to know about season 2 of Tracker:
When Is 'Tracker' Returning to CBS for Season 2?
The first season of the show featured 13 episodes and wrapped up by May 2024. After the finale, the network confirmed Tracker would be back for the 2024-2025 season. Season 2, which will have 22 episodes, is scheduled to premiere on October 13, 2024.
Who Is Coming Back?
Hartley is, of course, expected to return as Colter, who has relied on several people including Teddi (Robin Weigert), Velma (Abby McEnany), Bobby (Eric Graise) and Reenie (Fiona Rene) to help solve his cases. Weigert, however, exited the show ahead of the second season. The show's star — who is also an executive producer on the project — has confirmed that Ackles is coming back as Colter's brother, Russell, while Roxburgh will reprise the role of Colter's sister, Dory.
The season 1 finale introduced Colter's childhood friend Lizzy (Morrison), which opened the door for more appearances from Morrison in the future. Viewers can also expect more flashback scenes centered around the Shaw family since Colter has only started digging into his late father's past.
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How Often Will Sofia Pernas Appear on the Show?
Pernas left a lasting impression after appearing in just one episode as Colter’s rival Billie. Luckily, Hartley has made it clear that Pernas is set to return even more from here.
"She’s definitely coming back. We have some pretty cool stuff for her to do next year," Hartley told Deadline in May 2024. "She’ll be back several times next year.We built this really great group of actors [who are] hopefully more than willing to come back, because we’d love to play more with them. We have a bunch of stories to tell with all [of them]."
Hartley later discussed his excitement about working with Pernas, telling Us in July 2024, “She's wonderful. I mean, if I had my choice, I’d spend every minute with her. ... She elevates scenes, and so it makes my job easier, actually. But yeah, it's just wonderful to work with her.”
The actor also weighed in on the dynamic between Colter and Billie. "There's a little bit of bad blood, but it's also like, ‘Are they gonna mend things? Are they not? You know, can you trust her? I don't know if you can,’" Hartley continued. "I mean, she hasn't proven that you can trust her, that Colter can trust her. So we'll see how that evolves. It's just a lot of, you know, a lot of room to work with that relationship.”
That same month, Hartley told The Hollywood Reporter that his favorite episode from season 1 was the one featuring Pernas.
How Did the Season 1 Finale Set Up Colter's Story From Here?
As the first season came to an end, there were several relationships: Colter got more information about his dad's mysterious murderhis friend Lizzie revealed that her mother had an affair with Colter's dad and, their parents had a fight before his death and Lizzie later found a box her mother hid that was full of work from Colter's dad. Lizzie told Colter she gave the items to his sister, Dory, who never mentioned anything to him.
Hartley weighed in on where the story goes from here, telling Deadline in May 2024, "We have a whole other season to shoot that we have to make better than Season 1. So while we wanted all those story lines wrapped up, we also wanted those bows to sort of lead to other questions — bigger, deeper questions — about his past. So I think we did that in answering some of these questions that we had built up all year. I think we did a good job of making sure that the answers to those questions then lead to a bigger mystery, something that we can unpack in season 2."
The actor confirmed at San Diego Comic Con that season 2 will have a time jump of several months.
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Where Does Colter Stand With His Brother?
Throughout season 1, Colter seemed certain that Russell was to blame for their father's death. Their onscreen reunion, introduced some doubt when Russell claimed there was someone else in the woods the night their dad fell to his death off a cliff.
"What Colter does is he finds people, and he reads people. He reads body language. He can look at people. He looks into their eyes, and he understands people. He’s a soulful guy himself as well," Hartley explained to Deadline. "I chose in that moment when Jensen [Ackles] was looking at me, and the way that he was playing it, I chose in that moment, just based on his performance, basically, that I was going to really, really want to believe him."
Colter doesn't have all the answers though, which leaves room for more questions.
"Does Colter think that he pushed him off the cliff now? Probably not," he added. "But does he think that he had nothing to do with anything or doesn’t have any knowledge about his father’s death? And that he’s completely in the dark just like Colter is? I don’t think that’s the case either."
How Often Will Our Favorite Guest Stars Return?
"In a perfect world, we’d see [Jensen] as much as we can. He’s a busy guy, though. So we’ll see what we can do, and the same thing with Melissa. We don’t need eight or nine times, but it would be good to have a few with him and a few with Sofia," Hartley told The Wrap in May 2024. "I think we can sprinkle Sofia in a little more, just because there’s that backstory with Billie and Colter and trying to figure out what the hell that was with Jennifer Morrison’s character."
Reid confirmed two months later that Ackles would appear in more than one episode despite booking another show. Hartley teased that the second episode would include scenes with Russell.
Can Fans Expect Colter to Continue to Break the Law — and Get Arrested?
Tracker quickly explained that Colter's success rate with his cases was in part because he was willing to stop at nothing to get answers. That meant many run-ins with the law — some of which ended with Colter behind bars.
"We do have a running joke though, of how many times Colter has broken the law. Our grips department put together a list and it’s ridiculous. My idea was to have, maybe at the end of season 2, my wrap gift to everyone is going to be a hoodie that lists all of the things that he’s done," Hartley joked with The Wrap. "Like assault, breaking and entering, kidnapping, all that stuff. But it’s a long list already. Every episode, he’s doing something illegal, right?"
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What Is Justin Hartley's Dream Scenario for a Case?
"Part of me thinks I want to do a water episode, and then I’m like, 'What the hell is wrong with you? You’re not doing a water episode,'" Hartley shared with The Wrap. "Those take twice as long, they’re twice as hard and you’re in the water. But I think we have to do one, just because it’s cool. Yeah, I’m up for anything."
Will There Be More Delays and Schedule Changes?
Although Tracker was breaking records with viewership, fans became frustrated with the way other programming caused delays or schedule shifts. A pivotal episode in March 2024 — where Hartley reunited on screen with Pernas — was extremely delayed due to March Madness. One month later, the CMT Music Awards caused similar issues when the network didn't air a new episode.
Tracker was later moved one hour up in order to make space for The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. The season 1 finale, which aired in May 2024, was also delayed the night of due to previous content running over its allotted time.
Fans have been very outspoken on social media about their frustration so presumably season 2 won't face the same issues.
What Other Story Lines Will Be Taking Place?
During the 2024 TCAs, the cast hinted at other characters getting the time to shine in the second season.
"Our story is pivoting a little bit," showrunner Elwood Reid teased. "Velma is taking on a very interesting role with something that was teased with Reenie's character — as she tries to open her own business."
