Tracker Season 4 Levels Up But Stagnates Justin Hartley’s Colter | Review

Justin Hartley is back as the fan-favorite lone-wolf hero, but while Tracker season 4 expands and evolves, CBS seems to be keen on stagnating Colter.

Published Oct 4, 2026, 10:30 PM EDT

Ana Dumaraog is a Writer and Editor at Screen Rant, where she expertly covers Network TV offerings, among other things

She has spearheaded the effort to make the site an authority on broadcast shows, initially starting with The Big Bang Theory franchise, NCIS, and One Chicago before taking on the specialization in general.

Ana has also covered a wide-spread of topics in the past — from franchises like, the MCU and Star Wars, to classic TV favorites, such as Frasier and MASH.

Ana brings clarity and enthusiasm to every story she tackles—whether reporting on new releases or offering deep dives into fan-favorite franchises. Her coverage translates complex entertainment developments into engaging, audience-focused content.

Tracker is back for its fourth season, and while everything else in the show has a new twist, Justin Hartley remains unevolved. For three years, the procedural based on Jeffrey Deaver's The Never Game dominated the ratings war, even toppling long-time fan-favorite NCIS on its very first year. The 2025-2026 TV cycle marked the end of an era for the show for a couple of reasons. For starters, the Shaw family mystery, which was at the center of its arc since the beginning, was finally resolved, and secondly, Luke Grimes' Marshals dethroned it in terms of ratings.

To be clear, Tracker is still a major player on TV. It is one of the most-watched shows, and has been both a linear and streaming hit for CBS and Paramount+. In terms of narrative, the new cycle offers a fresh start for the project, as it finds its next big narrative now that Ashton's mysterious death is officially solved. Despite previous concerns about the matter, Tracker is maintaining its format in season 4 — focusing on its procedural aspect while telling other multi-episode narratives. That's exactly what the premiere, "Safe Harbor," does, but it comes with a couple of trade-offs.

Tracker Season 4, Episode 1 Sidelines Colter's Most Interesting Stories

Aside from wrapping up its three-season era, the Tracker season 3 finale planted a few plot seeds that have the potential to result in much bigger storylines. Firstly, it set up a new mystery when Russell Shaw was handed a file about a secret involving Colter and his father's past. The matter was so sensitive that Jensen Ackles' character had no choice but to work with McIntyre against his will. Secondly, it was revealed that Colter has an unknown home base that he goes to when he isn't on the road. Both reveals could have easily been the anchor of "Safe Harbor," but instead of tackling either, Tracker season 4, episode 1 opts to move forward with its weekly cases with barely any references to those lingering plots.

For what it's worth, Colter's case in "Safe Harbor" is compelling, mostly because of the people involved and how it parallels to his own journey. In fact, Hartley's hero himself mentions this. This totally works in terms of Tracker's procedural corner, but as an opener for the season, it could have been better if there was any kind of recognition of what happened in the season 3 finale. Granted that CBS can and will likely revisit those plots down the road, but a reference to them would have helped in establishing continuity and even reminding viewers about what happened in the Tracker season 3 finale.

Now that Ashton's story is virtually done, Tracker must find new ways to explain Colter's personality, abilities, and overall persona, and his home base could have been a good starting point for that.

More importantly, any of those storylines could have signaled Colter's story evolution. Seeing him back at his home base as a starting point of the season and learning more about the origins of the house could have been great in terms of building people's understanding of his character. Now that Ashton's story is virtually done, Tracker must find new ways to explain Colter's personality, abilities, and overall persona, and his home base could have been a good starting point for that. Secondly, a reference to Russell's odd disappearance in Tracker season 3 finale could have been a good build up to the new mystery with McIntyre. If he mentioned this to Reenie, considering that she was warned by the older Shaw brother, it could have created a fresh twist to her relationship with Colter. Unfortunately, none of these happened.

Tracker's World Expands In Season 4

CBS

While "Safe Harbor" does very little when it comes to Colter's personal character development, the episode is able to lay a fresh and interesting future for the rest of his team. The newly-promoted Randy now fully takes over the organization of the cases that they tackle — a role that was previously held by Teddi and Velma. This expands his role as Bobby's tech operator and overall researcher replacement, making him more integral to Colter's team. Another upgrade, albeit in a much smaller scale, is Mel, whose personal story is confirmed to unfold in Tracker season 4, all while working as part of Reenie's legal squad.

Amid these, however, it's Reenie's future that is arguably the most interesting. CBS sets up a new path for her, albeit very subtly, in "Safe Harbor." Firstly, through her ongoing struggle with their new office. Apparently, they were forced out of their former base, resulting in them having to shack up with a temporary one. Secondly, a new personal story for her unfolds with the impending arrival of Michael Malarkey as Adam. Reenie has had her separate arcs from Colter in the last couple of years, but with him separated from the squad for most of the time, Tracker season 4 has better chances of developing a fully fleshed-out plot for Fiona Rene's character over Hartley's. In any case, this would help in making the series more diversified, as it will offer viewers more storylines to be invested in.

Tracker season 4 airs new episodes every Sunday, 9 PM ET, on CBS.

Tracker - Season 4