There are certain things about Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) and his story that are alluded to in author Jeffrey Deaver's The Never Game and its sequels that Tracker unfortunately hasn't incorporated yet. Between his ability to blend in while on the job (he usually rents vehicles that look like police cars) and his expert knowledge of survival statistics, the Colter Shaw we see on television is a bit different from his original on-the-page counterpart. But there's one element from the books that ought to be explored further on Tracker: his father's list of rules.
'Tracker' Season 3 Needs To Expand on Ashton Shaw's Survival Rules
Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen) teaching his sons, Colter (Prestyn Bates) and Russell (Mathew Nelson-Mahood), how to use a gun on 'Tracker.'
One thing that sets the original novels apart from the television series is that the Colter Shaw of the books follows his father's rules quite strictly, often recalling them whenever he's in a bind. These include ideas like "never store sensitive information on electronic media" and the basics of how to survive in cold water. While the show has noted that Colter uses the training his father gave him to become an expert rewardist (indeed, he can only do what he does because of what he was trained to endure), the show ought to dive a bit deeper into what that training actually entailed. We saw a little bit of that in the flashbacks at the very beginning of the series, but Tracker has largely abandoned Colter's youth and his time with his father, Ashton Shaw (Lee Tergesen), in favor of focusing on the main plot and characters. But with so many characters gone, now may be the time to go back.
It was thrilling when the back half of Season 2 began to reveal more about Colter's father. It was small things at first, such as recalling the first firearm that Ashton gave him, but over time it grew obvious that Colter was again meditating on his past. It's no wonder that he ended up back in Echo Ridge by the season's end. Season 3 may be the perfect time for him to try out some of these rules again. It would certainly make that reveal at the end of the Tracker
Colter Shaw Will Have More Family Drama To Work Through in 'Tracker' Season 3
Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson) feeds Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) pancakes on the 'Tracker' Season 2 finale.
At this point, Tracker has set up so much material for Colter to engage with in the third season that there's no way the show can continue to ignore everything Shaw-related. We've certainly critiqued the show's often forgetful attitude towards the overarching mythology, but now that Mary Dove Shaw (Wendy Crewson) has been outed as Ashton Shaw's potential killer, Tracker cannot pretend like this revelation won't affect Colter in the day-to-day. In which ever way the show ends up explaining the absence of characters like Bobby (Eric Graise) and Velma (Abby McEnany), Colter's further isolation could be the catalyst for him revisiting his past, even if just within his mind. Again, flashbacks to Colter's youth haven't really been a thing since the beginning of the first season, but if the show employed them again, using them to show how Colter learned his particular set of skills, it could mimic this idea that was first explored in the books.
Perhaps that's the best way for Colter to finally deal with the death of his father. Sure, finding his killer and discovering the truth about his connections to the U.S. government is a step in the right direction — one that Russell (Jensen Ackles) will no doubt play a part in — but confronting his past while on the job in the present may be more cathardic for Tracker's resident lone wolf survivalist. These moments could easily be interspersed throughout the series or simply be an occasional detour, but either way, it would give Colter an opportunity to think back on the long list of rules his father came up with. More than that, it would give the audience more context about how Colter Shaw as we know him even came to be.
'Tracker' Season 3 Could Be a Soft Reboot for the Action Series
Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw looking at something to the side while standing outdoors in Tracker Season 3.
Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, tearfully holding a gun on 'Tracker'
Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw on the phone in 'Tracker' Season 2 Episode 18.
Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw in Tracker Season 2, Episode 19.
Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) wanders the woods in the 'Tracker' Season 2 finale "Echo Ridge"
With the news that half of Tracker's cast has been written out of the series, Tracker is heading into its third season with a soft reboot. The dynamics will change and Colter's expertise will likely be better highlighted as a result. This is a good thing. Instead of getting bogged down by other characters and minor plotlines of no relevance to Colter's own, Season 3 has the potential to reinvent the Tracker wheel, so long as it doesn't lose sight of the past. The Never Game is the reason that Tracker is here in the first place (in fact, the show's original title matched the first Colter Shaw novel), and after two seasons of finding its voice and discovering what type of show it wants to be, it's finally time for the series to lean into the elements that first set its hero apart.
