Tracker has seen multiple cast exits, and still survived, but can it take more such shakeups?
Tracker’s executive producer Elwood Reid is explaining the cast changes and their impact on the show.
"What we’re realizing is there are characters that come on that if it worked, we’d bring them back," he told Us Weekly. "I do think the show can’t always do that. But when it does do that, it makes the world feel a little bit more connected."
For the Tracker team, the show’s only mainstay is Justin Hartley’s fan-favorite fictional survivalist Colter Shaw, who travels places to help solve missing persons cases.
"The audience leans in because they’ve seen that character before. But I think they’re still thinking the central DNA of the show is Colter. With this guy, what makes him appealing is he is a mystery to himself," he noted.
"He’s a mystery to the audience. We see him and his off time putting together some pieces of his past," Reid added.
As the show progressed, other cast members who made their mark were including handlers Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany), hacker Bobby (Eric Graise) and attorney Reenie (Fiona Rene).
However, Teddi’s character was written off, and Bobby and Reenie also haven’t appeared in season 2.
Reid addressed their disappearance in May, saying, "I do think it’s evolving. If I can’t evolve those characters — Randy or Reenie or Bobby — they’re not just people that just pick up the phone and go, ‘OK, here is the answer.’ That’s when the show is phoning it in. The challenge is when you got to learn about them, which I thought was interesting. That’s the challenge of the show is not having it fall into a formula."
Tracker season 3 episodes stream Sundays at 8 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+.
