'Tracker' showrunner reveals what's next for Colter Shaw after midseason cliffhanger: 'When we pick up...'
The ninth episode of 'Tracker' Season 3, which aired on December 14, 2025, and was titled 'Good Trouble' for a seemingly good reason. The episode not only depicted Justin Hartley's Colter Shaw getting shot and crashing his car with Keaton, but also provided a thrilling cliffhanger to bind the audience. Consequently, fans of the CBS show have been eager to find out what happened to the famous detective and whether he will survive. Although 'Tracker' doesn't return from its mid-season hiatus with new episodes until March 1, 2026, the showrunner has a few interesting details to reveal.
'Tracker' boss Elwood Reid previously opened up about the future course of the hit show in an interview with TVLine. When asked about the ultimate fate of the bounty hunter and whether he walks away from the car crash alive, Reid revealed, "When we pick up in Part 2—and I didn't tell anyone else this—he's in really bad shape. He's the only one who crawls out of that car, and then he's got bigger problems. Without giving too much away, he becomes a wanted man because he's been at the scenes of these crimes, and people start wondering if he's in cahoots with the killer. There's another plot that helps explain that, but the short answer is yes—he needs help. We've got a decent cast of characters, and you can probably guess who he calls."
While it did seem for an instant that Colter might meet his maker by the side of the road, Reid has no plans to kill his protagonist. "As a cynical writer, I'm like, 'Of course, he's going to live," Reid had commented in an interview with Collider, further adding, "But what the best cliffhangers do is put the lead characters or people you care about in really bad situations, but it's about when they come out of it and how they get themselves out of it."
Thereafter, Colter's survival is also poised to be tied to the overarching arc of his investigation into his father's death. Reid was also asked about this, and he said, "There is going to be connective tissue coming out of the university setting—because remember, his father was a college professor. It's not explicit, but there are going to be multiple threads Colter starts pulling that lead him back into his past. We're setting up things about why his father lost his mind, why he was paranoid, what government forces might have been allied against the family, and the idea of PSYOPs."
CBS paused the weekly 'Tracker' broadcasts, in addition to a few of its other shows, to showcase special programming that includes the upcoming Golden Globe Awards and the Emmy Awards. When 'Tracker' returns from its mid-season hiatus with the tenth episode on March 1, 2026, the previously adhered to timeslot at the network would have undergone a slight change, as reported by PEOPLE. Instead of the previous hour of 8 pm ET on Sunday, 'Tracker' will now continue airing the remainder of its third season at 9 pm ET. The previous slot will be consigned to the highly anticipated 'Yellowstone' spinoff show 'Y: Marshals' featuring Luke Grimes. All episodes of 'Tracker' are available on CBS and on Paramount+.
