“How Tracker’s second season premiere wrote off its lead actor after his exit”

Justin Hartleyis the CBS series tracker was tasked with writing off a lead actor after a surprise exit – but how did the series implement the change on screen?

During the Season 2 premiere, which aired on Sunday, October 13, Velma (Abby McEnany) mentioned a certain distance between her and her wife Teddi (Robin Weigert), which is why she spends more time helping Reenie (Fiona René).

“(Teddi) will be there for a while. She helps her mother put things in order. You could say I got in the way, and it really wasn't good,” Velma admitted. “So I came back. Don’t worry because I’m busy.”

In August, it was confirmed that Weigert would not be returning as a series regular after appearing as a series regular in the first season. Weigert shared most of the screen with McEnany as they helped Hartley's character Colter solve various missing person cases across the country for reward money.

Related: The most famous guest stars in Justin Hartley's “Tracker” series

Justin Hartley's CBS series “Tracker” has won over audiences because of its fascinating cases – and impressive guest stars. “Tracker,” which premiered in February 2024, centers on a survivalist named Colter (Hartley) who travels the country helping people and law enforcement solve a variety of mysteries. As the series progresses, viewers learn (…)

Hartley teased in detail how storylines would develop in season two TV Insider in September: “At the end of the last season, Reenie decides to leave her company and start her own business. She's going through a big change in her life and she's working with Velma in a way, and you'll see a lot of them working together, which is a really interesting dynamic.”

The narrative shift meant that Velma will take a new job in her wife's absence. “(Reenie and Velma) both have common goals but approach their business completely differently,” the actor continued. “Bobby (Eric Graise), our computer genius, is hacking around. Then we have a few really cool surprises in store for Reenie.”

Hartley also explained how Jensen Ackles And Melissa Roxburgh would return to play his character, Colter's sibling despite their busy schedule. (After both were introduced in the first season, Ackles, 46, booked the upcoming Prime Video thriller series countdown while Roxburgh, 31, will lead the NBC midseason drama The hunting party.)

“(Melissa)'s show ends (production) long before we end, so we can bring her back in the final episodes of our show,” the actor noted. “And then Jennifer Morrison's coming back to direct Episode 6. I’m sure her character will come back.”

Related to Jeffery Deaver's novel The never game“Tracker” premiered in February after Super Bowl LVIII and immediately found its audience as people tuned in weekly to see their favorite fictional survivalist. After the series' first season finale, viewership figures confirmed that “Tracker” was the most-watched series of the 2023-24 TV season. The show has already been renewed for a second season, which introduces new cases for Colter to solve.

Related: The most shocking TV exits of 2024 so far: “AJLT,” “Tracker” and more

It's never easy for fans to say an unexpected goodbye to their favorite characters – and 2024 has been marked by a spate of shocking departures from our television screens. In January, viewers learned that Josh Stewart would not be reprising his role as William LaMontagne Jr. in Criminal Minds: Evolution. Stewart brought the role of JJs (…)

“We have to do a very different season that we have to do better than Season 1. While we wanted to wrap up all the storylines, we wanted those arcs to also lead to other questions – bigger, deeper questions – about his past,” Hartley said deadline in May about future plans for the show. “I think we did that by answering some of those questions that we had been asking ourselves all year. I think we did a good job of making sure that the answers to those questions then lead to a larger mystery, something that we can unveil in Season 2.”

tracker airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.