Jensen Ackles Is Back on ‘Tracker,’ But Only for a Few Episodes!

Some recurring TV characters are content to stay recurring, showing up briefly and disappearing again without leaving fans wanting anything else. Then there are characters like Russell Shaw, whose limited screen time has somehow only made the demand for more of him grow louder every season.

That demand just got a fresh jolt of momentum, thanks to new behind-the-scenes photos confirming exactly what fans have been hoping to see return to CBS this fall.

Jensen Ackles has shared new set photos from ‘Tracker’ Season 4, confirming his return as Russell Shaw, the estranged older brother of Justin Hartley’s Colter Shaw. According to Collider, Ackles has appeared in some capacity during every season of the CBS drama since it began, even though his actual screen time typically amounts to only a handful of episodes each run, a pattern that’s made his character something of a tantalizing tease rather than a full-time fixture.

That scarcity appears to be entirely by design. Speaking with Collider, showrunner Elwood Reid explained that while the writers remain “cautious” about not stepping on Hartley’s central role in the series, Russell’s military background offers a genuinely different creative direction that could play to Ackles’ particular strengths as an actor.

That limited but memorable presence has fueled years of speculation about whether Russell might eventually get a project of his own. Reid revealed that a piece of Russell’s dialogue actually made it into the Season 4 premiere without any formal approval process, joking that the writers “didn’t even ask for permission” before including it, adding, “As the kids say, I’m manifesting it. It could be a lot of fun if the timing ever lines up,” a clear nod to the long-running fan hope for a Russell-centered spinoff.

Ackles himself addressed his own scheduling reality during a Toronto panel in July, noting that between his work on “The Boys” and its upcoming spinoff “Vought Rising,” he’s still “waiting for that call” whenever “Tracker” needs him back. That balancing act helps explain why Russell’s appearances have remained so sporadic despite the character’s popularity, even as showrunners seem increasingly open to expanding his role.

The uncertainty around whether Ackles would return at all this season traced back to Season 3’s finale, according to TVLine, which saw Colter and Russell uncovering the truth about their father’s involvement in a covert, DARPA-funded program that experimented on gifted children. Russell went after the man behind the operation alone, only to be handed a file revealing troubling new information about something their father had once done to Colter as a child, leaving his fate genuinely unresolved heading into the new season.

Hartley himself put those fears to rest during Televerse 26 on August 16, confirming Ackles’ return before cameras even started rolling on his first Season 4 episode, according to TVLine. With Season 4 premiering October 4, and Ackles’ own comments suggesting he’s ready to keep saying yes whenever the timing works, it seems increasingly likely that Russell Shaw’s limited appearances won’t stay quite so limited forever.

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