Justin Hartley‘s hit series Tracker is losing half of its series regulars in season 3 — but how will Velma and Bobby be written out and could they return?
Showrunner Elwood Reid addressed the cast changes, telling TV Insider on Friday, September 26, “There’s a possibility [they could return], but right now, in this first block, no.”
The third season, which returns October 19, will address Colter’s (Justin Hartley) handler Velma (Abby McEnany) and hacker Bobby (Eric Graise) no longer being around.
“Right now, Velma is going off to be with Teddi [Robin Weigert, who exited after season 1], who we’ve set up that there were some problems. That’s set up in the first episode,” Reid teased. “And Bobby has taken an interesting job offer, which we’ll hear about in the first episode.”
Why Did ‘Tracker’ Lose 3 Cast Members Before Season 3? Shakeups Explained
Reid explained that one of the goals is “trying to build out the world of Reenie’s [Fiona Rene] office a little bit better.” He also confirmed their plan of “bringing Randy [Chris Lee], who was a really strong character from last year, bringing him to Denver to help out.”
According to Reid, the events from season 2 will drive Reenie’s story.
“[She is] in a pretty dark place — her boyfriend had been shot, her company had been kind of f***** over, she’d had this breach of security,” he added. “[Randy is coming in to give her] a digital health check detox. That blooms into a deeper relationship where he may be working out of her office a little bit helping.”
Season 3 is set to explore the remaining members of Colter’s team more, with Reid adding, “That’s going to become a story line. Because I have these amazing actors, I think the show loses if they’re just all about the case. You want to follow them home a little bit. I know we have Reenie as this sort of boss lawyer all the time, but I don’t know if she’s always that.”
He continued: “I think there’s this other side to her, and I particularly think that given with what happened to her last year, it’s only realistic that that would have some lasting effects on her. So you’ll start to see us trying to build out her character a little bit more as not just someone who waits by the phone for Colter to call, because that’s not what these people are doing.”
Which ‘Tracker’ Stars Are — And Aren’t — Returning for Season 3?
Tracker, which premiered in February 2024, has continued to surprise viewers after losing three main characters in two seasons. Before the show returned for season 3, Reid exclusively told Us Weekly why the onscreen shakeups weren’t necessarily a bad thing.
“I don’t want the show to be phone-a-friend every week. I think that gets old, and Justin is always challenging me on that. He’s like, ‘Do we need to do this? Do I need to call Bobby all the time? Can I do this?’” he shared in May about the cast reconfiguration. “You don’t [always] see Reenie. He talks to Velma for two seconds. He may talk to Bobby for one phone call. The show works because you are over Justin’s shoulder.”
Reid noted: “The only rule I really have of the show is each week Colter is going to come to a new place and there’s going to be a new case. How he gets those answers and what he uses on the team, that’s all something that’s up for grabs. Meeting these [local] weird characters is something we’re going to try to do more of as the season goes on. Just Colter coming in and interacting with other characters. That’s fun to see Justin flex those muscles with really good guest cast members.”
Tracker returns to CBS on Sunday, October 19, at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Paramount+.
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