CBS is a prime place to be on the small screen when it comes to spooky programming, since not all networks nowadays will fully embrace Halloween. Admittedly, not all shows can feature a genuinely haunted house like Ghosts or cycle the lead through several Broadway-themed costumes like Elsbeth, but even the Tracker team found a way for Justin Hartley and Co. While the episode will technically air a couple of days after Halloween, I’d say that it still counts for CBS’ tally of themed episodes!
The promo hypes it as a “special scary event,” and it leaves me wishing that Jensen Ackles was still around for this episode. Once a Supernatural fan, always a Supernatural fan, I guess! Take a look at the preview for the episode, called “First Fire,” that could add some spookiness to the usual Tracker suspense:
Admittedly, other than the narration, this doesn’t look like a particularly spooky, Halloween-esque episode, but looks can be deceiving. The episode description from CBS sheds a bit more light, which makes it sound almost like Colter is on the case of a classic urban legend:
On Halloween night, when a nurse is murdered and arsonist Heston Koontz disappears from a psychiatric facility, Colter follows a trail of unsettling clues to uncover the truth with assistance from local officer Dundee (Derek Richardson).
All this Heston Kootz needs is a hook hand, and I’d think that Tracker is deliberately leaning into classic scary stories. Colter surely has what it takes to tackle the case himself, but after Jensen Ackles appeared in the first two episodes of Season 3 as Russell Shaw, it hurts a little bit that he left ahead of the third episode that happens to be one that could deliver some Supernatural vibes.
Tracker didn’t stay away from Supernatural Easter eggs in Ackles’ first episode, and he doesn’t seem determined to escape his Supernatural legacy. (There is one episode of Supernatural he’d likely want to forget, though.) It just would have been fun to see Ackles, who spent more than 300 episodes investigating monsters, ghosts, and demons on The CW, getting into the Halloween spirit on Tracker as Russell.
Of course, if the stars align and Tracker showrunner Elwood Reid has his way, we could indeed see a lot more of Ackles as Russell Shaw on the small screen. He recently shared that it’s “always his dream” for the Supernatural vet to star in a Tracker spinoff. Prime Video’s Countdown was unfortunately cancelled, so Ackles won’t have more of that show on his dance card, but he’s still set to star in Vought Rising for the streamer.
Whatever the future holds for Russell, fans can count on seeing Colter in action for the “special scary event.” The “First Fire” episode airs on Sunday, November 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS, and will be available streaming next day with a Paramount+ subscription. The show cut down on its series regulars for the third season, so it should be interesting to see if that feels like a problem as Tracker moves past the premiere two-parter and into the regular season.
