Justin Hartley Opens Up About Tracker’s Cast Shake-Up After Multiple Exits

CBS hit Tracker has lost three cast members ahead of season 3, and lead and executive producer Justin Hartley — the This Is Us alum who helped power the show’s February 2024 debut — addresses the shake-up.

Tracker is shuffling the deck again. Three familiar faces are out before season 3 even starts, and the show is leaning harder into its 'Colter rolls into a new town, finds trouble, fixes it ' DNA. Here is what actually changed, why it happened, and where Justin Hartley and the team say the story is headed.

Quick refresher: why people showed up for Tracker in the first place

After six seasons of This Is Us, Justin Hartley anchored CBS hit Tracker in February 2024 as Colter Shaw, a survivalist who crisscrosses the country solving missing-persons cases. The weekly cases are the engine, but the show has also been peeling back Colter's family history — including the lingering question of whether his dad's death ties back to someone Colter actually knows.

Along the way, fans got attached to Colter's recurring support crew: handlers Teddi (Robin Weigert) and Velma (Abby McEnany), hacker Bobby (Eric Graise), and attorney Reenie (Fiona Rene).

So... who left, when, and how did the show cover the gaps?

• Before season 2 filming even began, Robin Weigert (Teddi) exited. The show reworked how Colter gets his intel.
• In season 2, Chris Lee joined as Randy, a new tech-savvy ally who effectively filled Bobby's seat at the keyboard during a stretch when Eric Graise was off-screen for six episodes.
• Before season 3, two more core players departed: Eric Graise (Bobby) and Abby McEnany (Velma). That brings the pre-season-3 tally to three main exits.

Why the shake-ups? The showrunner answer

Executive producer Elwood Reid said the quiet part out loud back in May 2025: actor availability is a fact of life, and some absences barely register if the story keeps moving. He also pointed out that Chris Lee's Randy brought a different vibe — lighter, warmer, and instantly fun — and that the creative team plans to keep experimenting with the team's mix in season 3. Expect familiar faces from seasons 1 and 2 to pop back in more often, and for Colter to meet more oddball locals as he drifts from case to case.

"The only rule I really have of the show is each week Colter is going to come to a new place and there is going to be a new case."

Translation: the team around him is modular by design. Who he calls for help — and whether he calls anyone at all — can change week to week.

How season 2 adjusted on the fly

After Weigert left, Hartley teased a different configuration: Reenie splits from her law firm to go solo and, in a very 'odd couple at the office ' turn, she links up with Velma. They chase similar outcomes but their methods do not match, which gave season 2 a new rhythm. Meanwhile, Bobby was still 'hacking away' when he appeared, and Reenie had a couple of surprise turns baked into her arc.

Hartley on what Tracker is really chasing

Hartley, who also executive produces, has been careful not to over-explain the cast churn. What he will say: he never wanted this to be a paint-by-numbers procedural. He is big on showing that Colter absorbs what happens to him — if you jump from episode 10 in season 1 to episode 10 in season 2, he wants you to feel the growth.

Looking ahead, Hartley has hinted at storylines that put Colter in a tougher spot — think being set up — and that those twists could thread back into the family mystery and possibly even brush up against government angles. The writers have an overarching plan for next season, but they do not want to yank the show off its current track.

Season 3: reconfiguring the team without losing the point of the show

Post-season-2 finale, Reid said they are actively fighting off complacency. The goal is not to watch Colter 'phone a friend' on speaker every week. Hartley pushes on that too — do we actually need Bobby here, can Colter do this himself, can Velma pop in for all of two lines and bounce? Sometimes Reenie is barely there. Sometimes Bobby is one call and out. The camera lives over Hartley's shoulder, and the show works best when it stays that way.

The bottom line

Three regulars are gone heading into season 3 — Robin Weigert, Eric Graise, and Abby McEnany — but Tracker is built to roll with it. The core promise stands: new town, new case, and Colter evolving, even as the bench around him gets reworked and some season 1 and 2 faces cycle back in. If you come for the guest stars and the weird locals, it sounds like you will be eating well next year.