Tracker Is Bringing Jensen Ackles Back For More Episodes Than I Expected, And Fans Are Already Spotting Supernatural References

The weeks are counting down until Tracker returns for Season 3 in the 2025 TV schedule, with a much smaller cast of series regulars this time around. On the plus side, Jensen Ackles is once again joining Justin Hartley as his on-screen brother, and he’ll actually be around for more episodes than I expected. As the show hypes the upcoming return on social media, I’m not even a little bit surprised to see that Supernatural fans wasted no time in finding connections to Ackles’ previous show.

Jensen Ackles’ Double Return To Tracker

Tracker will return with a two-part season premiere event spread across two weeks, with Jensen Ackles playing Russell Shaw in both. After news broke that he’d reunite with Justin Hartley for Season 3 after wrapping on Prime Video’s Countdown, I’d assumed it would be another one-off like his appearances in each of the first two seasons. Instead, it appears that Colter will have his brother on hand in a big way to start out Season 3.

Whether that’s because Russell is around to help or Russell is in need of help remains to be seen, but I’m on board with two episodes of Ackles opposite Hartley. (Both episodes with the Shaw brothers so far are available streaming with a Paramount+ subscription now.)

The first half of the premiere is called “The Process,” with CBS’ logline revealing that Russell will join Colter to try and track down the missing wife and child of one of Reenie’s clients in the wake of what he’d learned about his father’s death at the end of Season 2. Whatever happens in “The Process” presumably won’t go entirely according to plan, with the Shaw brothers racing to put an end to an underground operation in Part 2 of the premiere, called “Leverage.”

Fans Spot An Early Supernatural Reference

Tracker hasn’t shied away from nodding to Jensen Ackles’ fifteen seasons of Supernatural, with a bunch of Supernatural Easter eggs in just his first episode. Considering that Ackles celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Supernatural pilot almost exactly a month before the CBS show’s Season 3 premiere, the timing couldn’t be better for his time as Dean Winchester to be alluded to. Take a look at the video that had fans talking:

Admittedly, there’s no moment in the preview that’s as obvious as Russell climbing into an Impala or sleeping in a cheap motel room a la the Winchester brothers, but that didn’t stop Supernatural fans from hitting the comment section to weigh in on the rock-paper-scissors moment.

A running joke from back in Jensen Ackles’ CW days was that Dean almost always lost rock-paper-scissors because he almost always used scissors. Here are just some of the examples of Supernatural fans applying that lesson to Tracker in the Instagram comments (edited for clarity):

• @pmclean66: "Rock, paper, scissors. A Supernatural Easter egg 😂 Love it!"
• @laurensophxx: "Now I gotta know if Russell picks scissors or not."
• @ aileenslayden: "Rock, paper, scissors, huh? I suggest you go for rock Justin… always works! 🤣 Can’t wait to see the show back again!! 🥰"
• @spngirlie19: "Jensen's SPN reference, well done!! I am so excited for Season 3!!!"

Tracker returns to CBS with the Season 3 premiere on Sunday, October 19 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the second half of the story involving both Shaw brothers on October 26. You can revisit the first two seasons streaming on Paramount+ now, and if you're not in the mood to check out some Supernatural seasons, you can find all fifteen streaming with a Netflix subscription now.