Did Tracker Just Hit Reset Ahead Of Season 4? Russell Skips Town With A Secret About Colter

The "Tracker" Season 3 finale may have wrapped one mystery, but Russell's ominous exit leaves Colter in the dark about a potentially troubling secret involving their late father — and what he may have done to Colter as a child.

In Part 1, the CBS drama finally revealed what happened to Colter (Justin Hartley) and Russell's father, Ashton Shaw: After uncovering a covert government program experimenting on gifted children, Ashton tried to shut the operation down, only to be discredited, targeted, and driven to the brink.

In Part 2, Colter and Russell (Jensen Ackles) managed to rescue Chrono Stasis test subjects Danny and Lola, who, alongside Dr. Serena Jukic and her partner Paul, were secretly relocated by Colter's friend Barbie (returning guest star Freda Foh Shen) and her underground Night Movers network (first introduced in Season 2, Episode 8) to start new lives off the grid.

Russell Leaves With the Truth

To bring the DARPA-funded USAP to its knees, the Shaw brothers first had to "unalive the snake." So while Colter brought Jukic and the others to Barbie, Russell went off to kill the man behind the operation.

Instead, Russell was handed a file on his father containing new information about something Ashton did to Colter as a child. And that's when the man behind the operation offered Russell a deal.

"There's always a use for men like you," he said. "I have a problem that needs fixing. Do it, and I'll put you in the clear."

"And Colter?" Russell asked.

"Same," the man replied.

"And the file?"

"You take it, and you burn it."

Before skipping town, Russell phoned Reenie (Fiona Rene) and made her promise to keep Colter off his trail. Once he could, Russell said, he'd fill her in on where he was headed and why.

Tracker Resets Ahead of Season 4

Colter, meanwhile, hooked his Airstream to his truck and drove someplace viewers had never seen before. Though fans have long assumed TV's favorite reward-seeking survivalist didn't really have a permanent home base, the finale revealed that Colter has apparently had a place to call home this entire time. And this new home base comes as the show — which filmed its first three seasons in Vancouver, British Columbia — prepares to relocate production to Los Angeles after securing a sizable California tax credit for Season 4.

Soon after, another familiar face pulled up to the property: Keaton (Brent Sexton), fully recovered after surviving multiple gunshot wounds and being run off the road at midseason. He'd done Colter a solid and transported Ashton's busted-up truck from Echo Ridge — the same truck Colter and Russell reminisced about in Part 1.

"Spent a lot of time on this thing, working on it with my dad," Colter told Keaton. "We got it up and running once, but it gave out on us again."

Still, the damage to the front of the truck does raise an unsettling question: Could it somehow be connected to whatever Ashton may have done to Colter all those years ago? And if so, is there a piece of Colter's childhood he still doesn't remember — a buried trauma that may slowly resurface as this new mystery surrounding his father unfolds?

These are all questions for Season 4 — which, if the final minutes of Season 3 are any indication, signals something of a reset for "Tracker." In the meantime, let us know: What did you think of the finale? Grade the episode — and the season as a whole — via the following polls, then hit the comments with your full review.

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