Tracker brought back Jensen Ackles‘ character, Russell, in season 2 — and the Supernatural Easter eggs followed.
During the newest episode, which aired on Sunday, October 20, Justin Hartley‘s character, Colter, went missing while looking for a professor who got caught up in UFO research. Colter was subsequently rescued by his older brother, Russell, as they tried to solve the case.
Colter and Russell ended up finding the missing man on a military base. Both Shaw brothers were in different trailers on the property when they heard something happening outside that they couldn’t quite explain away.
“I heard it, I felt it and I saw the light,” Russell told Colter. “It could have been a transporter from another planet that landed 50 yards from us.”
The conversation — and Russell’s belief in the unknown — served as a nice nod to Ackles’ role as Dean on The CW’s hit series Supernatural. Before Ackles was cast as Russell, he starred opposite Jared Padalecki on Supernatural from 2005 to 2020. The former costars played brothers who were always on the road hunting monsters.
Throughout Supernatural‘s lengthy run on The CW, there was an episode that hinted at aliens. Although it ultimately turned out to be fairies, Tracker throwing the subject matter back to Ackles’ roots offered the nostalgia some fans were looking for with his return to the show.
Later in the episode, Colter got into Russell’s car, which looked like Dean’s iconic Impala. (Some viewers might remember Russell subtly patting an Impala during his debut on Tracker in season 1.)
“This is a sweet ride, I wouldn’t mind getting behind the wheel of this thing,” Colter told Russell, who replied, “That is never going to happen.”
Russell reiterated his love for his car when Colter asked to be driven into the woods. “This baby doesn’t drive on gravel,” Russell fired back. This mirrored Dean’s behavior on Supernatural when he affectionately referred to his vehicle as “Baby” on the show.
After Supernatural came to an end, Ackles, 46, decided to take the car with him.
“As far as taking something on the final day, I will definitely be taking something that I’ve had my eye on since day one of Supernatural,” he told Digital Spy in September 2020. “But it’s OK, I’m not stealing it. I got permission. I begged and begged and pleaded for years, but I finally got it this year. They’re going to let me drive home the Impala.”
Ackles also revealed he had a clause about the Impala put in his contract. “I’ve been talking about that for two years now, and they finally added that to my contract this last season,” he shared on Michael Rosenbaum’s “Inside of You” podcast one month later about how Padalecki, 42, was offered the car’s double to take home.
While the Tracker episode ended with Colter and Russell going their separate ways again, fans can rejoice because Hartley, 47, previously confirmed that Ackles is “gonna come back” for several episodes in season 2.
“When it was time to cast Russell Shaw, I was like, ‘We built this whole thing up. It’s important that we get somebody in there that is just a juggernaut. Somebody that you would believe because he’s gonna go toe-to-toe with Colter, in a good or bad way, and that you also believe is his brother,’” the actor told Collider in May. “And I just thought Jensen Ackles would be perfect for it.”
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
