{"id":330532,"date":"2026-05-07T05:05:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=330532"},"modified":"2026-05-07T05:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:35:53","slug":"justin-hartley-jokes-colter-dies-in-tracker-season-3-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/justin-hartley-jokes-colter-dies-in-tracker-season-3-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Hartley Jokes Colter Dies in Tracker Season 3 Finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Justin Hartley<\/strong> threw out a fun story line for the season 3 finale of Tracker<\/em> that might have his character dying \u2014 and going to heaven.<\/p>\n

In the course of the Tuesday, May 5, episode of The Tonight Show<\/em><\/a>, host Jimmy Fallon<\/strong> had Hartley, 49, answer interview questions by reading prewritten answers from cue cards. The actor was asked about how his hit CBS series would wrap up its third season \u2014 and Hartley could barely contain his laughter at the reply he was given to read.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe season 3 finale, this actually is sort of a spoiler. But principally my character dies and he goes to heaven,\u201d Hartley quipped. \u201cThe angels are like, \u2018Help, Abraham Lincoln is missing.\u2019 So I track him down and it seems he\u2019s at a Jamba Juice. It was unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the finale likely won\u2019t actually show Colter in a near-death situation, Hartley hasn\u2019t ruled it out as an option.<\/p>\n

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Related: <\/span>What Tracker’s Justin Hartley Said About Colter’s Mortality: ‘He Will Die’<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tSince Tracker premiered on CBS, Justin Hartley has taken it upon himself to remind viewers that his character Colter Shaw can \u2014 and can \u2014 die. Based on Jeffery Deaver\u2018s novel The Never Game, Tracker centers around a survivalist named Colter who travels the country helping find missing people (or sometimes dogs) and solving cases [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essential to maintain upping the stakes. I like being Colter as a hero, finding people and all that. I also really like seeing him in a suspenseful thriller and a dangerous situation,\u201d he told The Hollywood Reporter in April 2025. \u201cI don\u2019t want our audience to forget that this man is mortal, he\u2019s not a superhero. He can die! The things he’s doing are very very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on Jeffery Deaver<\/strong>\u2018s novel The Never Game<\/em>, Tracker<\/em> follows Colter as he travels the country helping to search out missing people (or sometimes dogs) and solving cases others aren\u2019t in a position to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love that while you watch a show like that and also you tune into season 1 and then you definately tune into the last season, you see the event of the character and also you go, \u2018Wait a minute, are they playing different roles?\u2019 But then for those who watch it throughout the years, you experience those things with the characters,\u201d Hartley previously told TV Insider in September 2024. \u201cAs competent and assured as Colter is, I don\u2019t in any respect think for a second that he doesn\u2019t have a ton to learn, especially about himself and his family and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hartley continued: \u201cGoing forward, I feel that can be how the show lives on an extended runway, is that we keep developing this character and he becomes higher at what he\u2019s doing. He\u2019s a restless man, and for an audience member, no less than shows that I really like to look at, you’re keen on to see that growth of a personality and now we have that.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recently, executive producer Elwood Reid<\/strong> weighed in on Colter\u2019s fate, telling Us Weekly<\/em> in October 2025, \u201cA few of the danger is in here because he\u2019s not a cop. He is that this guy who’s poking his nose in places. The network is at all times like, \u2018He can get tousled, he can lose a fight, he can get conked on the pinnacle and he can have a gun pointed at him.\u2019 Justin pitched an idea for the season 3 midseason finale where it doesn\u2019t go well for Colter. That\u2019s what makes him fun is he will not be a superhero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reid noted that Tracker<\/em> is at all times trying to find ways to surprise viewers.<\/p>\n

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