‘Tracker’s Biggest Season 4 Change Could Be Exactly What the Show Needs

Image via CBS

Published May 12, 2026, 8:36 AM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain, was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

If you hadn't already heard, Tracker is about to shut down its production — in Canada, anyway. The CBS series announced last week that it plans to move production from its three-year home in Vancouver down to Los Angeles to take advantage of California's tax breaks. While that means very little for Colter Shaw, who will continue to travel cross-country on his reward-seeking adventures, it will be a big change for star Justin Hartley and the rest of the cast and crew. But as far as Tracker itself goes, this change could prove beneficial to the series long-term.

'Tracker's New Filming Location Can Open the Door to Some New Guest Stars

Tracker has been filmed in Vancouver for the past few years, a show in a long line of television productions that have made the Canadian city their home. Everything from Supernatural and the Arrowverse shows to Riverdale, The Night Agent, and the Stargate television franchise took advantage of the international tax incentives. Hartley, of course, was no stranger to filming up north, as Smallville shot in the Vancouver area for the entirety of its 10-season run (he even reunited with former co-star Erica Durance this season). But this massive change will not just come with some new scenery (more on that in a moment), but a larger talent pool of recurring and guest stars to pull from.

Up until now, Tracker has highlighted some of Canada's best throughout its first three seasons, including Tahmoh Penikett, Kathleen Robertson, Sasha Roiz, Wendy Crewson, and Melissa Roxburgh. Some have showed up in recurring capacities while others made one-and-done appearances, but in any case, we were happy to play "hey, that's so-and-so from x-show!" Of course, there's no reason that any of these guest stars (or others like them) couldn't still return for Season 4; the relocation would just mean a longer travel time, something many California-based actors who appeared on the series are used to.

By moving Tracker to LA, the CBS procedural opens the door for the talent found in California. There's no denying that the acting pool is much larger in LA. The size of the acting community in "Hollywood North" is part of the reason that you see so many of the same faces across a wide variety of genre shows filmed in the area, from science fiction and speculative drama to sitcoms and action shows. With that in mind, this move could allow Tracker to secure bigger, more memorable guest stars for every episode. It wouldn't be too different from how the short-lived Prime Video series, Countdown, began with an unexpected Milo Ventimiglia appearance — another This Is Us reunion is perhaps more possible now than ever.

With a $48 million tax credit to its name, the production could utilize the benefits of its small core cast (which also includes Fiona Rene and Chris Lee) to splurge a little in the casting department. Between bigger names and a larger catalog of stars (both up-and-coming and well-established) to choose from, it's possible that Tracker could lean into a "guest star of the week" format to further pull audiences in with its next season. If it works, it could be a pretty big deal.

Colter Shaw's Adventures Will No Longer Be Visually Limited to the Pacific Northwest Come 'Tracker' Season 4

In addition to the potential uptick in big Hollywood names, Tracker is following the Vancouver-to-LA pattern first established by The X-Files decades ago, which may also benefit the visual look of the series. Right now, most forest sequences and outdoors-y locations look and feel, well, all like the Pacific Northwest. That's something of a trademark for many shows shot in the Vancouver area, and although some (like Smallville) were able to get around some of that, Tracker has been somewhat hit-or-miss with trying to mimic certain locations. For example, aside from a single Texas-based episode this season, "No Man's Land," Colter generally avoids the American Southwest, despite the narrative potential. Indeed, of all the states the show revisits the most (Reenie's Denver-based law office notwithstanding), it's typically the PNW (followed soon after by the East Coast) that is most often highlighted by Colter's weekly adventures. That said, it's likely that we'll see more desert-based material going forward.

Moving to Los Angeles may be a big gamble for Tracker in some respects, but the production will no doubt benefit long-term from the massive tax breaks offered by California. As with any big production move, there will likely be some growing pains between the third and fourth seasons, but what season hasn't had its fair share so far? Tracker dumped half its cast between Seasons 2 and 3, and Robin Weigert abandoned ship after Season 1. Perhaps this is just part of what it takes to bring the exploits of Colter Shaw to life week in and week out.

Tracker airs Sundays on CBS and is available for streaming the next day on Paramount+.