Tracker’s Season 4 Strategy Makes CBS History for Justin Hartley’s Show

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Tracker is making a significant shift in its production strategy for Season 4, moving filming from Vancouver to Los Angeles for the upcoming installment. As of late July, production for Tracker Season 4 is officially underway. Justin Hartley, an executive producer for the series, continues to lead it as Colter Shaw, a skilled survivalist who goes hunting for missing people.

Since its debut in 2024, Tracker has consistently ranked as one of the most-watched scripted series on network television, rivaled only by ABC’s High Potential and CBS’s own Yellowstone spinoff, Marshals, which became the most-watched series across streaming and broadcast in 2026. Now, Tracker has another challenge ahead as it picks up and plants new roots.

Tracker Season 4 makes series history with its shift to Los Angeles, moving production from Vancouver and the surrounding areas in British Columbia for the first time. Tracker Seasons 1 through 3 were filmed in and around Canada. Therefore, the fourth installment marks the first time the series will be regularly filmed in the country it’s set in.

A record-breaking $48 million tax credit for Tracker to move production to Los Angeles for Season 4 from California motivated the location change. Deadline confirmed the move was finalized in May, representing the largest tax-incentivized production shift to Los Angeles for a CBS flagship drama in recent history, also achieving an impressive win for the network.

Tracker ’s whopping tax incentive sets the bar high, beating other series like Fallout for Prime Video , which received $42.8 million to pick up and move to California. That said, the changes could inspire geographical shifts in Tracker ’s premise, as the series gains access to a new set of surrounding cities, landmarks, and landscapes in California.

Tracker ’s home base in California could prompt Colter to explore more cities like Los Angeles, building on his urban track record, taking on work in places like Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston. The new location could also usher in more diverse terrain for Colter to explore, with the skilled survivalist most in his element when tracking through the great outdoors.

Tracker Season 3’s finale ushers in even more changes for the next installment, with Colter and Russell Shaw’s (Jensen Ackles) investigation into the Chrono Stasis Institute setting the scene for Season 4. After Colter and Russell safely recover Danny Kellerman (Reid Miller) and his friend, Lola (Laurel Marsden), Russell uncovers a secret that sets Tracker Season 4 in motion.

Russell is called in by a Department of Defense agent named McIntyre (Glenn Morshower), who tells him that he can secure his and Colter’s freedom in the incident by working a covert operation. Russell is sent away for his new job, vanishing at the end of Tracker Season 3 and telling Reenie Green (Fiona Rene) to cover for him.

While Russell's departure at the end of Tracker Season 3 accommodates the actor’s busy filming schedule, the older Shaw brother is expected to return for the upcoming installment, with Jensen Ackles throwing his hat in the ring for Tracker Season 4 . Looking ahead, the Shaw brothers can continue unraveling the mystery of Colter’s father after Season 3’s cliffhanger.

At the end of Tracker Season 3, McIntyre also reveals a secret to Russell about apparent mistreatment of Colter when he was younger. Considering Ashton’s involvement with remote viewing and astral projection with the Chrono Stasis Institute, Tracker Season 4 could continue charting new territory as Ackles returns to the procedural, with his appearances often corresponding with supernatural occurrences.

Ultimately, perhaps the biggest change in Tracker Season 4’s formula is how the series is expected to continue pushing the boundaries of its grounded premise, with Colter encountering aliens, witchcraft, and pseudoscience that shift expectations from Tracker ’s more grounded first season. Combined with Reenie’s developing story and location changes, Tracker could be somewhat unrecognizable in Season 4.