Paramount has succeeded with more conservative shows in recent years, the most important example being “Yellowstone” and its vast universe of spin-offs. Of course, if you venture into entertainment specially designed for Central America, you will inevitably produce a kind of series led by survival, which is exactly what we have in the form of “tracker”.

Advertisement

The show features Justin Hartley in the role of Colter Shaw, the titular survivist who earns his life by tracking down people who disappeared for the police and everyday citizens, collecting the awards and offering a good dose of ass and machismo in the process. But unlike another entirely American traveling hero, Jack Reacher by Alan Ritchson (the best version on the character’s screen), Shaw is not a complete lone wolf, based on a support team that includes his “man in the” Bobby Exley (Eric Groge) chair.

Working in a technological repair store in Chicago, Bobby provides Shaw with all the support of the survey he needs and quickly became a fans in season 1 “Tracker”. Then it seemed that Bobby had to undergo the same fate after having also disappeared from the season halfway. Fortunately, it seems that the man of Shaw is back on the chair. But why did he disappear for so long in the first place, and is Bobby completely eliminated from “tracker”?

Advertisement

In “Tracker” season 2, Episode 10, “Nightingale”, Colter investigates the disappearance of a grandson in a city where a singer by the name of Angie has also disappeared. In his quest to discover the truth, Colter takes place unlike the local sheriff and a gang of bikers, prompted him to call Bobby to obtain help. But instead of his partner of trust, the cousin of Bobby Randy answers the phone and said to Colter that Bobby “treated family stuff” and that he “wanted to make sure that he did not leave you suspended”.

Advertisement

But “Tracker” left the fans suspended a lot for the next five episodes, during which Bobby was nowhere. In episode 15, Randy revealed that Bobby attended the funeral of a friend, declaring that the friend was “like a brother” but offered no updates when the technological expert returns. Meanwhile, mid-season trailer Released in February had already confirmed that Bobby would be back, and in season 2, episode 16, “The Mercy Seat”, the pirate finally returned. The episode saw Reenie (Fiona René) speaking on the phone to Bobby, who turned out to be back in the technological repair workshop alongside Randy and says that he “takes it one day.”

Fans of the show certainly noted, however, that the original explanation that Randy gave was different from the explanation that emerged in episode 15. Originally, Randy said that Bobby was dealing with “family stuff”, but then revealed that he attended a friend’s funeral. As such, the fans wondered if the screenwriters of the show were initially scrambled for an explanation, to change it over the season. This would suggest that there were problems behind the scenes behind the scenes, which in turn casts doubt if Eric Grege himself withdrew from “Tracker”. Fortunately, however, it seems that Bobby will remain an element of the series at the moment.

Advertisement

In March 2025, the actor of Reenie Fiona René spoke to Television About “Tracker” and offered an overview of the future of the series when she congratulated Chris Lee’s performance as Randy, saying: “Can we just talk about Randy for a second? I love Chris Lee with everything in my body. He was a wonderful addition to the Bobby dynamic, and I am very excited to see them together.” Regarding René, there is therefore a lot of Bobby and Randy to come, suggesting that the character of Eric Grege will remain in the program in the predictable future.

Advertisement

In the meantime, questions remain on the reasons why Bobby was absent for several episodes. Was it just a way for writers to present Randy correctly, giving the public a chance to know the character by himself before establishing the dynamics between him and Bobby? Maybe. But he could also be the case that the writers created an upcoming scenario, in which Bobby potentially asks Colter of help to resolve the death of his friend, to whom he was clearly very close. If not, why would writers change the explanation of the absence of Bobby unless you have developed the background frame behind the scenes?

A much less interesting but just as plausible explanation for the prolonged absence of Bobby could be that CBS was simply trying to save money. In May 2024, Deadline reported that the network had reduced the guaranteed minimum episodes for several regulars in the series in its programs “FBI” and “FBI: Most Wanted”. It was a cost reduction exercise which seemed very similar to the way in which certain actors of “Gray’s Anatomy” also had their guaranteed episodes cut.

Advertisement

Anyway, we at least know that Bobby is back in “Tracker”. And although he is not part of The Taylor Sheridan Empire Taylor SheridanThe show has already been renewed for season 3, and it does not seem that Bobby will leave anytime soon.