If ‘Tracker’ Has You Hooked, These Are the Best Shows to Watch While You Wait for More Colter Shaw

There are few things more satisfying on Sunday night television right now than watching Colter Shaw roll into a new town, size up a crisis that has everyone else stumped, and get to work. ‘Tracker’ has become a genuine phenomenon on CBS, and the numbers back that up completely. ‘Tracker’ has been averaging just under 14 million cross-platform viewers over seven days in its third season, making it the most-watched network entertainment series of the current broadcast season.

The problem, as any devoted fan knows, is that the wait between episodes and seasons can feel brutal. With hiatuses and long waits between seasons, ‘Tracker’ fans need something else to watch until Justin Hartley graces their TV screens again. The good news is that the television landscape is full of shows delivering that same rush of a resourceful, unconventional hero cutting through impossible situations one case at a time.

What Makes ‘Tracker’ So Addictive

Before diving into the alternatives, it helps to understand exactly what the show is doing right. ‘Tracker’ is an action drama series created by Ben H. Winters, based on the 2019 novel ‘The Never Game’ by author Jeffrey Deaver. The CBS series follows the story of an extremely skilled survivalist who goes from town to town finding missing people and things to collect rewards for them.

CBS’s ‘Tracker’ distinguishes itself from similar shows with its focus on compassion and character development. Colter Shaw is portrayed as a nomadic rewardist with a team dynamic, and the show is well-suited for network audiences with its procedural format and self-contained stories.

Each episode presents a mystery, but the show also builds a slow-burning lore around Colter’s past and the people he has left behind. That layered storytelling, wrapped inside clean weekly cases, is what keeps audiences coming back, and it is exactly what to look for in any worthy substitute.

‘Reacher’ Is the Most Natural Companion Watch

No discussion of shows like ‘Tracker’ gets very far before ‘Reacher’ enters the conversation, and that comparison is entirely earned. ‘Tracker’ has gained a lot of praise for being an entertaining, engaging show that balances the somewhat played-out lone wolf trope with an ensemble team. Colter Shaw is an interesting character, with all of Jack Reacher’s skills and tendencies to self-isolate, but with a better head on his shoulders thanks to his support system.

Season 1 of ‘Reacher’ adapts ‘Killing Floor,’ while Season 2 dives into ‘Bad Luck and Trouble,’ infusing Reacher’s old unit for a revenge-fueled mission. Each one is a standalone arc packed with action, mystery, and dry wit. Alan Ritchson plays the role with a deadpan authority that is impossible to look away from, and the show has the same confidence in its central character that makes ‘Tracker’ so easy to root for.

Both ‘Reacher’ and ‘Tracker’ feature a tough male lead who goes out of his way to help those in trouble, and both are based on books, with their main characters regularly traveling to new locations for new cases. If you have somehow not started ‘Reacher’ yet, that is the very first place to go.

‘Will Trent’ and ‘Poker Face’ Fill the Lone Investigator Gap

For fans who love the idea of a brilliant outsider solving what the system cannot, ‘Will Trent’ on ABC is a near-perfect prescription. ‘Will Trent’ revolves around Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He has a photographic memory, a troubled past, and a knack for noticing details others miss. Raised in the foster system and dyslexic, Will brings a unique perspective to any crime he solves.

Will Trent is a police procedural series that fans of ‘Tracker’ might enjoy due to the fast-paced nature of an outcast who wants to do the right thing. Will might have slightly different morals than Colter, but they both want to bring criminals to justice. The emotional depth behind the character is what elevates the show beyond a standard procedural, and it carries the same warmth that ‘Tracker’ brings to its hero.

Charlie Cale in ‘Poker Face’ isn’t a cop, or a detective, or even remotely qualified to solve crimes, but she has an uncanny gift for telling when someone is lying. Created by Rian Johnson, the Peacock series uses a clever inverted mystery format where viewers always know the killer, and the joy is watching Charlie unravel the truth from the outside. It is quirky, unpredictable, and deeply satisfying in a way that scratches a very similar itch.

‘Burn Notice’ Proves the Formula Has Always Worked

Streaming libraries are full of older shows that perfected the ‘Tracker’ formula long before ‘Tracker’ existed, and ‘Burn Notice’ is perhaps the best of them. Michael Westen and Colter Shaw come from different backgrounds, but the similarities in how they operate are striking. Both are lone-wolf heroes who stay calm in chaos, rely on skill over emotion, and solve problems with methodical precision.

Michael’s voiceovers break down spy techniques, how to slip through hostile areas, fake surveillance, or improvise tools, with relaxed, matter-of-fact clarity that invites the viewer into his thought process. That same quality of letting the audience inside the hero’s head is a huge part of why ‘Tracker’ works as well as it does, and ‘Burn Notice’ mastered it across seven full seasons.

‘Burn Notice’ is a seven-season spy drama with an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score and a very positive critical reception for both its fanbase and overall consistency. For anyone who needs a deep well of episodes to fall into between ‘Tracker’ seasons, this is the answer.

‘The Hunting Party’ and ‘Elementary’ Round Out the Watchlist

For fans who want something fresher and currently airing, ‘The Hunting Party’ on NBC is worth the attention. Though the show’s inaugural season wasn’t met with great critical reviews, audience scores were strong. Most critics noted that it mixes tropes from shows like ‘The Blacklist,’ ‘Blindspot,’ and ‘Prodigal Son,’ but for viewers simply looking for another show that scratches a familiar itch, ‘The Hunting Party’ does exactly that.

In ‘The Hunting Party,’ the lead demonstrates her ability as a profiler to get into the minds of criminals to figure out where they may have gone. Colter Shaw does something similar, as he investigates a missing person’s history, family, and relationships. That shared psychological dimension is what makes the show feel like a natural companion piece to ‘Tracker.’

‘Elementary’ is a modern-day update of Sherlock Holmes set in New York City, where Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock and his partner Dr. Joan Watson help the NYPD crack cases through their unconventional sleuthing methods. ‘Elementary’ ran for seven seasons between 2012 and 2019, so if you are looking for a show to occupy you for a while rather than just a quick weekend binge, here it is. The show’s genius lies in the same place ‘Tracker’ thrives: an unconventional hero whose strange approach to a problem is always, ultimately, the right one.

The streaming era has made it easier than ever to chase that feeling of a great episodic procedural, and every show on this list offers something specific that ‘Tracker’ fans will recognize immediately. Which of these has already made it onto your watchlist, and which lone-wolf hero do you think gives Colter Shaw the toughest competition?