While we came to know and adore Justin Hartley as the lovable actor Kevin Pearson on This Is Us, his show on the 2024 TV schedule, Tracker, has him taking on a whole new role, as the "reward-seeker" Colter Shaw. However, that doesn’t mean the actor isn’t still thinking about the connections between the NBC hit and his upcoming CBS show. He even has a silly idea for a crossover, and even though he was joking about it, I’m serious, and I’d like to see this reunion happen.
This Is Us came to an end in 2022, and Tracker will be Hartley’s first lead role on TV since the NBC drama. Of course, because the actor played Kevin Pearson for six seasons, he’s very connected to the character and the This Is Us cast. With all that in mind, ET asked him about both his new show as well as his previous one, and he came up with a fantastic crossover idea for Tracker and This Is Us, saying:
Maybe we could find out [my character's] such a good tracker, maybe he finds Jack [Pearson]. Like [maybe] he never died, something like that?
Of course, one of the major point points in This Is Us, specifically the first few seasons, was the death of Kevin, Kate and Randall’s dad Jack (played by Milo Ventimiglia). While we know he died from smoke inhalation when their house burned down, Hartely is proposing that maybe his on-screen dad didn’t die. So, in this imaginary crossover event, his Tracker character Colter would possibly work with the Pearson triplets to go on a mission to find Jack.
I think we were all grabbing for the tissues during the tragic episode of This Is Us where we learned how Jack died. So, I assume many of us would love to see a happier alternate ending for the beloved patriarch of the Pearson family.
However, that’s simply a far-fetched dream, and This Is Us was one of many shows to end in 2022. Its finale is long gone, and the Pearson’s story has been over for a while now. Justin Hartley did say though that Kevin will always be with him, and you can feel a bit of the same charisma he brought to his Pearson triplet in his new character Colter. Speaking about prepping for Tracker, and his love for Kevin, Justin Hartley said:
I will always take pieces of Kevin Pearson with me everywhere I go. It's exhausting work diving into another character, because you do have to start over.
While it’s challenging to leave a character behind and develop a new one, Justin Hartley seems to have done it with grace, and his This Is Us co-stars have celebrated Tracker with him. Even though a crossover is unlikely, it seems like this actor’s on-screen family can’t wait for his new CBS show, and I’m in the same boat.
Even though I think Hartley’s idea for a This Is Us and Tracker crossover is genius, and I’d love to see it, it likely won’t happen. However, it’s always possible for actors like Chrissy Metz, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia to show up as guest stars.
If any of the above fantasies happen, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. As for what you can do, you can check out Justin Hartley’s new show Tracker when it premieres on February 11 right after the Super Bowl on CBS or the next day with a Paramount+ subscription. Plus, you can always go back and stream all six seasons of This Is Us with a Hulu subscription.
