Tracker, the new high-profile CBS action drama, gets Reacher comparisons in first reviews — but not all are favorable. A proven success in the streaming landscape, action dramas have helped lead to high-profile hits like The Night Agent, The Recruit, Jack Ryan, and The Terminal List. Even with stiff competition, however, Reacher stands out. Just days after debuting, season 2 became the No. 1 title of 2023 for Prime Video in terms of total viewers across all series and films globally.
CBS looks to capture some of that Reacher audience with Tracker, a new show from creator Ben H. Winters. It stars This Is Us alum Justin Hartley as Colter a lone-wolf survivalist who travels the country and helps solve mysteries as a reward seeker. The premise of the new procedural, which had the coveted spot of debuting after the live broadcast of the 2024 Super Bowl, draws clear comparisons to Reacher. But critics are split on whether that's a good thing.
Is Tracker A Good Reacher Replacement?
Reviews are split.
Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Feinberg summarizes that Tracker is “mediocre, but acceptably ‘Reacher’-lite.” Feinberg goes on to endorse the series with a caveat, writing in part: “If you accept that Tracker isn’t exactly Reacher 2.0, but it’s close enough to offer the equivalent laundry-folding diversion, it has virtues even if, as a TV show, it’s beyond forgettable.”
TV Insider's Matt Roush underlines the key difference between Reacher and Tracker in the opening of his review, asking: “Is Reacher too violent for you? Consider Tracker, which is also based on a series of page-turning thrillers (by Jeffery Deaver), also about a drifting loner with a dark past who risks his neck wherever he goes, with the scars to prove it.” The Alan Ritchson-led adaptation of Lee Child again comes up in Nina Metz's Chicago Tribune review, dinging the CBS effort for how it portrays Hartley's lead character: “If only the show saw the humor in an archetype like Colter (which is what makes the similarly-themed Reacher on Amazon so watchable).”
Several of the reviews mention that Tracker, unlike Reacher, has a consistent cast of supporting characters. That includes Deadwood and Big Little Lies actor Robin Weigert, Work in Progress creator Abby McEnany, in addition to Fioana Renee as the lead character's former flame, who is a lawyer. Finding that the ensemble compliments Hartley, Terry Terrones for Paste Magazine gives the CBS effort a positive assessment and concludes: “Tracker is essentially the network version of Reacher, so it’s much more family-friendly, but I still want to see more fisticuffs.”
