Tracker arrived on CBS directly after Sunday night’s Super Bowl, and instantly drew comparisons to Prime Video’s Reacher.

SUMMARY

 CBS’s action drama series, Tracker , is drawing comparisons to Prime Video’s Reacher , but not all of them are complimentary.
 Tracker has a consistent supporting cast, unlike Reacher , which has changed costars between seasons, adding to complaints about character development.
 While Tracker may not compete with Reacher in terms of budget and popularity, it offers a stopgap for those looking for a similar action series.

Fans of Prime Video’s Reacher have a little bit of a wait until Alan Ritchson’s muscular action hero explodes back on screens in his next thrilling season. In the meantime, CBS’ new action drama series Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, has sparked considerable discussion among critics and audiences alike, drawing inevitable comparisons to the widely acclaimed series.

However, although there are many comparisons being made between the two shows, not all of them are in a complimentary way.

Tracker

Crime
Drama

Release DateFebruary 11, 2024
CastJustin Hartley , Mary McDonnell , Lee Tergesen
Seasons1

With its debut strategically positioned after the 2024 Super Bowl, Tracker aimed to capture a similar audience by featuring Hartley as Colter, a survivalist and reward seeker with a penchant for solving mysteries across the country. However, despite pulling in a very reasonable 82% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have not quite been as enamored with what The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Feinberg called “Reacher-lite.”

One of Tracker‘s advantages over Reacher seems to be its consistent supporting cast, which includes Robin Weigert and Abby McEnany. One of the biggest complaints around Reacher has been the fact that between Season 1 and Season 2, the costars of Ritchson changed, and will do so again in Season 3. This aspect is something that adds more weight to the character development angle that many have complained is missing from Prime Video’s juggernaut.

Is Tracker Able to Compete With Reacher?

Tracker is certainly in the same ballpark as Lee Childs’ creation, and it is not difficult to understand where the comparisons are coming from with Reacher still being a hugely popular topic of conversation weeks after the end of Season 2.

However, being on a network rather than with the backing of Amazon’s endless pots of cash to back it up, it has not taken long for those expecting Tracker to be able to compete with Reacher in that sense have found it lacking. As one reviewer noted:

I don’t get why it looks so cheap. Everything looks like a soundstage. Also this lone wolf nomadic person would not hire 2 people to Google leads for him. Network TV is done.

Of course, Reacher Season 2 suffered its own fair share of criticism over the quality of the writing and plot when compared to its first, so perhaps Tracker’s lacking in that side of things is not alone.

In short, while Tracker is not going to be dethroning Reacher as the King of the Meatheads, those looking for a stopgap in the same vein are clearly going to find something to like – and equally criticize – in the new action series.