Just a few months after his widely loved Tracker debut at the end of Season 1, Jensen Ackles is already back on the hit CBS series for another adventure. Ackles joined close friend Justin Hartley in the penultimate episode of Tracker‘s first season, playing the pivotal role of Colter Shaw’s older brother, Russell. It didn’t take long for TV fans watching Tracker to notice some major similarities between Ackles’ Russell and Dean Winchester, the Supernatural character he played for 15 years.
Russell, like Dean, is the older and more arrogant of the two brothers in the story. He drives a black Chevrolet Impala and he is consistently trying to flirt (though he’s not always good at it). There are a lot of deep connections between Russell Shaw and Dean Winchester, and Tracker doubled down on the similarities in Ackles’ second appearance on Sunday night.
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“Ontological Shock,” the second episode of Tracker Season 2, sees Russell return to the fold after Colter goes missing on a case. The brothers spend about half of the episode together, and their time with one another is absolutely littered with Supernatural references, nods, and Easter eggs that are almost impossible to miss.
Dean’s Impala
Okay, so Russell Shaw doesn’t drive the exact same Chevy Impala as Dean Winchester, but the fact that he drives a classic black Impala at all is the most obvious Supernatural Easter egg featured in Ackles’ Tracker episodes.
Sunday’s episode takes things a bit further, though, by including a couple of jokes specifically about Dean’s car. The first comes when Colter hints at wanting a chance to drive his brother’s car, which Russell shuts down immediately. While Sam Winchester drove Dean’s Impala sometimes early on in Supernatural‘s run, Dean eventually became very protective and stopped letting anyone else behind the wheel.
Just a couple minutes later, Russell drops Colter off at a dirt road and refuses to drive his car further off the pavement. When asked why he won’t drive down the road, Russell says, “This baby wasn’t build for off-road.”
As all Supernatural fans know, “Baby” was the name of Dean’s beloved Impala.
Always Hungry
Snacking was a staple of Dean Winchester throughout Supernatural. It seemed like he was always eating something, especially in situations where you wouldn’t expect someone to be chowing down.
Russell Shaw has continued that trend on Tracker, stuffing his face at very random times. In Sunday’s episode, Russell and Colter are waiting in a science professor’s house, hoping to get some information when she gets home. Despite never meeting the woman before, Russell casually raids her fridge and makes himself a sandwich. He enters an important conversation with a mouthful of turkey and cheese, just like Dean would have.
Supernatural History
This episode of Tracker is much different than others in that it deals with aliens and conspiracy theories. Throughout the case, Colter and Russell debate about the existence of extraterrestrials and what kinds of things they actually believe in. Of the two, Russell is the one who actually believes in the existence of aliens, while Colter is much more down-to-Earth and logical.
At one point, Colter asks his brother if he’s actually seen these types of things, to which Russell responds, “Oh, brother. The stuff I’ve seen? It would blow your hair back.”
This is less an Easter egg and more a joke, but it’s clearly referencing Ackles’ years on Supernatural. That show put the Winchester brothers up against demons, monsters, vampires, and everything in between. There’s nothing Dean Winchester hasn’t seen, and Russell Shaw just seems to be picking up where he left off.