The chemistry between Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas was at an all time high when the pair reunited on season 2 of Tracker.
During the latest episode of the show, which aired on Sunday, October 27, Colter (Hartley) teams up with his ex Billie (Pernas) when she tries to solve a case in her hometown. As a result, Colter more about Billie — including what caused her to run away from her past.
“My mom took care of me and my sister alone. To make ends meet, she was a grifter. Sometimes she would use us to help divert a store clerk when she was shoplifting and she even had us shaking donation cans at Christmas once,” Billie revealed after her and Colter found a missing high school baseball star. “But her big con was when she got a job at City Hall. She was the bookkeeper and embezzled almost half a million from the treasury. The town couldn’t pay out salaries and pensions that year and people talk. My family name was ruined.”
Colter tried to console Billie, saying, “You were a kid, it wasn’t your fault.” According to Billie, she was still punished for her mother’s actions.
“You think that would have mattered. My sister was already 20 so she left town and I was a senior in high school just sticking it out until graduation. I will never forget how cruel people were,” she recalled. “It didn’t matter that the FBI said I was a victim too, they all still blamed me.”
When Colter asked why Billie returned to a place she wasn’t welcome, she replied, “I know but I wanted to do something positive and lasting here. … The thing is I was young but I knew what my mom was doing was wrong and I didn’t stop her. I loved and hated her at the same time.”
The deep conversation allowed Colter and Billie to bond over their “dark family” secrets. But when Billie asked what they should do about their similar trauma, Colter suggested they “not talk about it” and the off-an-on fictional couple drank at the bar in silence.
“They have a nice scene where she really does open up to him,” Hartley, 47, told TVLine during a joint interview with Pernas, 35, about the pivotal scene before it aired on screen. “The way that you played it was beautiful. Your performance suggests that you’ve never shared [this information] with anyone, ever.”
Colter’s undeniable connection with Billie has been explored on the show since season 1. According to Hartley, it was always the plan to bring Pernas along for the ride in an important role.
“I just thought it would be a really cool idea. It was sort of my idea from the beginning to have this character that comes on that you just mentioned,” Hartley explained to Deadline in May. “I think it was in the second episode, there was a big reward for a car. There was a line that one of the ladies said, ‘Word on the street is that Billie is circling the case.’ And then Coulter kind of eye rolls. If you’re really paying attention, you go, ‘Oh, he’s got a rival, this guy Billie.’”
Hartley, who is also an executive producer on the procedural, recalled laying the groundwork for Pernas‘ character before she showed up, adding, “My idea was to tease that and intentionally name the character Billie, and then reveal that Billie is, of course, Sofia.”
He continued: “We didn’t get to tease that as much as I would have liked, just because we were so pressed with time. But that was the intention. Then when she came on, to be honest with you, I’m not sure how much of that character aspect that she brought was actually written.”
Billie isn’t the only woman in Colter’s life, though. During the season 2 premiere earlier this month, fans were introduced to Camille (Floriana Lima), who is involved in an open case Colter wasn’t able to solve.
“I think the relationship has changed based on the trauma bond. That’s exactly what it is — a trauma bond,” Hartley told TVLine at the time. “It’s very, very sad, but it’s like these married couples that lose their child, and they can’t be together anymore because they see their child in the other person.”
As more episodes dig into Colter’s past with Camille, viewers will learn more details about him. “[This story line] has been built in a way that, when you look at it, you go, ‘Oh man, that was a pivotal moment in Colter’s life that changed the way he approaches his work and his relationships with other people,’” Hartley explained..
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
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