‘Tracker’s Peter Stormare Played an Even More Frightening Villain on ‘Longmire’

If you watch enough television, you’re bound to recognize an array of character actors who appear on a few of your favorite shows at any given time. These delightful additions often help fill out the larger world that runs beyond the 40-ish minutes we’re privy to, and can help make a plot more meaningful or deadly. In the case of the hit CBS series Tracker, Justin Hartley‘s Colter Shaw recently had a run-in with a dangerous mob enforcer in the Season 1 episode “Into the Wild.” Played by Fargo and American Gods actor Peter Stormare, this Las Vegas native has a penchant for violence and doesn’t leave behind any survivors if he can help it. If that all feels familiar, then you might also recognize Stormare’s character Chance Gilbert from the hit A&E-turned-Netflix neo-Western Longmire, where he terrorized the people of Wyoming with his extremist political beliefs.

Tracker

TV-14

Crime

Drama

Colter Shaw travels the country in his old-school RV to help police and private citizens solve crimes and locate missing persons until his latest case changes everything.

Release Date

February 11, 2024

Creator

Ben H. Winters

Cast

Justin Hartley , Lee Tergesen , Oscar Chark , Eric Graise , Fiona Rene , Wendy Crewson

Seasons

2

Peter Stormare Is ‘Tracker’s Deadliest Villain, Yet He Was Scarier on ‘Longmire’

In the Tracker episode “Into the Wild,” Peter Stormare’s character (called “Voltz” or “Vaults” by some outlets, though he’s officially unnamed) is about as scary a villain as Colter Shaw (Hartley) has faced thus far. In many ways, he feels like he belongs in an episode of Criminal Minds or The Following rather than Tracker, yet here he shines. Stormare’s mob assassin is ruthless, unflinching, and single-minded as he fights to recover stolen funds on behalf of the Las Vegas mafia. As he and Colter play cat-and-mouse on their way to recover the missing persons involved, it’s clear that Stormare’s character isn’t going to let our hero go without a fight. Not only does Voltz manage to shoot Colter point-blank, but he kills or wounds plenty of others along the way as well, including Yellowstone star Gil Birmingham‘s character, Gus.

When things get especially hairy is when Colter and Gus’ son Hank (Jarrod Daniel) find themselves hiding beneath the floorboards of a North Idaho cabin as they watch in terror as the mob enforcer wanders about the room searching for them. He shoots, kicks, and looks everywhere before eventually discovering the hollow sound coming from below. Thankfully, Colter manages to put him down just before the killer can shoot below, but it’s a pretty close call there for a moment. Although Colter kills this baddie, we still get the impression that the fight isn’t fully over, and it’s entirely possible the Vegas mob could return to Idaho in the future. Despite that, Stormare’s commanding presence, uneasy cadence, and ability to transform suddenly into a killer is remarkable. His contributions to “Into the Wild” are noticeable, and they make him a force to be reckoned with.

Stormare’s Tracker appearance makes us only wish for more, and if you happen to be in that “more, please” boat, pivot over to the neo-Western series Longmire to get what’s perhaps the thespian’s greatest villainous role. Though he only appeared in six episodes of Longmire, Peter Stormare was sure to make an impact in his time in the fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming. As Chance Gilbert, the actor frightened and horrified audiences from Season 3 onward, and our heroes would never be the same. Though he first appeared when Sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) thought he might be the one responsible for killing his wife in “Wanted Man,” it wasn’t until his second appearance that we better understood what Chance, and Stormare by extension, was truly capable of.

Peter Stormare Played Crazed Cult Leader Chance Gilbert on ‘Longmire’

What makes a good villain? Is it the creep factor? The world-ending schemes? The diabolical means? In the case of Chance Gilbert, those things might all be true, but it’s the way Peter Stormare makes Chance feel cold, logical, and strictly by the book that makes him the most dangerous. Sometime before the events of the series, Walt killed Chance’s brother in a gunfight. While we don’t know the particulars, we do know that Walt was in the right to do so. Naturally, Chance disagrees, and that causes a heap of new problems for folks in northern Wyoming. In his mind, Walt is an enforcer of the state, hoping to encroach on his rights and land and imprison him for crimes he did not commit. So, instead of waiting for Walt (who is none the wiser) to make the first move, Chance takes his future into his own hands.

In “Population 25,” Chance abducts Deputy Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff) and her husband Sean (Michael Mosley), beats the tar out of them, and leaves them to die in his storm cellar. He taunts them, believing that Vic is an enemy agent sent to spy on his property, and wastes no time harassing them to the point of exhaustion. It’s traumatizing for Vic, who struggles to get over this ordeal even years after the fact, and it takes Walt teaming up with an enemy to rescue her and Sean. At one point, Chance even makes Vic believe Walt might be dead, and the real emotional turmoil begins. What’s worse, too, is that Chance is not alone here. He has a family of followers, some of whom are actual blood relatives, behind him aiding and abetting these heinous crimes. Even children are involved, having been brainwashed by Chance’s political humbug and revolutionary dogma from their youth.

Stormare plays the charming yet psychotic cult leader masterfully here, and his distinct vocals hover over our heroes as they struggle through his horrid grasp. It’s easy to attribute a lot of Chance Gilbert to the writers who dreamed up the character, and rightfully so, but Stormare brings this guy to life in all the worst ways and leaves a lasting impact on our heroes for years to come. He is truly the star of the show, and if he didn’t do so much damage in the time he was on screen, we might wish he had appeared in more than just six episodes. If you thought Stormare was bad news in Tracker, then his time here on Longmire is certainly worth checking out. Few television villains can really chill you to the bone, but Chance Gilbert is certainly one of them, and he wastes no time making you wish he’d just go away (in a good way, of course).

Chance Gilbert Was Walt Longmire’s Most Unhinged Nemesis

By the time Chance returns in Longmire‘s fifth season, Vic and her husband have gotten divorced and Walt has moved on from believing he had anything to do with Martha Longmire’s death. But Chance is still as formidable as ever, and in “Continual Soirée” it’s revealed that Chance, ever the pragmatist, is defending himself in court. An expert in the law, Chance argues with veracity and strength as he attempts to convince the jury that he didn’t do anything but try to help Vic back in Season 3. Rather, she was the one who was trespassing, and so he was within his rights to beat her and her ex-husband. What’s worse is that he makes this argument with Vic testifying on the witness stand, thus traumatizing her with PTSD flashbacks — namely, getting beaten in the head with a baseball bat.

Like the best literary villains, Chance is an opponent worth engaging on multiple fronts. He’s physically violent, to be sure, but he’s also intellectually formidable, so Walt must outsmart him at every turn. The problem is that Walt isn’t always available, and when Chance does eventually break out of prison (with the help of his deranged followers), he returns with an iron vengeance. A significant arc in Longmire‘s final season is Vic dealing with the physical and emotional trauma of losing an unborn child. This comes as a direct result of a gunfight between Chance, Walt, and Vic in “Thank You, Victoria,” where the political extremist wounds her in the stomach. It’s a heart-wrenching episode, and one filled with enough adrenaline to pack a serious punch, but even though Stormare’s villain is finally defeated, it comes at a serious cost.

Of course, Longmire has had plenty of exceptional villains over the years. Some are straight-up antagonists, such as Graham Greene‘s Malachi Strand, and others, like A. Martinez‘s Jacob Nighthorse, are simply red herrings. But when it comes to Chance Gilbert, he is one of the show’s most effective tools to date. Taking some of the best elements of villains from the original Craig Johnson novels on which Longmire was based, the creative minds behind the TV series broke the mold with Chance. Casting Stormare as the part — who has played plenty of villains in his day — was a stroke of genius as he tackled the role with such grace that you might be afraid to walk into the same room as him if you ever encountered him in the wild. It’s this type of expertise that Stormare brought to his role on Tracker, but what we see of his most recent villainous role can be easily traced back to one of his most notable. Longmire may be gone, but this mystery drama still makes waves today.

Tracker airs on Sundays on CBS and is available on streaming on Paramount+, while Longmire can be streamed on Netflix.

Watch on Paramount+