The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Learning to Trust Amidst a Violent Manhunt

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

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Hunting violent serial killers as an established team is challenging enough. The Hunting Party is attempting this with a team that was thrown together.

This could make or break the series since team dynamics and chemistry are the main pull. Two cliffhangers were dropped at the end of The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 1.

Jacob Hassani revealed a long list of violent criminals their team had to find and capture, and Oliver Odell (Nick Wechsler) hinted that the prison break wasn’t an accident. That’s a lot for Bex to process and enough for her to distrust her co-workers.

That made the chase even more dangerous because Bex needed to understand these perilous, violent killers before they hunted again. Jacob and Shane had to reveal honest information about these killers’ tendencies to profile them accurately.

Bex also had to face her past and one of the most violent criminals ever in the Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 2 — her best friend’s father. Additionally, she and the team got involved in an intense manhunt for Clayton Jessup, who preyed on and killed happy families.

Understanding Why a Serial Killer Targets Happy Families

Profiling Clayton Jessup was more interesting than Richard Harris. While Clayton Jessup was violent, there was a deep-seated reason.

He had never been part of a happy family and suffered from reactive attachment disorder. He craved love and attention, but when he couldn’t form the proper relationships, he killed people, beginning with his own family on his 16th birthday.

That was such a creepy scene. Who would be happily celebrating their birthday after killing their family and pretending their adoring attention was on him?

It only became more complex and creepy from there. No one liked dealing with Clayton Jessup in prison; instead, he was made to view educational videos on how to curb his anger.

The problem was he only became angrier watching loving families support their problem child, and now he wanted to kill those actors who portrayed the perfect family.

He was most concerned about harming the woman who played the mom-Irene McFaddon, and the team had to stop him before he was killed again.

Whenever Bex got close to solving a mystery, there were more questions.

Naturally, the most pressing question was why the Pit exploded, but I doubt we’ll get a concrete answer until the end of The Hunting Party Season 1. It’s the central mystery.

However, it was disconcerting that Dr. Lansing, who made progress with Clayton Jessup, was told not to return to the Pit or associate with him. Did they want the prisoners to remain violent?

Dr. Lansing was the first person to genuinely care about Clayton Jessup, and when that was taken away, he spiraled again, thinking everyone lied again.

It made sense why he even believed that the doctor betrayed him. They must have had a unique relationship if Dr. Lansing initially hid him and his prisoners and tried to prevent Bex and Shane from finding them.

While Clayton Jessup was a terrifying serial killer, this time, it seemed the Pit heightened his tendencies.

The Intense Manhunt Tested Team Dynamics and Trust

Working this case tested team dynamics. Bex grew frustrated because so much intel got destroyed when the Pit blew up, and that was often Jacob or Shane’s excuse for everything.

She was better at cracking Shane for information. Like her, he didn’t like lying to families about their dead or missing loved ones and seemed more aligned with Bex.

That could become problematic since the two went by themselves to confront Dr. Lansing about information about Clayton Jessup with Jacob and almost got killed until he showed up to save the day.

While Jacob was relieved they weren’t hurt, he warned Bex not to run off without him again and stated they found prison guards among the rubble, hinting that the prison break was not an accident.

Hopefully, Shane wasn’t involved. He needs to stay a good guy.

While we only saw a few minutes of her, Jennifer Morales (Sara Garcia) seemed like a welcome addition. She’s intelligent and versed in research.

She knew how to find Clayton Jessup’s digital therapy sessions, isolate the audio, and locate which university hosted those educational videos.

We’ll hopefully learn more about her personal life, but she should be an asset to the team.

Bex Faces Her Worst Enemy and Learned New Secrets

Naturally, after Bex learned so many dangerous criminals had escaped, she feared Eli Johnson was one of them.

It took a lot for Bex to ask Oliver for information about Eli, and Oliver knew their trust had been broken. She would never believe Eli wasn’t lost and roaming unless he hand-delivered the prisoner to the base himself.

Eli Johnson was a piece of garbage. He had no shame about killing a dozen girls. He only wanted to taunt Bex that she lied years ago.

She wasn’t alone when she spotted that rope. His daughter Naomi was with her, and she turned his daughter against him. Bex had to live with the guilt that Eli killed his own child as the cops arrived for revenge.

Bex never knew that Oliver knew about her mistake. Perhaps this leveled their playing field since they each had a dark secret.

Bex: Why didn’t you tell me that you knew the truth?

Oliver: Because it was your story. If you ever wanted me to know, you’d tell me yourself someday when you were ready.

The Hunting Party has potential if it continues exploring each character’s history and relationships. The series made some strides with Bex, explaining her reasoning for becoming an FBI agent, but there are so many more questions.

Why didn’t she trust Oliver with the truth after they dated? Will it help their relationship that he accepted her after the truth?

Let’s discuss that cliffhanger. Jacob heard that Oliver orchestrated the prison break, whereas in The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 1, Oliver told Bex he thought the prison break was planned, implying he had nothing to do with it.

This became messier, and the mystery could be the best part. It tests Bex’s alliances since she doesn’t know who to believe.

Over to you, The Hunting Party Fanatics. Who do you think Bex can trust? Whose backstory should the series dive into next?

We would love to hear your thoughts, so please share them below.

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