The Hunting Party Season 2 combined quirkier killers, family drama, and a season-long mystery.
Adding the trio’s dynamics, new characters, and Bex and Shane’s evolving romance kept fans hooked and made the second season so much better.
Shane’s quest to learn more about his birth mother and coming to terms with the truth about Col. Lazarus lasted the entire season and was an arc worth appreciating.
It wasn’t easy learning that brought back the Graduate program, or that she would’ve used Shane to further her plans.
Col. Lazarus was a brilliant, calculated monster, and likely the most sinister of the serial killers, who terrified some and others we empathized with.
Let’s discuss the intricacies of The Hunting Party Season 2 and what resonated with us the most.
Most Resonant Storyline: Shane’s Identity Crisis
While it felt like Shane received the best personal arc of the bunch, I’m not complaining. It followed Shane’s arc from Season 1 and added more drama.
Adoptees often struggle with the nature-versus-nurture issue, and I loved that Shane’s dilemma tied into a case.
He’s so much more than an experiment. Shane was raised by loving parents and developed his own dreams.
It hurt knowing that his friends kept the truth about Lazarus from him, and it hurt that he kept his search from them.
The trio could reconcile because of a strong foundation. It was harder for Shane to trust his birth mother.
He longed to give her the benefit of the doubt and have an actual relationship with her, but more secrets kept coming out, wrecking those dreams.
This arc was full of emotional drama and showed that Josh McKenzie has the layers to lead a series.
Favorite Serial Killer: Colette Atkins
Getting Piper Perabo to play a serial killer was a gift for the series. She exhibited these layers to Colette Atkins, who longed to reconnect with her dead mortician father.
The Hunting Party Season 2 Episode 9 featured its most sympathetic killer since Colette began killing by murdering her older sister, who used to torment and abuse her.
The Pit manipulated her to behave by playing a recording of her dead father’s voice. After the Pit, she spiraled because she didn’t even have that.
She hunted for victims who would sing and comfort her as her father used to, and she killed the ones who insinuated she was crazy.
We don’t usually sympathize with the killers, but I hope Colette Atkins received actual help and will not be a new soldier.
Scariest Serial Killer: Nancy Albright
Most of the serial killers this season were enjoyable. They were quirkier and creepier, but Nancy Albright (Jamie Chung) scared me the most.
She killed people to experience a high. At first, it looked like a sexual kink by choking them with a belt during foreplay, but she needed to be in control and kill them to feel a high, similar to her drug addiction.
She seemed more dangerous after the Pit. The Pit took away her ability to get high, so she made new friends at NA meetings and made them her new victims.
She put drugs in their drinks and then performed a blood transfusion so that she could experience the high, too.
It felt like vampires came to The Hunting Party, and Jamie Chung excelled at portraying a sinister, complex killer.
Best Episode: Xander Wax
The Hunting Party Season 2 Finale featured a creepy serial killer and revealed some truths about the Pit while dropping new bombshells.
Xander was one of the creepiest killers, but he answered to someone else after the Pit: Col. Lazarus.
He was ordered to kill the investigative journalists looking into the Pit, and when the trio caught up to him, he tricked them and led them straight to Lazarus.
Col. Lazarus was one of the most intelligent and calculated assassins. She would kill anyone who got in her way, except maybe Shane.
She wanted him to join her mission, but he refused, so she shot Bex in a heated confrontation, hoping Shane would end things and not send her back to prison.
It was one of the most emotionally charged scenes because Shane didn’t want to become like her. Thankfully, Bex survived, shot Lazarus, and she and Shane shared an emotional embrace.
Philip Beaumont revealed that the Pit created serial killers and transitioned them into weapons. We hope we’ll get to see Bex lead the team and find the rest of them.
Most Improved Character: Jennifer Morales
We loved Morales in The Hunting Party Season 1, but she was integrated better into the cast and stories this season.
She and Bex grew closer as they searched for the truth about Col. Lazarus and worried when they connected it to Shane.
Morales showed that she was a badass, too. She learned from Bex and knew how to talk down emotional killers like Norm, who held a gun to her head.
But she also knew how to crack into the computer system, unlock the cells, and give the trio a fighting chance.
I was in the minority and liked Morales with Peck. They had a flirtatious spark, and I hated that he had an alliance with Lazarus and killed Noah Cyrus.
Morales couldn’t look past that, but she allowed him to help them rescue the trio and set him free. She demonstrated her ethics, saying she’d accept the consequences as long as her friends were safe.
Favorite Shane & Bex Scene: Karaoke on the Plane
I’m not an avid Shane and Bex shipper like most of the fandom, but I’ll admit that they’re cute.
I still prefer their friendship first, and that they’d risk anything for each other. However, Shane’s boyish charm and ability to make Bex smile warmed my heart.
I wasn’t even surprised that Shane set up karaoke on the plane ride home since he missed singing in the bar.
He was so entertaining, and it was adorable how he spun Bex around and danced with her as they sang a duet.
I’m a sucker for karaoke duets, and “Time after Time” truly defined their relationship since they’ve stood by each other since day one.
How The Hunting Party Season 2 Excelled: Integrating Team Dynamics into Cases
I’ll scream it from the rooftops. The Hunting Party is similar to Timeless because it has a trio to catch the killers and another team running operations.
The trio felt even more like a family, this family, whether they were reminiscing about their teen years or consoling each other about how to move on after loss.
The Hunting Party fully integrated Shane’s identity issues into the season-long arc, but they also showed how the loss of loved ones affected Bex and Hassani.
Bex seemed more determined to bring the people behind the Pit to justice after she lost Oliver.
While Hassani was determined, he’ll be even more so if they had anything to do with his wife’s death.
Besides the trio, we loved seeing Morales integrated with them, as well as with Peck and Ben.
The men would’ve done anything to protect her when she was held at point, and it was refreshing seeing a second trio for a while.
While we couldn’t keep two teams, hopefully, Morales will still be more involved if we get a Season 3.
We’re unsure how long we’ll have to wait for official news, but we’ll update you as soon as we have more details. We want to see more of the team and the quirky killers.
Over to you, The Hunting Party Fanatics. What was your favorite part of Season 2? Do you think we’ll get another season?
Let us know in the comments.
-
The Hunting Party Season 2 added quirkier killers and an emotional Shane arc, which improved the series. Let’s discuss.
-
NBC has announced its plans for the fall season and there are some big swings. What’s removed and what’s still in limbo? Let’s discuss.
-
Eight broadcast TV shows are still on the bubble, and one of them is a definite cancellation and a few others are not far behind.
TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.