I always appreciate smart writing, and that’s something The Hunting Party has done from the beginning. The show looks like it will bring stereotypical storylines, and then turns those storylines on their head. We get that in The Hunting Party season 1, episode 8.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Hunting Party season 1, episode 8
The new episode picked up with Shane’s story, as he revealed why he lied to Dr. Dulles about who he is to the man. We also got another serial killer, but this time, it wasn’t the person who originally did the crimes. Of course, the original killer wasn’t going to give up who her protégé was.
Who is Shane to Dr. Dulles in The Hunting Party?
It turns out that while Shane isn’t really the son of Dr. Dulles, he wasn’t just lying about his identity to get some information about The Pit. He is adopted, and he wants to know more about his biological parents. Dr. Dulles was his therapist as a child, and he is the only person who knows about his biological parents.
Why would Dr. Dulles remember something like that when he has Alzheimer’s? Well, it turns out that he does remember Shane. We did see Dulles’s eyes light up when he originally saw Shane, so that makes sense. However, Dulles’s daughter doesn’t want Shane going back.
She did end the episode with old VHS tapes of all of Shane’s original therapy sessions. There’s a chance that the answers are in there.
Bex and Odell work together in The Hunting Party season 1, episode 8
Meanwhile, the team has a case. This one isn’t the usual case of figuring out who they’re after from The Pit and figuring out how their MO has changed. Instead, it’s the case of a copycat, and it takes some time to figure out who the person from The Pit is.
Denise Glenn, the original killer, wouldn’t give up the name of her protégé. She likened it to Odell protecting Bex, noticing that Odell is the master and Bex is the student. The only thing she gives away is that she’s shocked to find out her protégé is dead — of course, he isn’t, and it gives Bex and Odell the name of who they’re after.
The killings are done in an intriguing way. Denise and then Craig Martin are paying homage to the Greek muses. Each kill is staged in a way to highlight the craft that Denise believes the victim is worthy of. These victims were all high achievers in their fields, and Denise focused on the art of the staging. She wants these people to be remembered for their skills, and she wants to be remembered for her own.
It comes to the last of the nine muses, the mimic. Craig knows that Denise wanted to go after a professor who would claim her work as his own. However, he wasn’t going to let everyone just get out of dodge, and he had a bomb in his backpack. You see, Craig had his own issues.
I did love the psychology of this serial killer. There was a beauty in the horror, and it meant that these kills were ones that we couldn’t turn our eyes away from. So many of us would love to be remembered for the art that we do, but we wouldn’t kill for it! Denise was almost remembered for hers. I also adore the use of the Greek muses, but then I'm a Greek mythology nerd just like Hassani's daughter (and writer Keto Shimizu)
In the end, the team managed to take Craig down, and Denise was sent back to the cell that she was now in. After all, she is believed to be dead in this world, so it’s not like she can go back to Gen Pop. She gets a small box, until the government can figure out what to do with her.
Only, the ending makes it look like that won’t happen. The woman from before is back, and she has Denise killed. It’s clear that someone is cleaning up The Pit, suggesting that something wasn’t working.
Hassani has more answers about Silo 12 in The Hunting Party
Speaking of something that isn’t working, Hassani and Odell still don’t get along. Bex has to come in between them on multiple occasions, and she’s doing it because she wants answers. She wants to know more about Silo 12, The Pit, and the entire organization.
Hassani has managed to get some information about the people who made the IV bag. That came from Whitmore Sciences, led by James Whitmore. AG Mallory seems to be working with them as well, which is why she wants everything kept quiet.
We’re still not that much closer to figuring out what’s going on. With only two episodes left to the season, I am worried that we’re not going to get any big answers about The Pit that I need and the series is going to be canceled. I need NBC to renew The Hunting Party already!
The Hunting Party airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC. Catch up the following day on Peacock.
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