Diksha Sundriyal
NBC’s ‘The Hunting Party’ puts Bex, Hassani, and Shane through the wringer in the final episode, as they try to foil Lazarus’ evil plan regarding the serial killers in the Pit. She was introduced in Season 1 as a force working behind-the-scenes. But she takes more and more control in the second season, until it becomes clear that her intentions with the Pit and its inmates are entirely different. In the midst of this, Bex and her team come up with a plan to defeat her, but with Lazarus in control of everything at the Pit, they need someone resourceful who can help them. This is where Mallory comes in, but it turns out that even she has underestimated Lazarus’ cunning and ruthlessness. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Mallory Pays the Price for Trying to Go Against Lazarus
One of the things that Bex and her team discover during the events of the second season is that some of the inmates they recaptured are missing from the Pit. They are not being returned to the system, which means someone has been secretly siphoning them to another location. Thanks to Peck, it is confirmed that Lazarus is indeed behind these mysterious disappearances. She is intent on running Pit’s graduate program, but it is not what Bex and the others initially assumed. It was never about rehabilitating the serial killers and finding a cure for their psychopathy. Rather, it was about using their psychopathy to turn them into weapons. Lazarus intended to run this program in secret, creating her own army of serial killers.
This revelation makes it clear that she should be brought to justice immediately, so Bex reaches out to Mallory. Initially, Mallory was the one in charge of the recapturing project. She had overseen the whole thing with Bex and her team while Oliver was still alive. But after the tragic events of the Season 1 finale, things turned against Mallory. Lazarus used the mess up to push her out of the program. Slowly, the team realized Lazarus was controlling every aspect of the project, including prison transport, which was what she wanted all along. When Mallory learns of this, she agrees to help the team. However, even the news of this agreement reaches Lazarus, and she kidnaps Mallory.
Knowing Bex and her team will not stop on their own, Lazarus uses Mallory to figure out what they are planning. The woman’s physical condition proves that she was heavily tortured before she gave in and let Bex and her team walk into a trap. She couldn’t warn them even if she wanted, and once Lazarus knew what Bex and her team were up to, she had no use left for Mallory. So, Lazarus had her killed. But instead of disposing of the body, Lazarus put it in a car sent to receive Bex, Hassani, and Shane. When Bex notices something odd with the boss, Lazarus opens the car’s door, and Mallory’s dead body falls out of it.
Mallory’s Death Paves the Way for New Leadership in the Pit
One of the great things about Mallory was that she was always supportive of the team, even if she didn’t always agree with their methods. She was also diligent in following the loose ends and seeing where they led, which is why Lazarus couldn’t have her poking around the Pit anymore. Lazarus knew that if things continued as they had under Mallory’s leadership, the Pit’s deepest, darkest secrets would be exposed to the whole world. Thus, Mallory being out of the picture was crucial to Lazarus’ plan working. For the most part, it did work, but then Bex brought Mallory back into the picture. And this time, Lazarus didn’t hold back.
With Mallory’s death, Lazarus would have been free to do whatever she wanted. This shows how crucial Mallory was to the operation. However, by the end of Season 2, the character had also run its course. It seemed that there was nothing new to add in her context, which is why she remained away for most of the season. Interestingly, Lazarus isn’t the one who benefits from Mallory’s death. If Mallory had been alive when Lazarus was killed, she would have been the logical person to receive the command of the operation. However, with her gone and Lazarus entirely out of the picture, a fresh leader is needed, which is where Bex comes in.
In Mallory’s absence, Bex, who has been instrumental in keeping the place running while catching serial killers and unmasking Lazarus’ true face, is the only one most capable of running the operation. Thus, in a way, Mallory’s death paves the way for Bex to receive a promotion. More importantly, by being in a higher position, she has access to information that would have been on a need-to-know basis. This means she is in a much better position to see the true extent of the Pit, understand what was really going on there, and find a way to end it once and for all.
Read More: Is Oliver Dead? Did Nick Wechsler Leave The Hunting Party?
