Diksha Sundriyal
Bex Henderson and her team return in the second season of NBC’s ‘The Hunting Party,’ catching the serial killers who escaped after the explosion at the Pit. The secret government facility served as a prison as well as a research facility where the prisoners were being experimented on. At the end of Season 1, the team was disbanded by Attorney General Mallory, but since a lot of prisoners are still on the run, she is forced to bring the original team back. However, not everyone returns to finish the job. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Hunting Party Season 2 Premiere Confirms Oliver Odell’s Fate
The first season of ‘The Hunting Party’ ended on a cliffhanger, with Oliver Odell, the Pit’s former warden and the leader of the team put together to catch the serial killers, being poisoned by serial killer Jenna Wells. By the time the credits start to roll, Oliver is still in Bex’s arms as she cries over him while calling for help. Jenna had used a similar poison patch on another victim before, and that person died pretty quickly. This was enough to show that Oliver would end up the same way, but with him being such an important part of the story, the fans hoped that he would survive somehow.
The first episode of the second season confirms that Oliver did not survive the ordeal. We find Bex at a cemetery, looking longingly at his gravestone. She also talks about him in the past tense and mentions that she is coming back to finish things because that’s what he wanted. Later, when the team comes back together, Oliver’s office is empty, and everyone avoids talking about him. At the end of the episode, when the case is solved, Bex takes two beers to his office, where she leaves one for him in remembrance. From the way the events unfold in the episode, it is clear that the grief of losing Oliver will remain a major plot point for Bex’s arc. However, one can’t help but notice that we never actually see his dead body.
Oliver Might Yet Return to The Hunting Party
Usually, when a main character leaves a show, there are signs to prepare the fans for the goodbye. However, in the case of ‘The Hunting Party,’ there has been no such thing. NBC did not announce the departure of Nick Wechsler, and neither did the actor talk about or post anything on his social media account to hint at his permanent absence from the show. Of course, this could be because the show’s creators wanted to keep Oliver’s death a secret until the first episode of Season 2 aired. However, the actor is still listed as a main cast member for the show. Does this mean that he hasn’t actually left?
One way to explain this could be that Oliver isn’t actually dead. There is a possibility that he survived the events of the Season 1 finale, and Lazarus, who has been orchestrating many things from behind the scenes so far, decided that it would be better if he were considered dead. Since she had been watching the whole thing unfold in front of her and because Oliver had been such an important asset for her, it wouldn’t make sense if she just let him die. Perhaps Oliver was taken to the hospital or to some other, more secret facility. Possibly, Bex and the team were told he had died, but in reality, he survived, and it was kept a secret.
The reason behind this could be that Lazarus has other plans for him. Perhaps she wants him to go undercover in the Pit, or she has hired him for some other secret government scheme related to the events at the Pit. Because she is already so secretive, she wouldn’t want Oliver’s new mission to be known by his team, so she made it appear as though he was gone. If that’s the case, then fans must brace themselves for the time when Bex eventually figures out that her former flame is alive and kicking, and has got involved in even more shady things. And if that’s not it, then goodbye, Oliver Odell.
Read More: The Hunting Party Finale Recap and Ending Explained: Does Oliver Die?
