Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of NBC’s ‘The Hunting Party’ brings back Bex Henderson and her team, as they continue their mission to catch escaped serial killers from the Pit. The first season ended with Bex meeting Colonel Eve Lazarus and discovering the true purpose of the Pit, which involved the test of a drug that could increase or decrease a person’s empathy. Meanwhile, Mallory concludes that the team is not doing its job, so she disbands the group. Elsewhere, Shane learns that his mother “graduated” from the Pit, and Jennifer Morales discovers that Eve Lazarus is somehow related to him. In catching the serial killer, Jenna Wells, Ryan Hassani is shot, while Oliver Odell is poisoned. While Hassani survives, things don’t take such a good turn for Oliver. SPOILERS AHEAD.
A New Serial Killer Haunts Texas
The episode begins in 2005 with a young woman getting her license at the DMV. The man behind the counter notices her name is Flora and makes a remark about it being the name of the character from an old movie. She doesn’t pay him much mind, but he notes down her address. Later that night, he waits for her under her bed and injects her with a paralytic. When she is immobile, he makes her lie by his side and watch the movie he had been talking about earlier. Some time later, the paralytic poisons her and she dies. The scene jumps to the day of the explosion in the Pit, where the young man, identified as serial killer Ron Simms, is being treated. Colonel Lazarus receives an update on her treatment and instructs the attending doctor, Dr. Charles, to expedite the process.
In the present day, Bex mourns Oliver, who passed away due to the poison patch put on him by Jenna Wells. However, she hasn’t forgotten her promise to see things through. So, she makes a video, exposing everything she has learned about the Pit. She threatens Mallory that she will release the video if she and her team aren’t allowed to come back. She also points out that the B team assigned to the task has not succeeded in containing the situation. While Mallory doesn’t like being cornered, she has no option but to give up. And with that, Bex and the team are back on the job, and their first case is Ron Simms.
A look into Ron’s history reveals that he had untreated anxiety, which led him to feel isolated while also craving love and companionship. Because he couldn’t talk to people normally, he would use chemicals to paralyse them, because that was the only way he could make them stay. The problem was that the paralytic would eventually kill his subject, so he would have to move on to someone else. This way, he killed more than a dozen women, and now, he is back on the streets. Bex also notes that with years of therapy and a love for rabbits, Ron had started to recover, which means he is not in the same state of mind and, hence, not the same killer anymore.
A Strange Connection Between Bex and Ron is Revealed
With Ron back on his killing spree, Bex and team make their way to Austin, Texas. Meanwhile, he uses a dating app called MatchyMaker to find women with whom he sees the possibility of a future. Bex’s deduction is proven right as we see Ron on a not-a-first date with a woman. He cooks food for her, they have wine, and he talks about how he just wants someone to be honest with. When she says he can tell her anything, he tells her about being a serial killer. When she gets scared and tries to run away, he paralyses her, doing the same thing he did all those years ago. Later, when Bex and the team arrive on the scene, she notes that the woman had already been on a couple of dates with him, which confirms that talking and confidence are not a problem for him anymore.
They discover that the victim was on MatchyMaker, which leads them to figure out the next woman he has developed an interest in. That evening, Ron goes on a date, which goes well enough for the woman to invite him to her house. Once again, the topic of honesty comes into the picture, and he shows her the documentary about his killings. Once again, the woman is terrified at the revelation, and he paralyzes her. Fortunately for her, she was being tracked by the team, so they arrive in time to save her. She is found paralysed on her floor and is taken to the hospital, but Ron is nowhere to be seen. Bex walks into the balcony to look for him, while he watches her from a distance.
Shane notices that the documentary features Bex as an expert, which means the serial killer knows exactly who she is. This is why, when they make a plan to trap Ron by getting her to come on a date to a cafe, Bex is forced to stay back in her vehicle, while Shane and Hassani wait for the serial killer to show up. Ron turns out to be smarter than that. He matches with several women on the app and sends them to the same cafe, distracting Shane and Hassani long enough to attack and kidnap Bex. He takes her to the isolated farm he has been staying in, taking comfort in the company of rabbits. This also includes Dr. Charles, his therapist from the Pit, whom he has dressed up as a rabbit to keep therapising him as he tries to find love.
A Change in Leadership Shakes Things Up for Bex and Her Team
Bex wakes up in a barn surrounded by rabbits and Dr. Charles. Ron gives her an antidote to bring her out of her paralysis and makes her film a video. Because she was the expert on the documentary, telling people about how messed up her was, she should be the one to tell people that he is not the same anymore. Bex goes along with him, but he makes her record the lines again and again because he is not convinced of her performance. She tries to get him to let Dr. Charles go, but Ron shoots him in the leg. He also threatens to shoot her, but she realises that he won’t do it, because she is the only one who truly knows him, and isn’t that what he wanted from all the women he killed?
Meanwhile, by tracking the documentary, the team figures out Ron’s location, and Hassani and Shane drive there, hoping to reach Bex on time. The sound of their car distracts Ron, which gives Bex a chance to run away. Hassani and Shane spot her and shoot at Ron. She hides inside another barn, followed by Ron. He tries to kill her, but she fights back, and by the time her colleagues show up, she already has him pinned down. She would have strangled him to death, but Shane’s words make her snap back. With that, Ron is arrested, and the team heads back to the base where they celebrate their win. Shane expresses his concern about Bex, particularly while she is still grieving Oliver’s death. While she says she is okay, she goes to Oliver’s empty office and has a beer that she should have been sharing with him.
While Bex, Hassani, and Shane were chasing after Ron, Mallory showed up at the base, where she cornered Morales, reminding her who she really works for. Morales wants her to spy on the team, and mentions Lazarus, which piques Morales’ interest. She reveals the recording Shane sent her, and Mallory asks her not to share the part about the voice being Lazarus’ with Shane. Later, when Shane asks her about the recording, Morales heeds Mallory’s words and doesn’t tell him anything. With the case wrapped up, the team doesn’t get much time to rest as Lazarus shows up at the base. She reveals that Mallory has been removed from the mission, and she is the one in charge now.
Read More: The Girl Who Got Away: Is Elizabeth Caulfield Based on a Real Serial Killer?
