Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Hunting Wives’ follows the story of Sophie O’Neil, who moves to Texas with her husband, Graham. This is supposed to be a fresh start for them, given the trouble that Sophie has been through. While she is processing past trauma, new problems emerge when a girl is found dead, and it seems to be connected to Sophie. Things are made more complicated as Sophie sparks a friendship with the enigmatic Margo Banks, whose husband aims to run for governor. By the end of the season, the story takes so many twists and turns that the characters, especially Sophie, are forced to make some very tough decisions. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Hunting Wives Plot Synopsis
Sophie moves from Boston to Texas, which feels like a culture shock to her on a number of levels. When she attends a party at her husband’s boss’ house, she meets Margot, with whom she feels an instant connection. The allure of Margot deepens as Sophie falls for her despite her best instincts. At the same time, she is also introduced to the world of wealthy wives whose relations with each other are more complex than what appears on the surface. It turns out that Margot and her husband, Jed, are in an open relationship. It means that they are allowed to bring a second woman into their bed, but according to the deal, Margot is not supposed to sleep with another man.
However, Margot doesn’t care for the rules. She indulges in an affair with Brad, the eighteen-year-old son of her friend Jill. Brad is in a relationship with a girl named Abby who comes from a humbler background and is not approved of by Jill. Meanwhile, the more time Sophie spends in Margot’s presence, the more corrupt she gets. She falls into drinking and partying, not to mention cheating on her husband with Margot. She hits her rock bottom when Abby is found dead and Sophie’s gun turns out to be the murder weapon.
Who Killed Abby? Why?
The investigation into the murder of Abby leads Sophie down a road where she ends up unintentionally unraveling the secrets of others. At first, it is believed that Abby got pregnant with Brad’s child but had an abortion, which did not sit well with Jill, so she killed Abby. Unfortunately, Jill is unable to explain herself because she is shot dead by Margo’s friend and on-and-off lover, Callie, after she points a gun at Margo. With Jill pinned as the murderer, the case is considered closed. This leads Sophie to reconsider her life choices. By now, her feelings for Margo have grown considerably, and she leaves Graham to think about a future with her lover.
After having sex with her, Sophie casually looks through Margo’s stuff and discovers that she has tampons. This strikes her as strange because the first time they met, Margo told her that she doesn’t use a tampon. At the time, Sophie thought this was some conservative thing, but now that she knows that Margo has a thing for lying, she decides to look into the matter. A quick search on the Internet reveals that a person might not use a tampon after an abortion, and that shifts the entire narrative for Sophie. It turns out that when Brad told Pastor Pete that his girlfriend got an abortion, he wasn’t talking about Abby, but Margo.
For years, Margo kept herself from having Jed’s babies, so when she got pregnant with Brad’s baby, the only thing she could do was to abort it. Because of the strict laws of the state against abortion, there was only one person whom she could ask for help: her biological father. He was a doctor and ran a small clinic on the other side of the town with his wife, whom he hadn’t told about his affair and the fact that he had two children, Margo and Kyle, from it. With her father’s help, Margo thought she was in the clear, but then, Abby found out about the pregnancy. This happened after Pete confronted her about it, claiming that Brad had told him she got an abortion. It didn’t take her long to put two and two together, so she decided to confront Margo about it.
That night, Margo, Sophie, Brad, and Jamie had been partying. They had alcohol and drugs, which knocked Sophie out such that she couldn’t remember a thing. She forgot that she had walked out of the house and ran into Abby, who may have pleaded with her to help her talk to Margo. When Sophie left the picture, Margo came in. Abby threatened to out her secret, which wouldn’t just be damaging for her but also for her husband, who was focusing on his election campaign. Because Jed had been fighting for an anti-abortion bill, his own wife getting an abortion would have ruined him forever. When Jed loses everything, Margo loses everything, which is why she couldn’t afford Abby going around telling on her. So, she decided to save herself, for which she killed Abby.
Does Margo Go to Jail? Does Sophie Rat Her Out?
Discovering that Margo was pregnant with Brad’s child and got an abortion puts a lot of things in perspective for Sophie. She confronts her father, the doctor, about it, and it turns out that Margo’s alibi for that night about Kyle overdosing and almost dying was pure fabrication. The siblings had conspired with their father to cook up the story that would conveniently give Margo a perfect alibi. Meanwhile, Kyle took care of the body. However, he made a mistake when, instead of getting rid of the murder weapon, he sold it, and the man who bought it tried to rob a store, which led to the weapon’s discovery.
The fact that Margo had been the killer all along and she tried to let Sophie take the fall for it broke the latter’s heart. She thought that Margo really loved her, so this betrayal leads her to confront her, and she doesn’t care if it’s in the middle of a party where some major political figures are present. When she puts all the cards on the table, Margo confesses to everything, but she pleads with Sophie not to go to the cops. She claims that she was too drunk to make the right decision and killing Abby was a mistake. She also tries to assure Sophie that she never intended to frame her for the murder, but when things went bad, she tried to turn the attention on Jill.
Considering that the case is officially closed, with Jill being declared the culprit, Margo sees no point in digging things up again. If Sophie goes to the cops, everything Margo has worked for her entire life will unravel. Sophie, however, does not sympathise with her at all. First, she goes back home to her husband and confesses about having an affair with Margo. This prompts Graham to leave town to get in the right headspace to deal with his wife’s betrayal, on top of all the other stuff she’d been involved with. The next morning, Sophie drops a message to Detective Wanda Salazar. However, before she can get the chance to talk to her, things take an entirely unexpected turn. By the time the season ends, Sophie hasn’t told anyone about Margo’s secret. While Margo prepares herself for the eventuality, things don’t get that far, and Margo is still a free woman.
Is Kyle Dead? Does Margo Know Sophie Killed Him?
When Margo discovers that Sophie knows her secret, she becomes worried that her lover will go to the cops. When Jed notices that his wife doesn’t look well, he asks her about her problem and assures her that whatever it is can be taken care of, as he has the resources to do it. This leads her to confess everything, from her affair with Brad to the pregnancy to the abortion, but before she can confess to Abby’s murder, Jed slaps her. He doesn’t want to know anything more than what he has already heard, and that is enough for him to throw her out of his house. With nowhere else left to go, Margo winds up at her brother’s house.
Kyle welcomes his sister with open arms, and when she expresses the desire to lawyer up and then confess to her crimes, he tries to knock some sense into her. According to him, things are yet to go that far, so she shouldn’t give up so easily. They have had all sorts of problems in their lives, but she has always found a way to get out of them. He believes that she can get out of it now, too. Encouraged by her brother’s words, Margo visits Callie and seduces her before telling her that Sophie has lost her mind and is threatening to accuse her of baseless things. Callie promises her that her husband, Jonny, who is the town sheriff, will keep an eye out for Sophie in case she comes to the cops to spread lies about Margo.
With Callie on board to help her, Margo believes the situation is settled. What she doesn’t realise is that her brother has devised a plan of his own to help her. That night, Sophie’s mental state spirals, and she goes out to get alcohol. As she drinks and drives, she is followed by Kyle. He forces her to stop in the middle of the road. He intends to scare her such that she won’t tell on Margo. But he underestimates just how scared Sophie can get. As she tries to drive away from him, she ends up running over him. Her first instinct is to call the cops, but then, with the empty alcohol bottles on the dashboard, she knows that she will be seen as the guilty party.
She already has a similar past transgression, and she cannot afford to get arrested for the same thing again. This time, her husband won’t help her make it go away, and Child Protective Services will take her son away from her for good. So, in an act of self-preservation, Sophie decides to dispose of Kyle’s body. As she is about to throw him into the water, his phone rings and she accidentally picks it up. It turns out to be Margo on the other line. When Kyle doesn’t talk back, she becomes concerned. She wonders if he is with Sophie.
When there is nothing but silent breathing on the other end, she realizes that something bad has happened to her brother, and it has to do with Sophie. Because Kyle has scared people on her behalf before, she knows how things may have gone down, but this does nothing to change the fact that Kyle is gone. Now, Sophie is a murderer too and is in the same place as Margo. Both know each other’s secret, which means that should one of them go to the cops, the other will expose them, which means that, for now, both of their secrets are safe.
Read More: Is The Hunting Wives Based on a True Story?
