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The Hunting Party is an American procedural crime drama television series created by JJ Bailey. Premiering on NBC on January 19, 2025,[1][2] the series revolves around a small investigative team assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers known who have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist. In May 2025, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on January 8, 2026.[3][4]

Premise

After a secret prison hidden underneath the Wyoming countryside suffers an unexpected explosion, the nation’s worst serial killers are once again at large. Former FBI profiler Rebecca “Bex” Henderson is brought back into the fold alongside an elite team of soldiers, spies, and special agents to help track down and recapture these deadly criminals before they kill again. Thrust into a world of intrigue and conspiracy, Bex must grapple with not only her own complex past, but the enduring mystery of what was happening at this prison and who caused the explosion in the first place.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Zabryna Guevara as Elizabeth Mallory, the United States Attorney General
  • Kari Matchett as Colonel Eve Lazarus, a high-ranking military officer and a former inmate of The Pit who is secretly Shane’s mother
  • Matt Frewer as Dr. Henry Dulles, a scientist and doctor who used to work in The Pit studying the inmates
  • Siobhan Williams as Sarah Dulles, Dr. Dulles’ daughter
  • Luke Forbes as Jonathan Peck (season 2), an associate of Colonel Lazarus who is part of the Inmate Recovery Task Force

Special guest stars

  • Eric McCormack as Ron Simms (season 2), a serial killer who preys on women who are searching for love
  • Niecy Nash-Betts as Erica Burke (season 2), a detective who brought a serial killer to justice in the past
  • Kelsey Grammer as Noah Cyrus (season 2), the leader of a Chicago-based doomsday cult known as the Thirteenth Hour

Episodes

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
110January 19, 2025 (2025-01-19)April 7, 2025 (2025-04-07)
213[5]January 8, 2026 (2026-01-08)May 7, 2026 (2026-05-07)[5]

Season 1 (2025)

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
11“Richard Harris”Thor FreudenthalJJ BaileyJanuary 19, 2025 (2025-01-19)3.05[6]
An explosion at The Pit, a prison within a decommissioned missile silo in Cheyenne, Wyoming kills many people but also releases several inmates who are death-row convicts, kept alive for illegal and unethical experimentation. Former FBI agent Rebecca ‘Bex’ Henderson is brought to J.M. Webb Air Force Base to help recapture them after being informed of the situation by US Attorney General Elizabeth Mallory and CIA operative Jacob Hassani, who escorts her to the Pit, where they meet former marine and prison guard Shane Florence. The first identified escapee is Richard Harris, a murderer who targeted blonde women, blinding them chemically before killing them. Bex, Hassani and Shane track him to the home of Nicole Westin, who survived his attacks. However, they discover she is secretly his accomplice and pretended to be a survivor to escape prosecution. During the confrontation, Richard is shot and killed, while Nicole is exposed and arrested. Meanwhile, flashbacks reveal Bex left the FBI after witnessing her former partner, Oliver Odell, now head of security at the pit, immolate a kidnapper to get information on a hostage, Samantha, who Bex later adopted as her daughter. Odell informs Bex the explosion at the Pit was no accident.
22“Clayton Jessup”Marcus StokesKeto ShimizuFebruary 10, 2025 (2025-02-10)2.87[7]
Intelligence officer Jennifer Morales informs Bex that another escapee has been identified. The escapee, Clayton Jessup, is a murderer who poisoned entire families. Bex asks Odell to look into Eli Johnson, who Odell claims was never in the Pit. Tracking Clayton, the team finds he is kidnapping the actors from a PSA video he was shown in the Pit. Bex admits to Shane that Eli Johnson is the serial killer father of her childhood best friend, who Bex herself turned in. They find Clayton with the captives at the house of Dr. Lansing, Clayton’s former therapist who he crippled, and Shane discreetly takes photos of Lansing’s former colleagues, before he is subdued by Clayton. Bex saves the captives and manages to distract Clayton from killing Lansing long enough for Hassani to subdue him. Later Hassani admits to Bex there is evidence the explosion was deliberate. Back at the Pit, Odell allows Bex to meet Johnson, who taunts her about abandoning his daughter to die and lying about it. Odell tells Bex he covered that up because he knew Bex would be a good agent, while Hassani discovers Odell knew about the blast before it happened and took confidential information.
33“Lowe”Kristin WindellMichael Jones-MoralesFebruary 17, 2025 (2025-02-17)3.12[8]
Hassani and Odell separately ask Bex if she trusts the other. Another escapee, Brenda Lowe, who killed people trespassing on land she bought to rehabilitate the area’s gray wolf population, is found. The team discovers the land was sold to a development company which has turned it into a suburb. After killing again, Brenda contacts the team and claims she received letters from her lawyer that the land was safe. Bex calls Odell, in a meeting with the AG, who reveals the letters were faked to control Brenda’s behavior. They discover Brenda has found that the wolves she defended have been euthanized, and she suffers a psychotic break, attacking a campground. Despite the local police becoming involved, the team manages to subdue Brenda. Hassani tells Bex there is no record of Odell’s whereabouts during the two years between him leaving the FBI and starting work at the Pit. He shows her footage of Odell receiving a call and transferring classified files to a flash drive three minutes before the explosion. Odell meets a woman and tells her people are investigating him, and she asks him to let her handle it. Hassani believes the caller is behind the explosion.
44“Doctor Ezekiel Malak”Blackhorse LoweTeleplay by : JJ Bailey
Story by : Jake Coburn		February 24, 2025 (2025-02-24)3.06[9]
The team locates Ezekiel Malak, a hospital psychologist who killed patients by injecting them with digoxin. Hassani informs Bex that Odell received another call from his contact and asks her to plant a device on Odell’s phone to get its GPS data. The team discovers how Malak is choosing his new victims, and save a woman before Malak kills her. Bex realizes Malak is reviving his victims to ask them what they saw at the moment of death. They find Malak was treated by a Dr. Dulles, who Shane claims is dead. They realize Malak will steal digoxin from the nearest hospital, but he evades them and kidnaps Bex. He attempts to kill and resuscitate her to find out what she saw. The team realizes he has taken her to her hotel room, and arrive and subdue him as she frees herself. Bex and Odell reconcile, and she gets his phone and plants the device. Bex and Hassani find that after the call, Odell went to a storage facility, which contains evidence that Odell and Sam have a relationship, and satellite coordinates of various locations, including the Pit. Shane visits Dr. Dulles at a retirement home, calling him “Dad”.
55“Roy Barber”Glen WinterTeleplay by : Jake Coburn
Story by : JJ Bailey		March 3, 2025 (2025-03-03)2.69[10]
Hassani informs Bex the coordinates are being investigated and asks her not to tell Odell, before another escapee, Roy Barber, a police sketch artist who killed couples, is located. The team discovers that Barber has killed again, while Odell’s contact informs him Hassani is looking into something called “Silo 12”. They discover one of Barber’s recent victims was the woman from one of the couples he killed before being arrested. Tracking Barber’s movements, Bex realizes he only killed the men from the couples and set the women up with new identities. Barber escapes and finds another one of the women, now remarried, and kidnaps her and her husband. Hassani shows Bex satellite images of the coordinates, and they find one location, “Silo 12”, has been doctored. The team tracks and apprehends Barber before he kills the couple. Bex informs him that they know how he tracked the women, and will find them the same way he did and arrest them. Bex confronts Odell about his relationship with Sam, which she forgives him for, and tells Sam she is working with the FBI again. Mallory orders Hassani to stop looking into “Silo 12”, and is revealed to report to Odell’s contact.
66“Arlo Brandt”James BamfordMichael Jones-Morales & Vinny FerrisMarch 10, 2025 (2025-03-10)2.82[11]
Bex asks Odell about “Silo 12” and calls him out for not trusting her. Dr. Dulles calls Shane “not his son” as the team locates another escapee, Arlo Brant, a serial killer who hoarded material possessions, eventually killing people and selling theirs to get more. Tracking Brandt to Missouri, the team discovers that he has been cured of his need for material possessions, and is kidnapping people he believes define their lives by them to convert them to his way of thinking. They manage to find him at an abandoned water treatment plant which he has set up like the Pit, and recapture him. Returning to Wyoming, Shane checks in on Dr. Dulles, and when leaving, is seen by a woman named Sarah, who tells the staff she is Dr. Dulles’ daughter and he doesn’t have a son. Having heard Bex talk Brandt down, Odell tells her that “Silo 12” is where inmates were taken for more extensive experimentation, as well as where the explosion started. He reveals the call told him an armed security force, presumably the cause of the explosion, breached the silo at the time, and Bex says they need to investigate it.
77“Mark Marsden”Rob HardyRebecca Bellotto & Paula SabbagaMarch 17, 2025 (2025-03-17)2.91[12]
Visiting Dr. Dulles, Shane is rejected by the nursing home staff, who now know the truth, and is followed by Sarah. Bex tells Hassani what Odell told her. They locate another escapee, Mark Marsden, who killed all his wives, and find he has kidnapped a woman named Carol, who once worked at the Pit. The team discovers Marsden was put through therapy involving fake weddings, with Carol as the wife. Odell gives Bex an access code for “Silo 12”, and they realize Carol has fallen in love with Marsden. The team finds Marsden has killed again, and leaks the information, and they realize the couple are headed to Reno to quickly marry. Hearing the story, Carol contacts them, telling Bex she and Marsden are in love, and they send her the videos of his weddings. When he says the same thing he said to his other wives at the altar, she rejects him, and he has a breakdown. He becomes violent, but the team arrives and Bex kills him. They decide not to charge Carol. Later, Sarah confronts Shane, while Bex, Hassani and Odell investigate “Silo 12”, finding evidence of a massacre, and that the “experimentation” had an audience.
88“Denise Glenn”Nicole RubioKeto Shimizu & David LoongMarch 24, 2025 (2025-03-24)2.26[13]
Shane tells Sarah he was adopted through a study run by Dr. Dulles, who may know who his real parents are. Odell tells Bex and Hassani the research at “Silo 12” was presented to pharmaceutical company executives. They receive word of another murder committed using the method of Denise Glenn, a former university professor and Pit inmate still in custody, and find proof that the killer spoke to her to know the exact method, confirming it is another escapee. Bex and Odell interrogate Denise. Hassani and Shane find how the killer got Denise’s methods. Morales shows Bex and Odell that other inmates watched Denise sculpt as treatment, and they trick her into revealing the killer’s identity, Craig Martin, a stalker who killed women with explosives. Bex persuades Denise to reveal Craig’s ultimate plan, but realizes she lied and figures out the real plan is to blow up her former lecture hall. Hassani and Shane stop Craig. Hassani tells Bex and Odell the company involved with the explosion was Whitmore Pharmaceuticals, whose CEO, James Whitmore, is acquainted with the AG. Sarah gives Shane him tapes of his sessions with Dr. Dulles. Denise is taken to Odell’s contact, who has her killed.
99“Tom Beecher”Shana SteinRebecca Bellotto & Paula SabbagaMarch 31, 2025 (2025-03-31)2.21[14]
Bex, Hassani and Odell investigate Whitmore, realizing he killed an employee who knew about the Pit. The team is notified that Tom Beecher, a man who would kidnap two women and kill one in front of the other, who Bex herself arrested, has been located. When he calls the first woman’s family to taunt them, they arrest him at a hotel with a different woman, and realize the first is somewhere else. Bex interrogates an uncooperative Beecher. Odell asks his contact to tell Bex and Hassani everything, and she reveals Beecher was surgically experimented on by Dr. Dulles, which gave him anterograde amnesia. Realizing he developed a code to leave notes to himself to know what he did before, they reset his memory and release him in his hotel room to lead them to the missing woman, with Morales in place of the original second captive. However, Beecher figures out the setup and kills himself in front of the team. They figure out the code from music he was humming and a recording of the first woman, finding her alive. Sarah shows Shane from the tapes that his biological mother tried to meet him once. Bex meets Odell’s contact.
1010“Jenna Wells”Thor FreudenthalJJ Bailey & Jake CoburnApril 7, 2025 (2025-04-07)2.02[15]
Odell’s contact tells Bex and Odell that Whitmore created a drug to control empathy, which the military wanted control of, and Whitmore orchestrated the breach to repossess the drug and its test subjects, destroying evidence with the explosion. Sarah tells Shane that Dr. Dulles is in a coma. Shane asks Morales to identify his mother’s voice from the tape. Jenna Wells, a pharmacist who poisoned her patients, is located. Tracking her, the team finds Whitmore’s security are also looking for her. They realize Jenna is attending a party at Whitmore Pharmaceuticals to target the CEO. Jenna sedates everyone at the party except Whitmore, and captures him. The team saves him, but he orders his security to keep Jenna, though afterward collapses dead, poisoned by her. A shootout occurs and Jenna escapes, while Hassani is shot and hospitalized. The AG reprimands Bex, Odell and Shane, and shuts the team down. At headquarters, Jenna captures Odell. Bex, realizing what happened, informs Shane and heads there, distracting her until Shane ambushes and kills her. Morales identifies the voice as Colonel Eve Lazarus, Odell’s contact. Dr. Dulles, awake, implies to Sarah that Lazarus is a former Pit prisoner. Odell collapses, poisoned by Jenna.

Season 2 (2026)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Title [5]Directed byWritten by [16]Original release date [5]
111“Ron Simms”Thor FreudenthalJJ Bailey & Jake CoburnJanuary 8, 2026 (2026-01-08)
After a few months disbanded, the remaining members of the team get back together after threatening the AG with public on all the details of The Pit and the escape, as well as revealing the ineffectiveness of the other teams she tried to field in their absence. Their first case after reforming is Ron Simms, a killer who paralyzes women with an injection so he can spend time with them how he wants, ultimately leading to their demise. At The Pit, he is treated with traditional and animal therapy to learn how to behave and interact with people. After being released, he seems to find and attract women but things always go awry when he gets honest about who he was, hoping that they will accept him as he is. When the women panic, he goes back to his old ways of injecting them with paralytic. As the team figures out that he’s finding women on a dating app, they use the app to lure him to a coffee shop, only for him to turn the tables and captures Bex. In a barn where he is accompanied by and takes care of rabbits, Ron has kept his former psychologist imprisoned, and brings Bex in to make a new documentary to prove to the world he’s a changed man. The team figure out where he took Bex and rescues her before she almost strangles him. At the end of the episode, Col. Lazarus takes over the recovery operation from the AG.
122“Adrian Gallo”Thor FreudenthalRebecca Bellotto & Vinny FerrisJanuary 15, 2026 (2026-01-15)
133“Zack Lang”Marcus StokesJJ Bailey & Jake CoburnJanuary 22, 2026 (2026-01-22)
144“Amanda Weiss”Glen WinterHolly Harold & Paula SabbagaJanuary 29, 2026 (2026-01-29)
155“Noah Cyrus”Geoff ShotzDavid Loong & Zeke GoodmanFebruary 26, 2026 (2026-02-26)
166“Lou Kaplan”Marcus StokesMichael Jones-Morales & Emilio Ortega AldrichMarch 5, 2026 (2026-03-05)
177“Sidney Fairfax”Lisa RobinsonPaula Sabbaga & Rebecca BellottoMarch 12, 2026 (2026-03-12)
188“Elliot Carr”Laura BelseyEmilio Ortega Aldrich & Vinny FerrisApril 2, 2026 (2026-04-02)
199“Colette Akins”Stephen KayArika Lisanne MittmanApril 9, 2026 (2026-04-09)
2010“Byron May”TBAHolly Harold & David LoongApril 16, 2026 (2026-04-16)
2111“Dylan Miles”TBAMichael Jones-Morales & Vinny FerrisApril 23, 2026 (2026-04-23)
2212“Nancy Albright”TBATeleplay by : Hallie June Cohen & Neil Binnie
Story by : Andrew Lloyd Clabaugh		April 30, 2026 (2026-04-30)

Production

Development

In August 2022, it was announced J.J. Bailey had entered into an overall deal with Universal Television with the first project to be developed being procedural drama, The Hunting Party, created by Bailey and Jake Coburn.[17] In February 2023, it was announced NBC had set up a writers room for the series with a formal straight-to-series order taking place one year after.[18][19] On May 12, 2025, NBC renewed the series for a second season.[3]

Casting

In May 2024, it was announced Melissa Roxburgh was cast as the show’s lead.[20] Later that same month, it was announced Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie and Sara Garcia had joined the cast as series regulars.[21][22] In June 2024, Nick Wechsler joined the cast as a series regular while Kyra Leroux was cast in a recurring role.[23]

Filming

Filming in Vancouver for the first season of the series began on June 20, 2024, and concluded on November 19, 2024.[24] Production moved to New York City for the second season, the premiere of which was moved to midseason after initially being scheduled for the fall.[25][26]

Broadcast

The series premiered on January 19, 2025, on NBC.[1][2] The second season premiered on January 8, 2026.[4]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 18% approval rating based on 11 critic reviews.[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 34 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable” reviews.[28]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Hunting Party
No. Title Air date Rating/share
(18–49)		 Viewers
(millions)		 DVR
(18–49)		 DVR viewers
(millions)		 Total
(18–49)		 Total viewers
(millions)		 Ref.
1 “Richard Harris” January 19, 2025 0.5/4 3.05 0.1 0.62 0.5 3.67 [6]
2 “Clayton Jessup” February 10, 2025 0.2/3 2.87 0.1 1.78 0.4 4.65 [7]
3 “Lowe” February 17, 2025 0.2/4 3.12 0.1 1.62 0.3 4.74 [8]
4 “Doctor Ezekiel Malak” February 24, 2025 0.2/4 3.06 0.1 1.67 0.4 4.72 [9]
5 “Roy Barber” March 3, 2025 0.2/3 2.69 0.1 1.71 0.3 4.41 [10]
6 “Arlo Brandt” March 10, 2025 0.2/3 2.82 0.1 1.61 0.3 4.43 [11]
7 “Mark Marsden” March 17, 2025 0.2/3 2.91 0.1 1.52 0.3 4.42 [12]
8 “Denise Glenn” March 24, 2025 0.1/2 2.26 0.2 1.71 0.3 3.97 [13]
9 “Tom Beecher” March 31, 2025 0.1/2 2.21 0.2 1.65 0.3 3.86 [14]
10 “Jenna Wells” April 7, 2025 0.1/2 2.02 0.2 1.71 0.3 3.72 [15]

References

  1. ^ a b Porter, Rick (November 19, 2024). “Suits: L.A. Gets Premiere Date in NBC’s Midseason Lineup”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b “NBC’s New Drama Series “The Hunting Party” to Now Premiere Sunday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT” (Press release). NBC. January 13, 2025 – via The Futon Critic.
  3. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2025). “The Hunting Party & Brilliant Minds Renewed For Season 2; NBC Plans To “Lean Into” Them In 2025-26″. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Petski, Denise (November 12, 2025). “NBC Midseason Premiere Dates Include OneChicago, ‘The Voice’ & ‘Hunting Party’s Return, New Tracy Morgan Comedy”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d “Shows A-Z – The Hunting Party on NBC”. The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 15, 2026.
  6. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (January 22, 2025). “Sunday Ratings: The Hunting Party Debut on NBC and Hollywood Squares Special on CBS Each Followed Respective NFL Divisional Playoff Games”. Programming Insider. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (February 12, 2025). “Monday Ratings: Extracted Debuts Well in Demos for Fox”. Programming Insider. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (February 19, 2025). “Monday Ratings: U.S. Hockey Helps TNT Top Linear Networks Among Male Demos”. Programming Insider. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (February 25, 2025). “Monday Ratings: NBC the Leader in Most Key Prime Time Figures”. Programming Insider. Retrieved February 25, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (March 4, 2025). “Monday Ratings: ABC and NBC Share Prime Time Victory Among Linear Networks”. Programming Insider. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (March 12, 2025). “Monday Ratings: NBC and ESPN Share Prime Time Victory Among Linear NetworksS”. Programming Insider. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (March 18, 2025). “Monday Ratings: NBC and ESPN Share Prime Time Victory Among Linear Networks”. Programming Insider. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (March 26, 2025). “Monday Ratings: ‘The Bachelor’ Season Finale Lifts ABC to Key Demo Victory”. Programming Insider. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (April 2, 2025). “Monday Ratings: NCAA Women’s Basketball com Elite Eight Propels ESPN to Lead Prime Time in Almost Every Key Demo”. Programming Insider. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Pucci, Douglas (April 9, 2025). “Monday Ratings: Florida-Houston on CBS Sets 6-Year High for NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship”. Programming Insider. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  16. ^ “The Hunting Paty”. Writers Guild of America. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  17. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 25, 2022). “Writer JJ Bailey Inks Overall Deal With Universal TV, Sets The Hunting Party Crime Procedural At NBC”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  18. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 16, 2023). “NBC Sets Writers Rooms For The Hunting Party & Grosse Pointe Garden Society“. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 28, 2024). “NBC Orders The Hunting Party Crime Procedural Series”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 9, 2024). “Melissa Roxburgh To Star In NBC Series The Hunting Party“. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  21. ^ Petski, Denise (May 10, 2024). “Patrick Sabongui & Sara Garcia Join NBC Drama Series The Hunting Party“. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  22. ^ Petski, Denise (May 15, 2024). “Josh McKenzie Joins NBC Drama Series The Hunting Party“. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  23. ^ Petski, Denise (June 7, 2024). “Nick Wechsler Joins NBC Drama ‘The Hunting Party’ As Series Regular; Kyra Leroux Also Cast”. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  24. ^ “DGC BC Production List”. Directors Guild of Canada. October 25, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  25. ^ Gittins, Susan (July 24, 2025). “THE HUNTING PARTY With Melissa Roxburgh Moves Production From Vancouver to NYC”. Hollywood North Buzz. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  26. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 28, 2025). “NBC Fall Premiere Dates: ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Back On Thursday, ‘Hunting Party’ Held, ‘St. Denis Medical’ & ‘Happy’s Place’ Double Pumped”. Deadline. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  27. ^ “The Hunting Party: Season 1″. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  28. ^ “The Hunting Party: Season 1″. Metacritic. Retrieved February 3, 2025.