Wyoming Had A Basement Full Of Serial Killers

A hidden prison under the Wyoming countryside explodes, and the worst serial killers in America slip back into the world. That’s the engine behind Peacock’s The Hunting Party, and it’s the kind of premise that instantly raises the question I care about most: can a familiar procedural crime drama formula still surprise us when the hook is big enough?

I’m Sean, and I walk through what the series gets right and where it stumbles. We talk tone, pacing, and why the show keeps triggering Criminal Minds comparisons, from the profiling setup to the serious, case-driven structure. The twist is the secrecy: the team is forced to work with military power and keep the entire incident out of public view, which flips the normal “issue a warning, ask for tips” playbook. I also get into my biggest critiques, including how Bex is written, the slow-burn start, and how often “capture” starts to feel like “kill,” which undercuts the mystery and the conspiracy thread.

To ground it, I read community reactions from Serialized, including praise for the premise and later-season momentum, plus concerns about a rocky start. I land at about a 4 out of 5 and share who I think will actually enjoy this, especially if you’re looking for a new streaming procedural with Mindhunter vibes and a season-two-worthy cliffhanger.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with a friend. What did you think of The Hunting Party, and what should I review next?

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Transcript

Welcome And The Show Pick

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Hi everyone, welcome back to Psych Emulation, a show where we dive deep into the latest TV shows and see what's worth your time. I'm Sean, your host. Today we're going to be talking about The Hunting Party, a new procedural drama crime show series that just premiered on Peacock's streaming platform. If you're a fan of this series and this genre, then this might be on your radar. Stick around as I break it down, share my thoughts, and see what other viewers are saying about it. For those who haven't seen it yet, the hunting party is about after a secret prison is hidden underground in Wyoming countryside, suffers an unexpected explosion. The nation's worst serial killers are once again at large. Former FBI profiler Bex 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

Plot Setup And Key Cast

SPEAKER_00 2:04

again. Thrust into a world of intrigue and conspiracy, Bex must grapple with not only her own complex past, but also the enduring mystery of what was happening at this prison and who is the cause of the explosion in the first place. It stars Melissa Roxburgh, Patrick, Sam Bone Gwen, Josh McKenzie, Sarah Alisa Garcia, and the show was created by NBC. So let's dive into it. So when I first heard about The Hunting Party, I wasn't really sure what to make of it because I didn't see much marketing for it or advertising for this show over the to its premiere, and finding out that the show itself has two seasons already. So this was you know a shock to me that the show itself was very popular, but I feel like the show follows the same type of formula that we see with criminal

First Impressions On Peacock Launch

SPEAKER_00 3:05

minds and why criminal mind is so popular. And I feel like any type of cop procedural crime show has success. And I feel like this in itself founding party kind of goes into that, which I was kind of excited because there's not too many cop shows other than SVU, Law and Order, as I mentioned earlier, criminal minds. Over the years, network TV has been really trying to like capitalize on the success of criminal minds, and we did have CSI for a time being, which that has tampered down over the years, and there used to be different variants of that. But one thing that really hit is procedural caught procedural crime shows. So over the years you'll see a lot of different shows like this. But I feel like I was excited about this because this actually takes a new twist on it. You know, it's you were still getting the profile of serial killers, but the fact like there was this underground prison where they were kept and experimented on is kind of like a like a fantastic twist. So I felt like that is what works for

Why Procedurals Keep Working

SPEAKER_00 4:29

the show is that the premise of it is very intriguing. It's not your standard, I won't say, motif or common thing that you see in shows like this, or the trope that we constantly see in shows where they follows the same formula. This, you know, kind of like diverged from the from that. And it was very interesting to see that. I mean, it still does pull on the morals that you have to have an FBI investigator, you are tracking down the these dangerous criminals. It reminds me of the show that was had similar premise, but it was about vampires. Now, the vampire that show followed that you're hunting down these individuals who were turned into vampires through genetics and science. And the reason why I bring up that kind of show was that it kind of had the same template in a way. That show people have forgotten over the years, but it just watching this show, I kind of got that feel that it's following that template along with criminal minds. Yeah, a lot it felt more like criminal minds in a way. The way it was the stories kind of flesh out, and a lot of what they're doing in the show gives me lots of hints on crim about like criminal minds. So this could be like their version, NBC's version of a criminal mind show, which I feel like works pretty well. The tone of the show is very like serious. I mean, we are dealing with serial killers, so a lot of pulp culture and people have a fascination with serial killers. I mean, criminal minds has been going on for so for quite some time, so there is that fascination, and then Mindhunters was the thing for a while. So we do have that fascination, and there's that that fan base who wants more criminal minds type procedural type shows. So I feel like this kind of fulfills or satisfies that itch for most people. Now, there wasn't anything that I thought didn't work. We do have a female lead character. Now, I feel like in most cases, especially for this, that it's more reliant on the male counterparts. I feel like in this show, Bex is like she can't really hold our prop to show up herself. She needs different

What Works And What Feels Off

SPEAKER_00 7:20

people, and I feel like that's how they writ written her. More like she's damaged in a way. Which they always do that with female leads, is that they're never the strong character. They're always written like written in a way where they do have some baggage or trauma or something in their past that kind of like they want to make up for. And it's never just ran out of the book. And so that is on par with Beck's character, is that she does have an incident in her past that you know makes her grapple with you know what they're dealing with and guides her on the procedures that she has to, you know, go going forward. And I think kinda what also doesn't work is that for me anyways, is that it's military. You know, it's it they're having the access of military in the show. I think also one thing that kind of I felt like doesn't I mention military, they it's not like yeah, it's a government, you know, base, but they're using a lot of like it's the military hands that's uh allowing them to track down, it's not like the FBI or anything like that. I think and maybe I I don't know if this why I could say it's what what works. I think that's what sets this part the show apart is that though the main team is the few they're tracking down, they're have to work in unison with the military, and what they're also doing is that they have to keep evidence of the serial killers from the news, from public view, and not announce that this whole incident had occurred, that there's escape. So that's twofold. Where in criminal minds, you need the public, you need to put out warnings, you need the public to be aware. And the hunting party, it's the opposite. They're trying to keep this as secret and as possible and not have mass hysteria that there was a secret prison underground where the people of Wyoming lived, and no one knew about it for years, and now these dangerous criminals and serial colors are out. So I feel like that kind of works for the show and keeps that twist, is that things that you would do as a cop procedure, you can't do in this show because it's it goes against the grain. So I feel like that is a thing that kind of works with them and makes it much more interesting because you can't get people's help, you can't post that this person's out. You know, they have to keep everything insulated as much as possible to prevent this information from getting out to the world. Now I did mention that what didn't work was like the female character Bex, but there wasn't much else I could find that I felt like what didn't work with the show, other than like I I think uh it was a slow burn to begin with, just for the fact that the first episode you we're introduced into the the whole incident, but after the fact, you know, you think you

Secrecy Changes The Usual Formula

SPEAKER_00 11:09

would have the urgency to go after these individuals and find out who escapes, but there is this slow burn, the overarching villain is that whoever set off the explosion, and every episode is kind of like the freak of the week. Who are they going after? And who are each person has is a different type of serial killer, and they evolved or transitioned or did something to them where they either changed in some way, shape, or form. So that kind of like you know overshadows everything, but having like a big villain war shadow figure and like inner politics of like the government and the government and this prison and how it was established is the main basis of the series. But the serial girls are cool. I mean, that's what holds the thing together, but the slow burn of like everything, I think is kind of what you know doesn't work, is that the individuals, the government or the FBI agents are always portrayed as like the last ones to obtain in the information and are still on the upkeek, and maybe that's just in the writing, but I feel like that doesn't work. You would think with all the resources that they have, you know, they were able to get these individuals much quicker than they normally would do. So again, it's just I don't know if as I've seen it, if they killed each any of the killers, like they didn't bring him back to the facility and re-put him in the prison. So far, I don't know if that's a thing, if they murder I it's so one thing I feel like it doesn't work for a show, especially like Criminal Minds and shows like this, is that the person is always killed. Like they never they never capture recapture him and put him back in a prison if he's a serial killer. It's always they kill him, and so it gives this like perception that the cops are always the good guys. There's no way to rehabilitate him or oh, he even though he murdered people while he escaped, there's that always like, well, he's dead or alive. Not really, just he needs to be dead. The capture is used very loosely and they just shoot him anyways. Not saying like they do that or problem, but there's always that tension where the only last resort instead of de-escalating is just to straight up murder the person. So I feel like that doesn't work a lot because again, the person dies, they can't tell you who broke them out or how who's helping them in some way. So I feel like that's framing the story, but that happens with a lot of different cop dramas. I feel like the st I feel like the narrative storytelling and background of the characters could be done a little better. I know there's some some history there between the two and the tension, but it can be so obvious. So I feel like just how they're writing needs to be a little bit improved. But other than that, I'm hoping that the the second season and so forth the third season, if it's renewed, you know, we see some slight improvements. I just hope we see more progression going forward and not just like stuck in this, we were nailing down the serial killers. Because I'm not sure if they say how many ex how many have escaped. I don't think they gave a loose number, but the whole show should be like, I'm not sure how many they're going down every every week, but if that's the case, and they're gonna go through and catch all these guys or kill them pretty quickly. So I feel like they need to have other story elements or other narrative plots that they can utilize to like keep the story moving along. Now, overall, the hunting party, I'm gonna give it around a four out of five. It's not perfect, but it does fulfill like that itch I have for criminal minds because it's the way it's written and the way how every episode is developed gives me very like again, it gives me very telling vibes of like criminal minds. Like it the show itself feels like it's trying

My Rating And Who Should Watch

SPEAKER_00 15:54

to be criminal minds when it's not. So I feel like that in itself is why I enjoy watching it, because um it kind of fulfills that need. The show is not perfect by any means. Because that template has been done before, it's just it's not a recurring element of an idea of of this making, but you know, if you're into procedural drama and crime shows, I feel like you know, this, the hunting party, is a good show to watch. NBC doesn't have many procedurals other than the long-running SVU, but this is a good new breath of fresh air into this show or into this space that are cop dramas that I think is very refreshing. Now, let's see what other viewers are saying about the hunting party. I pulled a few reviews from Serialized to get a sense of how the community is reacting. I'll read a few, share their rating, and let you know if I agree or disagree. So the first review is going to be from the movie guy. He says, The Hunting Party. It's reminiscent of criminal minds. The alleged good guys are yet another US FBI profile who works with the CIA

Viewer Reviews From Serialized

SPEAKER_00 17:23

operative and corrections officer to catch baddies who have escaped from a secret government prison. A prison where serial killers and are humanly humanely studied like lab rats, so more like them can be caught and presently turned studied. Yes, the premise of the premise is a little outlandish, but still interesting. The acting is solid and the characterizations are at least mildly convincing. The first episode is all is alright with a twist in the end. The show the that showed some imagination and genuinity, so a tick in that box there. In summary, or from real like moderate watchable US crime drama that thus far has made a little more effort than most of its kind in the storytelling department. Let's hope that they keep it up. They gave it four out of five. Again, I have to agree with them because right in their first of the review, they did say that it was, you know, it felt like criminal minds. And it I said earlier that the template feels like criminal minds at its core. But I do have to agree with this user is that it what it's presenting isn't anything new, but it's something that we typically see with shows of its kind, but the premise of what they're doing is different and not very typical. And so serial killers escape from a secret prison that were formerly studied, and now they have to catch them. That is a unique premise, but the players are still the same and how they're interacting. So the story is still developing, which I I do like. I have to agree with them. Like they they're putting effort there. So that I have to give props to the writers at the Hunting Power. They are they are trying now. For those who watch series, typically, you know, good writing is normally within like a one to two seasons. I feel like when a show or series drags on with beyond a set number, that they do run into the issue of just becoming per repetitive or just running out of things to to write or progress the story along. So I feel like I'm hoping that this show doesn't fall into that narrative trap where they've exhausted all their good story plots to kind of move the story along. Another user, Keen, wrote, let me start with this. If Melissa Roxburg weren't leading the show, I wouldn't have made it past episode two. She's the reason I hit play in the first place. And the reason why the reason I stuck around, but somehow, despite the rocky start and more than a few meh moments, the hunting party managed to go into something genuinely interesting, especially in the back half of the season. They rated it a 3.5 out of five. And I have to agree with them. And I know I'm saying I agree with the previous reviewer, but it goes to stand to the reason that the writing is something that needs to be improved upon, and how you know those key story elements pay off. And I mentioned earlier that the show itself had a slow start, it was like a slow burn, and a lot of the key story elements didn't really pay off until the second half of the season. And that's really also should be alarming as well, because a lot of people watch shows and you need to be able to bring them in within the first two episodes. If things don't start progressing until the second half of the season, you might lose a lot of your viewership, or people might be turned off to that. And so this is one thing that I was kind of concerned about was that hopefully going into season two, we don't see more of the same. So I do agree with them is that the story beats need to hit a little bit more, and they need to be able to bring in those consumers, not consumers, viewers, within like the first half of the episodes of the season, and then have other moments where they can like expand upon. Yes, were there moments that were like meh? Of course, because a lot of people coming into the series are going to essentially put this show up against other shows, and they're gonna be comparing it and seeing it how it fares between chromatic. Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is gonna be the like the template of what a lot of these shows are gonna be gauged on. It's just interesting to see that someone else did point that out. So I have to agree with them. The show did have a rocky start. Because again, the story element of you know having a secret prison with criminals that blew up and they escaped is reminiscent of prison break. For those who don't know, that was a a procedural show where people were escaping from a prison and they were criminals, not serial killers. And so stuff like that, it's not new, but they don't use that story element all the time. So that I can relate with and feel like hopefully season two doesn't f you know fall short in the narrative progressing of the story where we don't where things don't pay off or it's a slow burn and things really click of that season in the second half. Our third reviewer, Selfisher Six, commented, I like the show. It's a kind of a mix between Criminal Minds and Mindhunter in a way. The premise is very cool, and I also like that the main characters they like the main characters a lot, and thank God, you know, second season's coming out because the ending was tough, and I need to know what happened. They gave it a four out of five. And again, I'm seeing over the course of like from the reviews that I picked out that a lot of people are really just pointing out to how the similarities between this and criminal minds and mindhunter, and which is good, but I also want the show to be able to also set itself apart because if again, I like it because it does have it does feel that itch for me, but if that's the only thing that's going for the show and which is allowing it to have the success it has, it's going to be hard when Criminal Minds comes back, you know, in full force, and now you're gonna have the hunting party competing for viewership. Now, I do also am excited that there is a season two. I didn't the ending that they explained was a cliffhanger. A lot of shows do that nowadays where they provide a cliffhanger at the end of the season to kind of draw you in to hopefully there's a second season. And some shows, you know, when they do cliffhangers like that, they normally don't get a second season. So it's nice to see that they did, and she rated it pretty high. Higher than no, then the second review from Keen and then on par with the first review, the movie guy. So overall, I'm thinking that there are some mixed reviews, but what I'm hearing from people on serialized is that based on this show, they're getting a lot of just criminal mind feels. And as I mentioned earlier, criminal minds, I feel like it's a template, and then they mentioned another show, Mindhunter. So, like, it's hard to create and break, create a crime procedural drama show that doesn't follow the previous series I mentioned, direction and template. It's just very hard to do that to kind of break away because then you have to recreate the rules. And so I want to see how far this series can take it without having to be a carbon copy of Criminal Minds. Now, the right now, the pot what I'm seeing is that there's a positive of the show based on like its first season. We'll see if things change come the second season. I think the real default real definite factor is that if the show gets a third season, because then at that point you're past your freshman and your sophomore year, your junior year is really when you things need to start paying off at that point, and there need to have be like more coals in the fire to kind of figure out what direction the story is gonna go on. Are we gonna be pivoting away from catching these criminals, or what new story elements will be introduced at the end of the second season that's gonna help expand to a third season? So a lot of these questions have to be kind of answered in the second season that kind of will help progress for a third season. Overall, where the consensus is pretty good in regards to the show and what other viewers are saying, that they're really liking it, and it it is, you know, very complementary towards you know prior crime dramas like Chromium Minds, Mindhunter, Elementary, Watson, House, like other shows like that that have to deal with cops and serial killers and things of that nature. I think Burn Notice was one or Monk. Any type of show that has that type of element is always gonna be pinned up against another crime drama. So I feel like things are positive for right now. Hopefully, you know, when we when season two ends, there'll be more high stakes. But from what I can see, very positive, positive reviews on Cyril, on the website serialized, which it makes me hopeful for the series. Hopefully, you know, we can see again if like we're still trending in that positive or negative or mixed kind of like review. But let me know your thoughts in on our social media of what you think. You know, do you agree? It's very positive. Are you mixed, you know, on the show, or do you have like negative reviews you want to give about the hunting party? Overall, the hunting party is about a four out of five. If you're a fan of the procedural drama crime show, then you'll probably enjoy this one. Now, there are other shows I can recommend, if like Criminal Minds, The Hunting Party, uh not the Hunting Party, Mindhunter,

Similar Shows Worth Watching

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Elementary, House, what other ones? Burn Notice, White Collar, Blacklist. These are just some, to name a few, the mental list is another one. Yeah, these are just some other shows that you can watch that have that similar crime element and almost criminal minds type of feel. CSI, the original one, Las Vegas is a good one. And so those shows I feel like are good recommendations for you to get your feet wet if you do like shows like this, then those are good recommendations. I also want to thank you for tuning into this episode of Second Emulation. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, share it with your friends. You can also follow us on our social media accounts, link will be in the description for more TV recommendations and updates. Let me know what your thoughts are on the hunting party. Um I love to hear them. And if you have any recommendations, let us know. Again, I want to thank new and current listeners who are slowly finding our podcast and giving us a listen. It means a lot. There are some big things in the works.

Subscribe And Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 30:49

I know I've been kind of slow on the uptick on episodes, but we are getting there. There are some changes, things working in the background that I'm trying to do. So hopefully will get me able to pump these out much more quicker and just put myself put myself in a better space for content. So again, thank you for you know bearing with me. I know a lot of growing pains going forward. We are getting close to that big number that I mentioned earlier. But yes, again, thank you guys for listening, and I'll catch you guys in the next one. Thank you. Bye.