NBC’s The Hunting Party has the potential to become the next big hit with those who loved popular anxiety-inducing shows like Criminal Minds or The Blacklist. We hope that we’re right in believing it has the power to go far after a strong introduction. The leads of the show Melissa Roxburgh (Rebecca Henderson) and Patrick Sabongui (Jacob Hassani) sat down with Fangirlish to discuss what makes their on-screen partnership work so well, how the first episode displayed their opposing personalities, and what troubles lie ahead for the team.
For Roxburgh, there was a certain pull that had roped her into believing the show had something different to offer audiences to make them want to watch.
MORE: Here’s everything you should know about The Hunting Party.
“Everyone loves when the good guys catch the bad guys and I think we quickly get introduced to who the killer is so it’s not like a whodunit, because we know whodunit, but it’s a race against the clock to see if we can stop them,” Roxburgh shared.
The show does a good job of showing us how smart people are capable of making mistakes on the job. It brings a real-life aspect to how the characters operate. The “twists and turns throughout the episode because you see us go to the wrong places or catch the wrong guy” as “the killer outwits us for a while” created space for human error when timing really matters.
We see an example of this in The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 1 “Richard Harris” when Bex acted recklessly in chasing after Harris to an abandoned animal hospital. She then makes the right decision in calling the team when she realizes where Harris has run off. However, she still ran head-first into a dangerous situation with no backup.
When thinking about the appeal of learning the motives of our antagonists, Roxburgh had more to say. “We know they’ve already gone through stuff at The Pitt so they’re not the same. We’re also trying to figure out who these people are now and what they’re gonna do next”.
Gaining insight into these killers every episode is intriguing but there’s more to what the show has to offer: the team as a close-knit unit working together to catch these criminals. When we asked Sabongui about what makes The Hunting Party successful in setting up character dynamics early on, he spoke of maintaining a balance not many shows can find.
“There’s balance in the levity and dynamic between the team and the dark force that we’re hunting. Being able to reign that in every week when we catch the bad guy and put them away is a really satisfying structure.”
“Something I love about this show is that it has its dark corners,” he added.
Whether that comes in the form of withholding secrets, unknown truths about what happened to the criminals in The Pitt who escaped, or Bex’s trust issues – what Sabongui says is true. The darkness that lingers above these characters’ heads is something that haunts them even if they don’t notice.
For Bex, she knows that feeling of being haunted all too well. She was burned by her past partnership with Oliver Odell (played by Nick Wescheler) who betrayed her trust. He locked her out of a suspect’s house after deciding to kill the man in cold blood. In a lot of ways, Bex was blinded by the faith she had in Odell to uphold their morals. So, it came as a shock to her that he resorted to such violence out of anger.
“She has all these personal relationships that just come into her life and it’s easy to profile somebody who has blatantly done wrong in the world but people who are saying you could trust me…I think she’s still navigating that,” Roxburgh explained.
“Hassani’s like trust me, Oliver is like trust me… I think there’s a lot of pushback for those people. But yeah, she has been burned, so I think as the seasons go on, if we get more seasons, I’d love to see her become more vulnerable and open up to trusting people.”
Having dealt with Odell, Bex knows how to keep people at arm’s length. She’s aware of every piece of information she shares about herself. Even if she’s “a little more fiery” than Hassani, who could be described as just as guarded. There’s a front she puts on that only dismantles when it’s quiet. That’s her way of protecting herself from getting hurt. She’s someone who could hide behind her responsibilities and duty.
For example, we see her dismiss Odell’s attempt at reconciliation at the end of the first episode. Their past is too difficult to overcome. At least for right now. She only agrees to tolerate his help in finding the escaped criminals because he was the Warden officer in The Pitt. That means he knows more about the inmates than anyone else.
As we began to peel back the layers of what makes Bex who she is, we were able to see how she and Hassani share similar motivations in finding killers. Their priorities in life are more similar than they thought. Sabongui tells us that it all comes down to family pushing them to do the right thing.
“I think there’s something to be said for each of them having their own responsibilities and duties where at the end of the day, they’re human beings,” Sabongui concluded.
“Right there in episode one, there’s this moment where they bond over having kids and being responsible for protecting our children. It’s just a different way of going about that in creating a secure environment for our kids and families where we all identify with.”
Bex and Hassani’s families are the things that ground them. It’s the reason why Hassani doesn’t open up about his children until he’s coaxed by Bex when she profiles him. Only after he confirmed she was right about him having a family at home did Bex feel somewhat comfortable talking about her daughter for the first time.
Their kids are their reasons to pursue the hunt and what pushes them to save lives. While that makes Hassani relentless in getting the job done, Bex “has more empathy for these people and understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing” in Melissa Roxburgh’s eyes.
“His responsibility is to hold the big picture and try to gain understanding. But he’s not going to step over and try to do Bex’s job. I think that’s why they complement each other so well,” Sabongui explained.
Sabongui excused his character’s stubbornness to stick to the law when trying to find killers. He added that his main “concern with getting them off the streets so society is safe” is normal.
For him, their differing personalities are what makes these two work so well together. Where Bex lacks the persistence to keep her head on straight at times, Hassani has enough of it to keep them focused.
When asked about their character dynamic, Roxburgh added what she believed to be true. “She’s profiled some pretty bad people. But I don’t think it got as dark or messy as what Hassani has seen in his line of work. So, I think he’s got a bit more reserve and tact when it comes to handling situations.”
There’s an important similarity they share on a bigger level. Even if they, most of the time, behave as two opposite sides of the same coin. One that some might not have seen if you aren’t reading between the lines. They share the same caution in everyday life. For Hassani, his reluctance to emotionally connect on the job is what makes him good at pulling the trigger in dire situations. Bex has that same level of reserve but on a personal level.
And we hate to say it, but she can’t tear her walls of protection down yet. In regard to her relationship with the third member of their team; Shane Florence (played by Josh McKenzie), there’s more to him than she’s allowing herself to see right now.
“I don’t think we really see her fully trust anyone other than Shane. He’s not really asking anything of her,” Roxburgh says.
When asked about how Bex’s trust issues impact her ability to form new relationships, Roxburgh confesses that she only trusts Shane because he’s easiest to talk to. In a quick back and forth, Sabongui teases audiences on why Hassani might be the better choice to trust in the end.
“Why’d she only say Shane? Cause he’s so cute? He’s got secrets too!”
As far as we know, Shane Florence’s heart stayed intact after enduring military experience and surviving in The Pitt. At first glance, there’s nothing to be concerned about. He holds compassion in conversations that crack at people’s coldness. We see it when he’s able to get Bex to open up about a personal story that inspired her to pursue an FBI career as a teenager. We saw how Harris stumbled when he recognized Shane during the team’s final stand-off because they shared a history. Shane was one of the only people he interacted with in The Pitt.
When provoked further, Roxburgh says: “She doesn’t know he has secrets yet! He’s just harmless, tells jokes, and eats candy.”
If this tease tells us anything, we don’t know just how dangerous Shane can be. And if there are secrets in his past, what happens when Bex and Hassani discover them? Would he remind her of her old partner Oliver Odell? What secrets could ruin the team’s perception of him?
We don’t know the answer yet, but we can’t wait to find out how the drama unfolds.
Did you enjoy our interview with Melissa Roxburgh and Patrick Sabongui about The Hunting Party? Let us know in the comments below!
The Hunting Party will return February to NBC at 10/9c. The episode will then be available to stream the next day on Peacock.
I hope this gets renewed