The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 2 ‘Clayton Jessup‘does a good job of weaving multiple storylines together. It was stressful in the way all good television is when action sequences get a little crazy or when emotions get high. We enjoyed the minor twists that derailed the team from capturing Jessup and how intense his final stand-off was. However, we believe that the advancement of character development is what ultimately held us glued to the screen.
The things we learned about Bex in this episode drove the narrative. From sharing more information about her past, to revealing the identity of the killer that haunts her and making the decision to begin trusting Oliver again we were able to start learning about what makes Bex human. And like all humans do, we make mistakes in crucial moments.
The walls that Bex keeps up to protect herself from letting others get close to her have begun to fall down. It didn’t take long. They’re coming down for the man that forced her to build them high. Which left us surprised but then again, not really. Oliver seems to still have a heart when it comes to his old partner.
MORE: Read our interview with Melissa Roxburgh and Patrick Sabongui about what makes Bex and Hassani’s partnership work so well!
“There’s No Time To Waste”
We knew from The Hunting Party Season 1, Episode 1 ‘Richard Harris’ that Bex and Oliver shared a long and complicated history together. Which is why we’re glad that the show wasted no time in giving us more understanding of how they relied on one another when their trust was the strongest.
After debriefing about Jessup’s case, Bex gathered the courage to pull him aside and ask him about someone from her past named Eli Johnson. He was the serial killer she had put away when she was a teenager. She was worried over his current whereabouts. Which is justified because there’s 25% of The Pit killers on the loose right now. In the moment, we see that Oliver knew exactly who she was talking about. Which makes sense. He was the last person she was close with. The last person she told her experiences, emotions, and life to.
Oliver comforted her by saying he was never at The Pit. We see this soft side to him that we hadn’t seen before. He’s patient and understanding of her feeling of anxiety. In a time where Bex needed the assurance that Johnson was safe behind bars, Oliver gave that peace to her.
He may have ruined their relationship, but it doesn’t mean he never cared about Bex. As a matter of fact, it’s clear he still does care about her if he’s willing to protect her secret from getting out.
“You’re Just a Girl That Ran Away and Left Her Friend Behind”
The night Bex found out that her childhood best friend’s father was the serial killer terrorizing the women in their neighborhood was the worst night of her life. At least, we believe it was. The event may have inspired her to want to pursue a life in criminal justice, but it haunts her in everyday life. We were shocked to see him revealed at the end of the episode. (We hope to see him again).
Bex had spent the entire episode worried sick that Johnson had somehow escaped his prison in Syracuse. She had been sleep-deprived in hotel rooms searching up the latest articles on him. She even asked Oliver for help in finding information about him. Bex had let her guard down with him when she shouldn’t have. And it was the worst thing she could’ve possibly done. Even if Oliver was the one to soothe her worry and bring Johnson to her.
Wearing her heart on her sleeve in interrogating Johnson in a holding cell allowed him to play her emotions like strings. She was fueled by rage at the sight of him and Johnson used it to his advantage. While she was getting restless, he was hitting every single mark of Bex’s insecurities. Especially the dark thoughts that fuel her survivor’s guilt. He said she was the one to blame for his daughter Naomi’s death. When Bex had left Naomi behind at the crime scene to run for safety, she had left her to deal with her father’s rage. Johnson claimed he had to kill her as a result.
A secret piece of information that only three people knew about that night gone wrong. Bex, Johnson, and Oliver.
The Second Time’s Not the Charm
In regard to Hassani in The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 2 ‘Clayton Jessup’, he behaved as more of a lone wolf broken away from the pact. He got sliced on the arm during one of Jessup’s pursuits and decided to focus on finding discoveries from The Pit explosion while resting. He eventually found out the blast wasn’t an accident. The military had found a deceased guard covered in C4 residue.
Hassani then received a phone call from a colleague in the final scene who tells him that there was an info data breach planted on Oliver’s computer in The Warden’s office. He doesn’t look like he’s planning to tell Bex about this any time soon. Which could potentially put them on a rocky path. This happens at the same time as Bex’s heartfelt conversation with Oliver about how he protected her in their partnership. It stings to know the trust she’s rebuilding with him is going to crumble again. Like we said earlier, we know he cares about her. We know he’s somewhat of a good guy when it comes to how he feels about Bex.
It doesn’t look like this second time of trusting Oliver will be successful. Which makes us hurt for Bex. There’s a chance we could be wrong, and someone planted the data breach in Oliver’s Warden office to frame him. That would be interesting. For right now though, we’ll stay suspicious of Oliver just to be safe.
When the time does come where things fall apart, we hope Bex’s relationship with the rest of her team – including the new addition of intel officer Jennifer Morales who was one of her former students – is strong enough to burden her fall. To quote Bex when talking to Hassani, “trust goes both ways”. They all need to start living up to their word because right now, everyone has secrets they’re hiding from each other.
What did you think about The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 2 ‘Clayton Jessup’? Let us know in the comments!
The Hunting Party airs on Mondays at 10pm ET on NBC!
