Rebecca Cutter’s “The Hunting Wives” wasn’t number one in TV shows on Netflix for nothing. The show might as well give you whiplash from the vast range of emotions that hit you in only one scene.
Moving from a liberal East Coast town like Boston to a conservative, redneck Texas town would not easy for anybody – especially not someone already reeling from the most traumatic event of their life.
Meet Sophie O’Neil, who used to be Editor-in-Chief of her town’s newspaper, turned cautionary tale when she gets into a drunk-driving accident killing her best friend, eventually moving on (note: she does NOT move on) by relocating to Maple Brook – the most conservative fictional town in Texas – with her seven-year-old son and husband Grant. From twisted (and freaky) love triangles to murder cases and her past coming back to ruin her present, Sophie has some reevaluating to do.
This series was nothing if not climactic and fast-paced. There was always something new being revealed, no filler episodes, and a constant stream of jaw-dropping moments. That relentless pacing is exactly what made it so addictive – and why it hooked viewers so easily.
It was also completely out-of-pocket: full of flabbergasting moments that left viewers with enough outrage to yell at their TVs.
The sick and twisted nature of the entire series was absolutely perfect.
It ranged from open marriages to manipulative love affairs to disturbing mother-son relationships that made viewers practically projectile vomit as the scenes went on.
The slow descent into madness that Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman perfectly displayed as they portrayed Sophie O’Neil and Margo Banks, – whether it was their crazy affair, or the obsessive behavior Margo displayed towards Sophie that went beyond just love and lust – this show was all sorts of demented.
There has never been a show where it is astronomically clear how much hate is rooted at the Republican party. “The Hunting Wives” takes aim at them at every chance it gets: from calling out hypocrisy to mocking members’ alleged drinking. The show does an amazing job of highlighting the worst of the party.
The Banks are the most well-known couple in Maple Brook. Jed Banks, one of the most powerful men in East Texas, and his wife Margo—the charismatic and conniving mastermind of the series—are hardcore, immigrant-hating, pro-life, gun-loving, Christian Republicans who constantly contradict themselves.
SPOILER AHEAD:
Later on in the show, it is revealed that Margo Banks got an abortion, while every couple in the show cheats constantly. The hypocrisy is endless.
Many viewers don’t even know who – or what – they are rooting for.
Sure, everyone agrees that cheating is wrong. But in “The Hunting Wives,” audiences found themselves divided over the twisted affair between Sophie and Margo. Some rooted for them to end up together. Others wanted Margo in jail after she was revealed as the murderer. And some thought both women were unhinged and needed help immediately. Which is wild, right? Kill a person or two and suddenly people say one needs “mental help.”
Regardless, viewers stuck around until the very end because of the show’s addictive nature – which is why it is absolute perfection.
This show has every plot twist ever thought of before, with demented plots that irk to the very core. With shameless jabs thrown at the Republican party left and right, and the kind of hook that makes viewers question their own morals, “The Hunting Wives” has it all. If one ever needs a show to watch to escape boredom or despair, this would be the perfect distraction
