You are not the only one who spent the summer watching all eight episodes of The Hunting Wives in one sitting. And if you want to know more about the end, you're not the only one.
Based on May Cobb's book, Netflix's The Hunting Wives is a convoluted murder mystery set in the rich, gun-loving town of Maple Brook, Texas. The show's controversial plot and complicated characters rapidly drew in viewers. The main question is about the murder of high school student Abby Jackson, which sends the main character, Sophie O'Neil, on a journey full of lies and mysteries.
The Hunting Wives: Finding out who killed Abby Jackson
The season finale reveals the shocking truth behind Abby Jackson's death. Malin Akerman plays Margo Banks, who killed Abby.
Margo's reason for doing it was that she was having an affair with Brad, Jill's adolescent son who is also a member of the Hunting Wives. Margo got pregnant from this romance and decided to undergo an abortion. Abby found out the truth and threatened to tell Margo, which would have hurt the political career of Margo's husband, Jed Banks.
Margo Banks: The Real Criminal and Her Sick Reasons
Malin Akerman plays Margo Banken, the charming yet controlling leader of the Hunting Wives. It was a well held secret that she was having an affair with Brad, Jill's son, especially because her husband Jed was running for governor on an anti-abortion platform. When Abby told Margo about the affair, the pregnancy, and the abortion, Margo, who was inebriated, took Sophie's gun and shot Abby.
Malin Akerman said that playing Margo was a lot of fun. She said, "Margo Banks might be the most enjoyable person I've ever portrayed. She doesn't care whether I try to make her happy; she just does what she wants. Her story arc throughout the course of the episodes is just crazy.
Margo then let Sophie bear the blame for the murder to protect her own reputation and Jed's political goals.
The main characters and what they do in the murder mystery
The Investigation Unpacked: Red Herrings and False Leads
The series does a great job at using red herrings to trick people. At first, Pastor Pete was a strong suspect since he had a criminal record and was linked to another girl who had gone missing. He was jailed for kidnapping Kaycee Krummel and sadly killed himself.
Jill, Brad's mom, also seemed skeptical. She didn't like Abby and did bizarre things, like erasing her GPS and changing her passwords. She wanted to provide Brad an alibi that would also protect her. It was even found that Jill had Abby's phone. But Jill didn't kill Abby. She was later dead, and everyone thought she had killed Abby.
The Hunting Wives Book and Netflix Series: Big Differences Explained
The Netflix show is very different from May Cobb's book. One big distinction is who killed Abby. Jill kills Abby in the novel because she doesn't like Abby's relationship with Brad and Abby won't have an abortion. In the book, Jill kills Margo too.
But the show twists this by having Margo kill Abby. This change keeps Margo alive, which means there could be a second season.
"The show took the story in a whole new direction," Variety said. Sophie thought Abby had been pregnant and gone to an abortion clinic, but it was actually Margo who got pregnant with Brad and chose to stop her pregnancy with the help of a doctor who just happened to be her dad!
The show also goes into more detail about abortion rights, which became a bigger part of the story after Texas passed Senate Bill 8.
The Shocking Choice and Cliffhanger at the End of Season 1
"Sophie's Choice," the last episode of the season, reveals the truth regarding Abby's murder. When Sophie finds a box of tampons in Margo's toilet, she knows Margo is the killer. Margo had said before that she couldn't use tampons, which Sophie eventually linked to abortion.
Sophie approaches Margo, who admits to killing Abby using Sophie's revolver. Margo says she did it to keep Abby from telling Jed about her affair and abortion, which would have ruined his political career.
Even though Margo confessed and tried to get Sophie to stay quiet, Sophie decides to tell the police. But before she can, Margo's brother Kyle stops her. Kyle, who helped Margo clean up the crime site, scares Sophie. Sophie, who has been drinking, runs Kyle over with her car in a desperate act of self-defense, killing him.
At the end of the season, Sophie drags Kyle's body through the woods to a cliff and throws it into the water below. Sophie picks up the phone by mistake when it rings. Margo is on the other end. Margo hears Sophie breathing heavily, which means she knows something is wrong with Kyle.
What's next for The Hunting Wives after the end of Season 2?
The exciting cliffhanger leaves the door wide open for a second season of The Hunting Wives. The cast and crew are hopeful that Netflix will renew the show, although they haven't done so yet. Rebecca Cutter, the showrunner, has said that if there is a second season, it will probably include a time leap and a fresh murder case. It will also continue to look at the complicated connection between Margo and Sophie.
DMT said, "The first season of The Hunting Wives ended on a huge cliffhanger (literally), which means that there needs to be a second season to finish the story and give the characters and, of course, the viewers the closure they deserve."
If the show gets picked up again, Brittany Snow, Malin Akerman, Dermot Mulroney, Evan Jonigkeit, Jaime Ray Newman, George Ferrier, Chosen Jacobs, and Karen Rodriguez are all anticipated to come back.
A Close Look at the Themes of Hypocrisy, Power, and Secrets in Maple Brook
The Hunting Wives deals with a number of important issues, such as hypocrisy, socioeconomic privilege, and sexual power relations. The series shows how different the public image and private lives of the rich Texas elite are. People like Jill, the very religious wife of a preacher, are shown to have many flaws and keep secrets.
The show also talks about how Sophie's liberal East Coast upbringing clashes with the conservative Texas climate, especially when it comes to gun culture and abortion rights. In the show, secrets are only an issue if they are revealed, and people are okay with the difference between what they say they believe and what they actually do.
Sophie O'Neil: From Suspect to Detective
The series is all on Sophie's adventure. She goes from being an outsider and the main suspect to an amateur detective who finds out the town's dark secrets. Her backstory, which includes a charge of vehicular homicide from a drunk driving accident, makes her character more complex and explains why she didn't want to report Kyle's death right away.
The First Suspects: Jill and Pastor Pete
Jill and Pastor Pete were both quite good at throwing people off the scent. Jill seemed guilty since she didn't like Abby and Brad's connection and acted in a way that made her look bad. The investigation got even harder because Pastor Pete was involved in previous kidnappings.
Brad and Margo's Affair: The Reason for the Murder
The main secret that leads to Abby's murder is the illegal relationship between Margo and Brad, a teenager. Abby is threatening to tell the world about this relationship between Margo and a younger man and the abortion that followed.
Margo's Past and What Her Father Did
Margo's biography shows that she didn't originate from a rich family. She and her brother Kyle were doing things that weren't legal, and their mother wasn't stable. Margo's biological father is a doctor who did her abortion and gave her a bogus alibi for the night Abby was killed.
Kyle's Fate and Sophie's Role in It
Kyle's death at Sophie's hands is a key event. After Sophie finds out the truth about Margo, he threatens her. Sophie's choice to run him over and throw away his body makes her guilty of a fresh crime, just like she was before. This action puts Sophie in a very bad spot and will lead to further problems in the future.
The Part Abortion Plays in The Hunting Wives Plot
Abortion is a big part of the story because it's a secret that Margo really wants to keep concealed. The show employs this theme to show how hypocritical some characters are and how bad things are in Texas politics.
Malin Akerman plays Margo Banks in this movie.
The series' appeal is mostly due to Malin Akerman's performance as Margo Banks. Margo is a complicated person who is both charming and vicious when it comes to protecting herself. Akerman's acting adds substance to the character, making her both interesting and scary.
Brittany Snow plays Sophie O'Neil in this character spotlight.
The spectator gets to know the world of Maple Brook through Brittany Snow's character, Sophie O'Neil. Her change from a careful outsider to a lady involved in murder and cover-ups shows how versatile she is and how the character's story changes.
Questions that have not been answered and fan theories for Season 2
There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered after Season 1. Will Sophie get arrested for killing Kyle? Was it Margo's plan to send Kyle to assassinate Sophie? What will this mean for Jed's career in politics? And what will happen to the delicate friendship between Sophie and Margo? These unanswered mysteries leave the door open for a possible second season, which would bring more drama and intrigue to Maple Brook.