The Double Interrogation
After an opening segment in 1976 Paraguay, episode 5 of Hunters sees us skip ahead to Harlem a year later. Roxy speaks to her partner about what she’s doing and kisses her daughter goodbye. We then skip over to Meyer, who speaks to Jonah and tells him to channel his anger, while interjecting this speech with shots of him practicing self-defence moves with Joe. We also cut back to the past as well, learning more about The Wolf inside the holocaust camp, in particular showing a nasty torture scene involving Meyer refusing to scream. It’s here Meyer tells Jonah the one mistake he made in his life was hesitating, warning Jonah against doing just this. The group then reconvene, proceeding to look over a photo of The Wolf and his associates, deciding to set their attention on a political activist known as Tilda Sauer. Millie and Danny Rohr sit together and talk about the Nazis, including Gretel Fischer and Meyer’s link to the string of deaths that lead across the country. Danny goes on to tell her he has a source that can prove there are thousands of Nazis operating in America. Back home, Carol asks questions about where Jonah has been these past few days but he pushes her away, cursing the girl and forcing her to leave. As she does, Sister Harriet and Joe talk to him about the lone wolf mentality and the sacrifices they have to make in this line of work. Tobias tasks Travis with another order – this one delivering a bag to a specific address while Biff sits opposite The Colonel and talks business, in particular him tanking the bill regarding South America. Biff tells her he wants a meeting with The General but she scoffs at the notion, leaving this issue wide open for now. Jonah visits Dieter Zweigelt and poses as a representative from the Young Republicans Club, managing to get his signature which is enough to verify his identity. While Mindy and Murray prepare for their big day, the trio of hunters (Roxy, Meyer and Lonny) converge on Tilda Sauer’s location, tasering her and holding her hostage. When she awakens, the entire group circle and torture her, asking for information surrounding Oskar but she remains incredulous and refusing to engage. Meyer manages to get through to her eventually and upon realizing she knows nothing, shoots her square in the head. Meanwhile, Jonah holds Dieter up at gunpoint at his estate and takes him away during the midst of the 4th of July celebrations, where Joe, Sister Harriet and Jonah surround him and hear his story. It turns out the CIA and NASA recruited him, and as they continue to ask questions he divulges a whole host of names for people operating in America. It’s valuable intel and enough for Sister Harriet to take this list and begin asking around for one of the men he mentioned named Kenneth Swiggens. Upon finding him, she speaks in German and advises he leave. Bundling him in the car, they drive off together leaving Jonah and Joe stranded after killing Dieter. Meanwhile, Millie is blindsided in the toilets and beaten down to the ground, told to stop asking questions and beaten to a pulp by shadowy, mysterious figures. They drop a picture of her and Maria, which is enough of a warning to know these men are for real. As Meyer and the others head out of Tauer’s house their car suddenly explodes, leading to a shootout as Travis reveals himself and grabs a shotgun, circling Meyer while Roxy lies passed out on the ground. As sirens wail overhead, the shootout is left to be continued, as Travis growls in frustration and leaves the house. After five episodes, it’s fair to say the humour in Hunters just doesn’t work. The commercial skits feel ill-fitted and a little contrived while various people act out of character this episode. Seeing Meyer go back on his word regarding a calculated and precise way of conducting his interrogations feels like a betrayal of his persona, while Sister Harriet’s turn is more confusing than narratively sound; up until this point we’ve had no hint that she’s operating as a spy. Still, the shootout at the end is exciting and the opening stylish segment inside the camp is probably the highlight of the entire episode which should be enough to see you persevere with this one. Hopefully this episode is only a blip but unfortunately episode 5 is the weakest of the bunch so far.
