Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
4.8
Each serial killer on The Hunting Party has been intriguing, but Roy Barber was the most complex and twisty.
The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 5 was my favorite installment because the murder mystery kept changing, and the team cemented their relationship.
While procedurals don’t need fluffy romance, Bex’s relationships with Shane and Oliver were heavily coded, and so was her relationship with her daughter, Sam.
After several episodes, The Hunting Party found the balance of what worked for them.
Childhood Trauma is One of the Major Triggers For Murder
While we never condone murder, witnessing childhood trauma, especially violent abuse, traumatizes people.
Roy Barber’s father killed his mother and then killed himself when Roy was still a young teenager. He was never close to anyone but his mother, so that destroyed him.
Roy Barber was deemed the Couple’s Killer and killed 16 victims total, about one every year.
The main problem was that psychiatrists deemed he was a full-blown schizoid, meaning he preferred isolation and his artwork and hated dealing with people.
Barber actually thrived living in the Pit, where he could sketch his victims and be left alone. When the prison blew up, it unleashed a monster.
Roy Barber’s Artwork Led the Team to Another Clue
Roy Barber proved dangerous because he was a skilled artist. While he used to work at amusement parks, he grew better when he became a police sketch artist and learned Intel on how to escape the cops.
He learned so much more than that, though. He knew how to pick his victims.
Like in The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 1, Roy Barber chased an old mission, but it wasn’t the one that got away this time.
He killed another couple, John and Crystal Resnick, but Morales discovered that Crystal had never existed before 2001, when Roy was arrested.
While the team initially suspected she testified for the prosecution, Bex found more of Barber’s sketches and noticed the women’s age had changed, but the men’s had never changed.
Bex: Because Roy knew the women weren’t actually dead.
The flashbacks confirmed that Crystal Resnick was Bridget Caldwell, and she knew about killing her husband.
The team suspected that more of these women were still alive, but they needed a motive on why all of them required Roy Barber to kill their husbands.
These Partnerships Were Some of the Messiest Murders Ever
Roy Barber believed he was saving these women and thought they were in messy marriages. He couldn’t save his mom, so he made it his mission to save other women.
Working at the police station allowed him to see the charges filed against some of the men, such as Harry Caldwell’s drunken disorderly charge or Kyle Franklin’s larceny charge.
The women wanted to be free of these marriages, so he made it look like they died with their husbands.
Problems arose when he returned and found some women in messy marriages again. That’s why he killed the Resnicks and why he tried to kill Tricia’s, AKA Linda’s, new husband. He saw a bruise on her arm.
Things got complicated because he wanted Linda to kill her husband, and she hesitated and tried to shoot Roy instead.
It was obvious that Bex had little sympathy for Linda and the other women, who were supposed to have died years ago.
Surprisingly, I felt more for Roy Barber, who suffered childhood trauma, was used by many women, and was taken from his haven in the Pit.
The Trio Remains The Best Part of The Hunting Party
The best procedurals include team dynamics that work and that viewers want to see more of. Hassani, Bex, and Shane remind me of Wyatt, Lucy, and Rufus from Timeless.
They each have a purpose on these missions. They started as strangers but have slowly started trusting each other as friends to cover one another.
Hassani and Shane were hilarious as they countered why Roy Barber murdered all these people. They often had these conversations on the plane while Bex profiled the latest serial killer.
Hassani: So, the guy doesn’t like to socialize. Trust me, I get it. Wouldn’t it be easier to be a hermit? Why bother murdering couples?
Bex: Because after being raised by less-than-stellar parents, he became absolutely fascinated with love.
Some of the trio’s best talks were on that plane. Their other memorable scenes include them in action. As they proved when they almost lost Bex in The Hunting Party Season 1 Episode 4, these three would do anything for each other.
While Bex is often on the front lines, reasoning with the weekly killer, Shane and Hassani provide backup and protect her.
Bex’s Love Triangle Heats Up
While The Hunting Party isn’t an overtly romantic series, tonight’s installment hit all the right notes.
Whenever Bex wanted backup, she asked Shane to cover for her. That meant something since Hassani was also there.
Shane was the one who shot Roy Barber when he worried Bex might have gotten hurt. He’s her protector.
It was apparent in many small moments when he glanced over and quietly checked on her.
These two are pure sweetness, and their pizza date with watching the game was so old-school.
While it was a moment between friends, they had their unique hi-five to celebrate the case in which not even Morales could participate. How cute was that?
Bex’s relationship with Oliver remains more angsty, but he still longs for her.
Since he broke her heart and trust years ago, Oliver has tried to keep things professional with Bex since they began working together again, except for that birthday cupcake.
Knowing when he’s lying is challenging, but I think he believed Sam had told Bex before communicating with him.
Oliver guessed Bex would disapprove, but they almost seemed nostalgic, as if they had imagined their potentially happy family.
When Bex finally revealed the truth to her daughter, Sam reminded her that working at the FBI led her to adopting her. Could that have been a hint that the FBI is Bex’s way back to Oliver, too?
Bex: It’s okay. Everyone should get a card on their birthday or a cupcake.
Some Secrets Are Better Left Buried
Hassani’s digging triggered the higher-ups, and they despised people poking around. He learned those satellite images were other silos, and Silo 12 was significant.
We’ll never know how accurate the information was since the images looked doctored, and only the highest security clearance could manage that.
That meant the government hid something worse than the Pit they didn’t want the team to learn about.
It must be military-based since Oliver’s handler approached the Attorney General, making her force Hassani to back down.
Hassani and Bex are stubborn, so this won’t end well for anyone.
Over to you, The Hunting Party Fanatics. What were your thoughts on “Roy Barber”? Was he a savior or a menace?
Are you Team Shane or Team Oliver in this triangle? What are the higher-ups hiding?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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