The Hunting Party Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Zack Lang

The Hunting Party Season 2 Episode 3, “Zach Lang,” gives us one of the most obnoxious killers the series has to offer, alongside a last-second Colonel Lazarus reveal.

So far, the main focus of Season 2 of The Hunting Party‘s is getting us back into the swing of things with the team’s mission. On this episode, the team is after Zach Lang, a serial killer known for targeting the 1%.

The way the Pit alters the motivations of its inmates is one of the more compelling aspects of The Hunting Party. The pit’s goal isn’t rehabilitation, it’s research.

It’s misleading on the show’s part to call what the pit does “therapy.” The pit always makes the inmates worse.

Zack Lang is one of the most glaringly obvious examples of the pit making killers worse. Besides being deeply annoying, Zack came out of the pit with a new, more focused motivation.

He discovers why he feels the need to kill, but not how to stop. Zack goes from targeting the wealthy to targeting the poor and vulnerable.

Zack is depicted as being full of himself, hypocritical, and above all, bitter. Where other killers are just creepy, Zack is creepy and obnoxious, which, despite how it sounds, works in the episode’s favor.

It’s a great way of further cementing how morally bankrupt the pit is. Zack went from a mindless gunman to a calculated, very intentional, serial killer due to the pit’s influence.

Zack’s political motivation turns out to be a guise; however, his actual motivation is a bit out of place.

Specifically, the animal cruelty felt out of nowhere. It felt tacked on to ensure the audience doesn’t feel any sympathy for Zack.

It’s not that they should’ve made you feel bad for him; it’s that it felt disconnected from the rest of the episode. He’s motivated by anger, so the fact that getting caught killing his childhood cat is the catalyst for his future actions feels unrelated.

The Hunting Party wants to avoid garnering sympathy for its killers, which isn’t a bad thing, but it does that at the cost of complexity. Zack would have been a serial killer no matter what.

Bex is, unfortunately, the only one of the main characters to get development this episode. She’s been inconsistent this season, jumping from spiteful to sympathetic.

When Zack is caught, we see more of her sympathy. Whether that sympathy is genuine or if she’s using it to disarm him remains to be seen.

Additionally, the episode suddenly ends with Bex uncovering Colonel Lazarus’ identity. The episode doesn’t spend much time on this investigation, so the reveal might catch you off guard.

The Hunting Party has spent some time hyping up Colonel Lazarus as a character. Hopefully, the next episode expands upon this discovery.

---

What did you think of this episode of The Hunting Party? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

The Hunting Party airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!