The Hunting Party Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Did “Adrian Gallo” Inspire a Copycat Killer?

Critic’s Rating: 4.1 / 5.0

4.1

The Hunting Party has started off this season with a bang. The serial killers are quirkier, scarier, and somehow sympathetic.

It’s a puzzle learning their motive to kill again once they’re released from the Pit, and if their therapy worsens matters.

The Hunting Party Season 2 Episode 2 introduced Adrian Gallo, a serial killer, who encased his victims in acrylic resin.

While he scared us, it was even more horrifying to think he could have a copycat killer who was inspired by him.

While the trio dealt with the weekly case, they also adjusted to the new team in charge and learned whether they’d be helpful.

This Week’s Killer Was Scientific and Creepy

That poor victim just woke to his worst nightmare, waking up in a box filled with acrylic resin and seeing multiple glass boxes of reptiles and animals that suffered a similar fate.

Was this man about to be this creepy killer’s first human sacrifice? I’m not sure who was more scared, the victim or the man who found him in the park.

The Hunting Party has excelled at making these creepy killers somewhat humorous. While they’re horrifying, you want to know they came up with these ingenious ideas, and that’s the hook.

Many of these killers find their methods as childhood coping strategies, and Adrian developed his because his mother was ill, and putting a body in resin preserves life.

While Adrian enjoyed encasing bugs(a thought that horrified Hassani), he really wanted to preserve beauty to honor his mother.

Did the Pit Worsen Adrian Gallo?

As suspected, Dr. Charles was the evil doctor in The Hunting Party Season 2. He flooded Adrian’s mind with stimuli from the crimes, but it still took years before Adrian took accountability.

It was disturbing that he killed six people by encasing them in resin. All of the victims were random, except when he killed a detective, Jack Waylan, and his partner Erica Burke (Niecy Nash-Betts).

It shouldn’t be any surprise that Adrian Gallo kept replaying Erica Burke’s threat and attacked another victim to pull her out.

It almost seemed like he attacked Carl Wilkons, who witnessed the crime 14 years ago, so Bex and her team would contact Erica Burke.

I didn’t understand his game, though, when he showed up at her house, taunting her about her partner’s death.

He doesn’t think they’re that different, but when he takes off the sunglasses, his eyes are bloodshot, and he says he’s been through hell.

Like many other killers, there’s a part of me that felt sorry for Adrian and wondered why he constantly replayed Erica’s threats in his head. We’ve seen how having visions in your head can mess with someone.

I Loved Bex Opening Up, but I Wished I Trusted Erica

I liked Erica Burke, mainly because the Hunting Party trio couldn’t fool her with their aliases. She was smarter than that and only agreed to share information if she assisted with their investigation.

The Hunting Party isn’t like Tracker, where Colter Shaw gets assistants each week. The prisoners of the Pit were top-secret, so it made sense why they hesitated, but they needed her, and Erica had a vested interest in Adrian’s recapture.

I loved that Bex and Shane had difficulty believing that the victim’s families would receive fake ashes and not the actual remains, and that the police would still keep the bodies this long. Something smelled bad, and those two shared a brain.

All of Adrian’s resins were missing from the evidence, and something seemed fishy.

I loved that Bex thought Erica would confide in her if it were just the two of them. Melissa Roxburgh and Niecy Nash-Betts featured a believable connection as Bex opened up about losing Oliver, hoping it would help.

Ericka felt better knowing Adrian had paid for Jack’s death, and all the grief came flooding back as soon as she saw him again.

This seemed like such a pivotal conversation because Bex understood they weren’t done and had to face their fears.

It worried me how well Erica knew Adrian’s next moves. Was it because she wanted vengeance for her partner’s death, or was she obsessed with him for other reasons?

Did You Suspect a Different Killer?

Bex was more suspicious than we thought, thankfully, since Erica went rogue.

I probably shouldn’t, but I felt sorry for Adrian after watching Dr. Charles torture and taunt him by destroying his resins. No wonder he confessed to questionable murders.

I loved that Bex realized that Erica only wanted in to gather information, that she may have committed several murders, and that Adrian wanted to trap her. What a mess!

She knew way too much about committing those crimes and resin.

Adrian realized that Erica acted similarly to him, and he wasn’t that far off. It disgusted me that she killed her partner because he wanted to move after she and Bex bonded over losing their partners.

After that horror, she couldn’t stop, which worried Berx since she didn’t believe Erica stopped, and there were more resins out there.

OMG! The trio found Adrian in resin and dead. The Hunting Party excels at fight scenes, and the trio came in hot.

Erica wasn’t giving up, but she kept shooting, and Bex admitted she realized Adrian wanted to see Erica’s resins.

Erica seemed worse than Adrian because she enjoyed the thrill and bragged about it. She warns Bex that, if you do this job long enough, the darkness will find them.

The Jury Was Still Out on the New Team

The trio and Morales only trust eachother as Melissa Roxburgh teased. They’re concerned that AG Mallory was dropped so abruptly, and that they know so little about Col. Lazarus.

I can’t wait until they learn how connected to her they are and how complicated that will make things for Shane.

I love how protective Bex was of Shane and how she only wanted him to gather information discreetly since they didn’t want to anger anyone.

Jonathan Peck had a difficult time winning the trio over, since they were used to working with Oliver and Morales, who were more attuned to the prisoners’ workings. With him, they had to start from scratch, and Bex had little patience.

I like Ben Jones the most because he wanted to impress the group, but did not yet have Morales’ skills. They are a fun duo.

Morales bent first since Jonathan Peck admitted he didn’t work for the Pit. He had their secret weapons – all items from the Pit, including items from Dr. Charles’ office.

Other Hunting Party Thoughts

I appreciate that Bex still grieved Oliver. She’ll need time to act like herself again. I loved that Jonathan Peck also gave her something of Oliver’s and shared that they knew each other. It’s these little moments.

Her talk with Shane about darkness versus the light touched me. It’s something they’ve both struggled with,h and it made me cry when Shane admitted the team was his “light.” Found family at its finest.

That Red Vines moment was so cute!

We need more team group breakfasts.

Over to you, The Hunting Parting Fanatics. Were you surprised by the killer? What will the team learn about Col. Lazarus?

Let us know in the comments.

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