Hunters zooms toward its season one finale and in “Pretending to See the Future” things come to a head between Truss Jackson and Ruth Finnerman. McCarthy makes a surprise reappearance. Regan and Flynn grab Carp’s son and Carp loses his head. Musa was injured at the hotel attack and things begin to point to Finnerman being an Exalted.
At the start of the episode Truss is at church with his family after being removed from the ETU by Finnerman. A man dressed as a missionary finds Jackson’s car and plants a sonic bomb under it. Truss and his family narrowly escape being killed. Jackson calls Finnerman claiming that Hunters have tried to kill him.
As Flynn gets coffee for himself and Regan, the news is blaming the hotel massacre on a lone shooter. The two track down Carp and kidnap his son instead of the arms dealer. The young man is dying of leukemia and they learn that he is meant to have Regan’s blood injected as a cure.
Pablo begins to die and starts going through a seizure. Regan injects the blood and Carp’s son responds well. He announces himself cured and then dies horrifically.
While the two ETU agents wait for Carp to show up Jackson meets Briggs at a safe house. Finnerman’s “boy” is there to kill Truss and he gets the upper hand, temporarily. Briggs shoots his old boss in the shoulder and Jackson escapes. Shortly after he talks his would be assassin out of killing him.
Flynn and Regan wait to meet Carp at the docks. A car; its speakers playing loud rock music, pulls up and stops. The lights blind the two agents. Regan calls out to Carp and the weapon dealer’s head comes flying out of the vehicle.
It is McCarthy and he wants to swap sides. He has been exiled by Musa and he wants to strike back.
Musa r is paranoid now that his healing powers have been damaged by the attack on the hotel. He demands that everyone prove who they are and afterward he tells Abby about the Exalted. Musa claims that they are there.
He also tells her that they want to stop the purge. After their little talk the ship can be seen in a giant hanger. Whether this means that they really intend to escape and not blow up the world remains to be seen.
Finnerman gets a text from Briggs asking her to meet him at the safe house. She arrives and discovers that Briggs has gone back to Jackson. After a short bit of conversation Truss explains that his old boss crossed a line attacking his family. He apparently shoots Ruth Finnerman although it is not a head shot.
There are flashback throughout the episode where Truss re-lives his first exposure to Hunters. He also remembers the first time they use Echo Protocol to kill innocents to protect the secret.
Rather interestingly, Ruth, despite her family line recitation of ancestors who have served their country, seems less than human. Something about Finnerman is odd. Her tunnel visioned mission to stop the Hunters and lack of emotions about family and killing innocents makes her seem less than human.
Listening to Musa talk of the Exalted; who also want to stop the Hunters makes one wonder if she is one. Disguised, as the Hunters are, to be human. Her position in the ETU makes for the perfect cover and allows her to stop Hunters.
This may seem a little far out but the woman’s behavior is less human and more automaton. Finnerman ruthlessly goes after everything that protects the secret. It also allows her to kill more Hunters. Could Ruth be an Exalted Hunter?
Along the way Emme tells Flynn that she still loves Abby regardless of whether she is human or not.
Next week’s episode is the season one finale. Will the Hunters use the ship to go home as Musa claims or will they destroy the planet.
Hunters is deadly serious with no humor to lighten the load. Show creator Natalie Chaidez has given us a grim and suspenseful science fiction thriller. It is a world where the terrorists are aliens who are different from us under their skin.
(Sidenote: There was one moment that was unintentionally funny. After Musa goes through the proving ceremony. Liana cuts her arm to the “bone” and shows her inner Hunter. Holding the bloody limb up in the air she states, “One of us.” Meant to be a serious moment, it brought to mind the dinner scene from Tod Browning’s 1932 cult film Freaks. All that was needed was the “Gooba gobble” part of the line to make it complete.)
The season finale “New Holy Ground” airs July 11 after the show takes a break for the Fourth of July.
CAST:
- Nathan Phillips – Flynn
- Britne Oldford – Regan
- Lewis Fitz-Gerald – Truss Jackson
- Julian McMahon – McCarthy
- Laura Gordon – Abby
- Mark Coles Smith – Briggs
- Sarah Peirse – Finnerman
- Shannon Berry – Emme
Mikes Film Talk 