What I’m Watching: Hunters

Hunters: Season 1, Episode 5 “At Night, All Birds are Black” (B)

This show really is pretty gruesome, and I thought that watching a young Meyer being tortured by the wolf was disturbing enough until we got to the horrific method of execution for one of the Nazis and the revolting treatment of the other whose identity they never managed to confirm. I do appreciate the casting on this show, with recognizable faces portraying the Nazis they’re pursuing. Raphael Sbarge from “Once Upon a Time” was Dieter, while Barbara Sukowa from “12 Monkeys” was Tilda, and both were strong, each responding differently to their interrogations. Dieter didn’t seem apologetic at all for his actions, while Tilda kept up the act of not being who they said she was but revealed an overly informed knowledge of each of them before she was killed instantaneously by Meyer, seemingly to cover up whatever it was she was about to say. Learning about so many Nazis living in Alabama was unsettling, and Harriet went off-book to murder one man there and then take another for a joy ride while leaving her accomplices behind. The fake commercial with German-accented Alabamans advertising a haven for Nazis was typically absurd, but that’s one of the ways this show embraces its excessive parody of reality. Murray and Mindy’s rabbi was a bit over-the-top, but it’s worth noting that his portrayer was Josh Mostel, son of the legendary Zero Mostel. Biff is really pushing to have more influence, and he may have screwed himself over with Juanita, who has no desire to help him even if it has implications for her. That big blowout at the end is a huge tipping point, showing that Travis and those he works for are very much onto them, and it’s going to be hard for Meyer to explain why his car exploded outside of a murdered woman’s house. If Millie isn’t too afraid to continue investigating after being beaten up, she’ll now be able to confirm that all of her theories were completely correct.