Even though the title of Netflix’s recent drama series,The Hunting Wives, prepared us for it,seeing the titular wives actually brandishing rifleswas a surprise for those who haven’t read the novel it’s based on. Leads Sophie (Brittany Snow) and Margo (Malin Akerman) transport us to the wealthy underbelly of Texas, where brunch and mimosas are followed by a good old session of shooting pellets. The show has many moving parts, from affairs, haunting pasts, enigmatic dynamics, and a murder mystery in the middle of it all. Yet, there is one scene in the entire show that pretty much sums it up: shocking, cruel, tantalizing and flashy.
Seeing the upper-class women in heels and cocktail dresses handling rifles like they were just another limb is jarring enough, butactuallywitnessing them hunt down a boarlike it was just another Pilates class? Wild. In Episode 3, which is also when the fateful night happens, the five women strap on their gear for a hunting trip. The death of the boar wasalready unexpectedly cruel and violent, but the cherry on top that makes it a WTF moment is seeing Margo wearing a blindingly bright orange sweater. It may just seem like a weird bonding moment, but the scene digs deeper into the core themes and tones of the show.
The Boar’s Death in Episode 3 Is Shocking and Messy — Just Like ‘The Hunting Wives’
Everything about the boar scene — the placement, tonality, and the twist — is designed to shock just as the show does. It happens fairly earlyin the eight-episode Netflix series, where, like Sophie, we’re learning about the friendship group’s and town’s dynamics, and are just settling into the groove of things. So, Margo whisks Sophie away from her family, and the latter is tossed headfirst into the gun culture, even deciding to buy one. The next day,Sophie continues to ride this wave of excitement that comes with fitting in, up to the point thatshe willingly shoots the boardespite her original reservations. Her decision to shoot is a culmination of the events from before, but the shock arises when a painful groan is emitted from the boar, sucking the excitement out immediately.
The tonal shift incited by the boar’s groan encapsulates how twisty and layeredthe tone ofThe Hunting Wivesis. In the scene and in the entire show, there is a stark contrast between the exuberance of being free-spirited, independent wives, and the sinister undertones that can break to the surface just as viscerally as the boar’s groan cuts through the air.The show treats that poor, near-dead boar the same way it treats its narrative beats: withruthless timing and spine-tingling darkness. From back-stabbing friends to sexual predators, the series leans into dark themes and atmospheres that we sometimes don’t expect, becoming just as disturbing as that grunt.
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While the sudden brutality of a boar gurgling and choking on his death is symbolic of the show’s tone,each of the women’s roles in the situation is also pretty telling. We’ll come back to Margo, but Starr (Chrissy Metz) and Jill (Katie Lowes) are mainly passive, yet aghast observers, reflecting their later role as essentially collateral damageinThe Hunting Wives’finale. Callie (Jaime Ray Newman) has to finish the job with her handgun, foreshadowing how she ties up loose ends for Margo’s plans, even if she doesn’t know she’s doing it. And, of course, Sophie is just riding the momentum, the same wave that would carry her to the end of that fateful night for which she would be framed. But all of these characters and plots in the boar scene and the show revolve around one person: Margo.
Margo Is a Scene-Stealer Everywhere in ‘The Hunting Wives’
At first, it seemed like Margo hadjust walked off the set ofThe White Lotusand was just another wife to a filthy rich man with a Southerner’s charm. But soon thereafter, Margo commands our attention in nearly every scene ofThe Hunting Wives, and the boar scene is no different. It encapsulates her entire characterization and role in the show, from what she decides to wear to how other characters react to her. While everyone thinks it’s a bad idea to let Sophie shoot,Margo is met with very little resistancewhen she insists on it, even from Sophie herself, who is now truly intoxicated by her. Margo’s effect on people is seen when she helps Sophie aim, turning it into a sensual act where the air between them is electric. There is no doubting Margo’s allure, sexual or status-wise.
However, the most important aspect of her character is conveyed through the weirdest element of the scene: her costume design. The others opt for varying shades of black, green, and brown — colors you would intuitively reach for when going to hunt in a forest. Meanwhile, Margo sports a flashy, bright orange top that everyone seems to accept, even the animals. While it visually marks her out to be the Queen B of the group,her outfitembodies how she is so mesmerizing and eye-catching in the series, yet blends perfectly into any situation. Sheadapts and manipulates her way outof any predicament, deftly going under the radar despite having everyone’s attention. It’s a dangerous and fascinating contradiction.
Also, just as it was Margo’s idea that made the hunting trip possible, it is Margo’s plan that madeThe Hunting Wivespossible. She is not just the star of the show wearing bright orange, she is the invisible hand pushing around the pawns in her favor. The most obvious way we see this is whenshe frames multiple people for the central murder, and this is where the other characters' roles also come into play: Starr and Jill as collateral damage, Callie as a lackey, and Sophie as a plaything (until she grows her own teeth, that is). ConsideringThe Hunting Wivesis arguably just about Margoand the twisted mystery around her, the boar scene, for all its electricity, shock, cruelty, and deception, embodies it to a tee.
The Hunting Wives
