The Hunting Party Episode 2’s Shocking Confrontation Addressed By Stars Melissa Roxburgh & Patrick Sabongui: “It Flipped A Switch For Me”

The Hunting Party is a thrilling new procedural drama that combines criminal investigation and government conspiracy, but perhaps its strength lies in creating empathy for stereotypical villains. The show follows an elite team assembled to track down some of the country’s most dangerous escaped killers, all while keeping the escape itself and the facility they came from under wraps, but episode 2's criminal created a surprising conundrum for the characters. The series stars Melissa Roxburgh from the supernatural drama Manifest alongside The Flash’s Patrick Sabongui, Chicago PD’s Nick Wechsler, and La Brea’s Josh McKenzie.

The heart of the show’s conflict is The Pit, a top-secret prison used to hold - and experiment on - notorious criminals thought to have been executed. After an explosion sets many of them free to pursue more victims, a team is assembled to catch them before they can kill again. Roxburgh plays Bex, a serial killer profiler who’s recruited to the squad alongside CIA agent Ryan Hassani (Sabongui) and former Pit guard Shane Florence (McKenzie). It’s not only a show about serial killers - the more the group learns about The Pit and the explosion, the more mysteries they’re left to unravel.

Screen Rant interviewed Melissa Roxburgh and Patrick Sabongui to discuss how their characters’ relationship evolves, why The Hunting Party episode 2 hit home for them, and what they think about the potential killers lurking in all of us.

Roxburgh & Sabongui’s Real-Life Friendship Helped The Hunting Party

“I wasn’t sure what the heart of the show was, but then…”

Screen Rant: Your characters start off really distrustful of each other, but that fades over time as you get to know each other. Can you talk about what it was like to evolve your dynamic?

Melissa Roxburgh: I think the writers just saw how well we got along and were like, "We can't make them enemies anymore," and made us friends instead. But no, I feel like anyone from Bex's perspective coming into this situation, not knowing anything, she's going to not trust a lot of people.

And especially because Hassani murders someone in the first episode. He shoots someone right in front of her, and that's not how she wants to operate. That automatically sets up this "hmmm" factor for her, and then he proves that he is an ally. From there on out, she leans into that.

I think part of what makes this show so especially engaging is it's this really cool blend of a case of the week format, but you also have this more overarching mystery of what actually happened at The Pit. I found episode 2's case especially interesting.

Melissa Roxburgh: Yeah, I really liked that episode as well. I think episode 2 is super interesting, just because, I don't know why, it just tugged at my heartstrings a little bit. Because it almost feels like a killer who doesn't really know he's killing. That was interesting for me, like if I Am Sam was a serial killer. You're like, "[pained] Ah, hm." Yeah, I like that one.

Patrick Sabongui: Melissa, when I watched you talk him down in that episode, it flipped a switch for me. I wasn't sure what the heart of the show was, but when you come out from around the corner, the empathy you projected and the vulnerability you displayed to not just connect with them but also talk him down.

Then when history's about to repeat itself, and I'm about to take him down and you advocate for him, it's like, "Not in the head this time." There was a moment there where I was like, "Oh, we're part of something very human and special." That was a special moment for me, too.

Melissa Roxburgh: And also, that's due to the guy who played Clayton Jessup, as well. He nailed that character.

Patrick Sabongui: Nailed it.

Neither of you are strangers to playing law enforcement, but I would love to know if these roles felt any different from your past experience on projects like The Flash and Manifest. What keeps drawing you back to these sorts of law enforcement roles?

Melissa Roxburgh: I like justice. [Laughs] Yeah, on and off camera, I'm a big, "If something's wrong, you got to fix it," girl, which doesn't always go very well. But truth be told, I'd love to play something different. But I think the reason that I do enjoy these roles or have enjoyed them so far is because it's really cool to see a woman just being able to speak her mind and save the day on her own and - not on her own, she has a team - but without being the one being saved all the time. That's why I like those roles.

Patrick Sabongui: For me, I play both sides of the law quite a bit. I think in Hassani there's a character that straddles both extremes of it. I am a believer that there are just laws and unjust laws, and our justice system is imperfect. That it's up to us as citizens to constantly question, "Is this a just law or an unjust law? Is this something I should challenge?" I think Hassani, as this government spook, operates on both sides of the law, but has a clear moral compass and a sense of justice. I think that's really exciting for me.

Roxburgh Almost Pursued Her Hunting Party Character’s Career

“Then I Thought I’ll Just Do The Make-Believe Version Instead"

Melissa, you mentioned loving justice, and I know you actually studied, for a time at least, in college criminal psychology.

Melissa Roxburgh: Yeah. I didn't get very far. But I did for a moment think I wanted to go down that path because I grew up on Criminal Minds. I also loved the true crime podcast and TV shows, Unsolved Mysteries I would watch every day after school. Figuring out the psychology of these people, and it is so far removed from how our brains work, I was like, "That's interesting.”

But then I realized we have to actually deal with bad people and I didn't want to do that. I took a couple courses and started going down that path, and then I thought I'll just do the make-believe version instead.

Has it been fun getting to live out that idea of being a profiler in this way?

Melissa Roxburgh: Yeah, it has. I think there's been a couple episodes where it made me stop and go, "Are we all just like a couple degrees away, or a couple traumatic situations away, or bad upbringings away from becoming these terrible people?" Because sometimes the backstory of these killers, some were born bad and they're just bad. But some, it's like they went through bad stuff and they came out bad on the other end of it. It just makes you pause. Again, not advocating for a serial killer, just want to make that very clear. [Laughs]

Patrick Sabongui: Aren't we all little bit serial killer-ish? [Laughs]

Melissa Roxburgh: Aren't we all a little killer-ish? Let's not make that the slug line.

Patrick Sabongui: That's the headline there.

Melissa Roxburgh: I know that's how you get canceled.

More About The Hunting Party Season 1

A high-concept crime procedural about a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers our country has ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that’s not supposed to exist.

The cast includes Melissa Roxburgh, Nick Wechsler, Patrick Sabongui, Josh McKenzie, and Sara Garcia. Co-showrunners JJ Bailey (creator) and Jake Coburn are writers and executive producers. Thor Freudenthal is director and executive producer. Keto Shimizu is writer and executive producer.

Source: Screen Rant Plus