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The Hunting Wives Season 1 Review – A proper guilty pleasure

Season 1 Episode Guide Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 4/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 7 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 8 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 The Hunting Wives is the perfect definition of a guilty pleasure. It's an undeniably raunchy, trashy and outright sex-fuelled endeavour that feels designed to get eyeballs on it for the shock-value as much as the story itself. Beyond the first episode's very blatant titillation, when The Hunting Wives actually settles down and starts to showcase the story, there's an enticing and relatively interesting murder mystery at the heart of this that will keep you guessing right up until the shocking ending. Based on the novel sporting the same name, The Hunting Wives centers on newcomer Sophie O'Neil, who moves to the heart of East Texas with her husband Graham and their son Jack, determined to have a fresh start. Naturally, Sophie has some skeletons in her closet which threaten to come tumbling out as she becomes entangled within the charms of socialite Margo Banks. With her husband Jed looking set to jump into politics, and the small town still reeling after the disappearance of a girl six months back, Sophie finds herself on a collision course with chaos. From here, the show drinks a cocktail of obsession, seduction and murder. The story is given an injection of tension when a murder rocks the town, prompting police to launch an investigation into what may have happened. Adding more mystery to proceedings is a drunken night where Sophie wakes up with no knowledge of her whereabouts the night of the murder. The Hunting Wives leans into all the usual tropes of the genre, and it has a ton of suspicious characters with shady actions and motivations that will have you questioning who the killer is right up until the end. This show also doubles up as an erotic thriller and it's certainly not afraid to embrace this moniker with open arms. Expect everything from lesbian kissing to implied threesomes, all the way over to cheating and more. Honestly, The Hunting Wives does not hold back and while it isn't explicit in the way it showcases these sexual acts- at least outside of showing breasts or bare bottoms – it's also quite rare to see a show in 2025 be bold enough to go all-in in this way. Sophie is arguably one of the weaker personalities in this colourful ensemble, especially next to powerhouse Margo who does most of the heavy lifting in this series. The supporting characters around these two are an enticing bunch with their own subplots (mostly revolving around sex or sexual exploits). It's a bit of a car crash and its unashamedly bonkers, especially toward the last 2 or 3 episodes where The Hunting Wives decides to take the training wheels off and go completely bonkers with its story. These are some of the more crazy parts of the show but while entertaining, also display some pretty big plot contrivances and issues. None of this is helped by the cliffhanger ending, which baits for a second season. Honestly, it feels more like a desperate plea to the studios, especially as we actually get a definitive ending to the central mystery. Despite some of its more glaring flaws and some big plot contrivances toward the end, The Hunting Wives has an undeniably manic, sultry tone that'll keep you gripped until the final episodes. It's certainly not the best thriller of the year, nor is it going to win any awards, but it's a hell of a good time that isn't afraid to come out all guns blazing.