Death row killers are on the loose in The Hunting Party, and The Pit’s warden, Oliver, believes there’s no one more trustworthy than Bex to catch them. After the top-secret prison, a.k.a. The Pit, blows up in the show’s premiere, a yet-to-be-determined number of murderers — who were sent there rather than being executed — have escaped. These are highly dangerous people who will most likely return to their old ways or utilize even more enhanced methods, endangering human existence.
With the procedural's premise centered on a team of investigators tracking down the worst killers ever, fans can expect some true-crime-inspired episodes, including a Scott Peterson-inspired episode as teased by co-showrunners JJ Bailey and Jake Coburn. The duo mentioned this during a roundtable interview attended by Collider's Samantha Coley, with Bailey saying, “We try not to be too close to the real world, but we certainly have one episode that we finished filming recently, and it just so happened to coincide with Scott Peterson." Coburn added, "The Netflix Scott Peterson documentary that was like blowing up everywhere, and it was sort of our Scott Peterson episode, so to speak.”
Avid fans of true crime know Scott Peterson as the husband of the late Laci Peterson, who was convicted of murdering her and their unborn first child. Bailey and Coburn didn't divulge too many details about the upcoming episode, but the latter revealed who would star as the killer, saying, “We have the actor Jesse Bradford playing a sort of Scott Peterson-inspired guy.”
'The Hunting Party' Has More Heightened & Twistier Episodes Than Your Average Procedural
Although parts of The Hunting Party are inspired by true-crime stories, those parts are “more heightened and twistier and more fun” than viewers might expect, according to Coburn. The executive producer also opined that it’s “sort of dark and sad and not fun” to turn the real serial killers’ narrative into an engaging TV show. Meanwhile, Bailey touched more on the soon-to-air true crime episodes, saying:
“I don't know that too many of our killers specifically, but sort of some of the MO's and certain aspects of them, definitely come from [true crime]. We got one as well in Episode 4. It's a little bit like the – I'm blanking on his name, but there was a nurse who was killing patients. Things like that, we pulled in real life."
The next episode of The Hunting Party airs on NBC on February 10. Check out the pilot on Peacock now.

The Hunting Party
- Release Date
- February 3, 2025
- Network
- NBC
- Directors
- Thor Freudenthal
Cast
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Melissa RoxburghRebecca 'Bex' Henderson
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Patrick SabonguiRyan Hassani
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