Shows about rich, glamorous women can be addictive TV, especially when their lives are teetering on the brink of calamity. There is the long-runningBravo reality seriesReal Housewives, which points a camera at the drama that flares up among rivals or even friends.The actresses inThe White Lotusalwaysget the best roles, where their characters lose their innocence or clutch their privilege like it’s a life-jacket. The most famous of these shows has to go to HBO’sBig Little Lies, with a star-studded cast and a story that was as fun as it was emotional to watch every week.
WhileSeason 3 ofBig Little Liesis on the long road to development,Netflix has the next best thing while you wait.The sexy, deviousnew seriesThe Hunting Wivesputs you in the middle of a group of wealthy Texan housewives who have skeletons in their neatly organized closets. They have everything, from money to social status, and risk losing it all when a body is discovered. Cowgirl boots, bad behavior, and so many hookups make this a scandalous, binge-worthy show to catch up on before you get all the twists spoiled for you.
‘The Hunting Wives’ Uncover the Secrets of Southern Housewives
Based on the 2021 novel byMay Cobb, Sophie (Brittany Snow) feels out of place when she relocates from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Maple Brook, Texas, for her husband’s job. It’s a new start for her family after a violent incident that Sophie and her husband Graham (Evan Jonigkeit) can’t move on from easily. It’s when Sophie meets socialite Margo (Malin Åkerman) that everything changes. Married to Graham’s boss and oil tycoon Jed (Dermot Mulroney), Margo knows how to win over anyone she meets. It’s a skill that she can put to great use when Jed officially decides to run for governor, and it’s what pulls Sophie into her orbit.
The two wives form a quick bond, with Margo inviting Sophie into her inner circle of housewives who love to meet, drink, and boar hunt. Soon, the crime scene tape is unspooled when secrets and murder make a mess for these rich ladies, with Sophie finding herself at the center of it.The Hunting Wiveshas plenty of whatfans ofBig Little Liesmight be on the lookout for. Over in Monterey, California, Jane (Shailene Woodley) arrives as a single mom who befriends and makes enemies of the city’s fellow mothers. Snow’s Sophie is the newbie this time around, whose efforts to fit in with Margo lead to her having a second life her husband doesn’t know about, filled with reckless decisions.
While the leading ladies ofBig Little Liesget nuanced storylines to explore their highs and lows,The Hunting Wiveswants viewers to be more suspicious of its housewives. That’s becausethe murder mystery is a driving force in Season 1.The HBO seriessubverteda traditional whodunitby piecing together who the central mothers were, rather than an emphasis on clues, butThe Hunting Wivesreveals who the victim is several episodes in, with the rest of the seasonunraveling the twistsover the murder.
Netflix Offers a More Scandalous Version of ‘Big Little Lies’
Melodrama runs wildin East Texas as Sophie, Margo, and the other wives struggle to maintain the facade of perfection. But choosing one’s words carefully and presenting a cheek-hurting smile can only do so much. Jill (Katie Lowes) is the wife of the local reverend, who is a helicopter parent to her teen son Brad (George Ferrier), without seeing the scarier, angrier side of him that he exhibits to his girlfriend. Callie (Jaime Ray Newman) is the wife of the town’s sheriff andwhose close bond with Margo is weakened by Sophie, which Callie takes as a personal affront. And then there are the hookups that favor lust over good choices. Margo tends to get what she wants, and she lives recklessly by having an affair with Brad, a high school senior, and eyeing an attraction with Sophie. As trouble entersThe Hunting Wives, the topics the women want to avoid rise to the surface.
From liberal and conservative politics, the control men want over their wives, and abolition, each of these issues has affected one or more of these wives. The turmoil that comes from staying quiet or having it become public gossip is a “look behind the curtain” to find out how imperfect everyone is, despite many trying their damnedest to keep everything polished.Even more provocative thanBig Little Lies, thesecrets that are exposedinThe Hunting Wiveshave a real bite thanks to the show’s leading stars.Nicole Kidmanmight not show up, but she has already been inNetflix’sThe Perfect Couple.That leaves Snow and Åkerman to have their time to shine.
Sophie and Margo Are a Fascinating Pair in ‘The Hunting Wives’
Of the many roles for both, Snow brings a charm in themusical comedyPitch Perfect,and Åkerman is the surprising heart of theslasher satireThe Final Girls.They bring that into their performances forThe Hunting Wivesalong with a willingness to get wilder. Snow brings out the anxieties of Sophie as she feels the outsider jitters, but she then accepts the carefree attitude of Margo. It’s not hard to figure out why.Åkerman is a seductive force to be reckoned with as Margo, who knows how to entice her new friend to new experiences. The on-screen relationship lives up to the legacy of the bonds forged inBig Little Lies, and thenit goes to places the HBO series never did.Margo and Sophie aren’t just quick to become besties; they act on the attraction they feel towards one another.
The Hunting Wivesconfirm, once again,that money can’t solve everything.And it does so with a salacious flair across its eight episodes thatmakes it a fun bingeserved with danger and margaritas. It can’t replaceBig Little Lies, but it brings what fans may like about the Monterey Five, and increases the drama around housewives and mothers to indulge in a sexier, soapier murder mystery. You have visited the coastal edge of Cali, and now it’s time to head over to sunny, woodsy East Texas, where, if you aren’t careful, your cowgirl boots may get stained with blood.
The Hunting Wivesis now streaming on Netflix.
The Hunting Wives
