For those scanning Netflix’s ever-shifting top 10, a new contender has surged into the spotlight—NBC’s crime procedural The Hunting Party. Released on Netflix U.S. just last week, the show has rapidly climbed to the third-most-watched spot, trailing only the latest season of Love is Blind and Katt Williams’ new stand-up special, according to Collider and Forbes. But this isn’t just another fleeting entry in the streaming race. With its second season set to return on NBC soon, and a fierce debate brewing over its inspiration and quality, The Hunting Party is capturing viewers’ imaginations—and dividing critics and fans alike.
The premise is as tantalizing as it is chilling: after an explosion at a secret underground prison in Wyoming, the nation’s most dangerous serial killers escape. Enter Rebecca ‘Bex’ Henderson, played by Melissa Roxburgh (known for her previous run in Manifest), a former FBI profiler who’s called back to lead a crack team of agents, soldiers, and spies tasked with hunting down the fugitives before they strike again. The show’s fictional prison, ominously dubbed ‘The Pit,’ is hidden beneath the Wyoming countryside, and its existence is shrouded in secrecy and conspiracy, offering a blend of procedural action and psychological intrigue.
Since its Netflix debut on February 9, 2026, The Hunting Party has drawn a massive audience—enough to earn a second-season renewal from NBC, even as other shows faced cancellation. According to Collider, the show’s success is due in no small part to its ensemble cast, with Roxburgh’s Bex Henderson at the heart of the action. The series follows her as she grapples with not just the hunt for escaped killers, but also her own complicated past and the mysteries swirling around the prison’s true purpose.
But what’s really fueling the conversation around The Hunting Party is its central setting: the clandestine prison known as ‘The Pit.’ Fans have been buzzing online, speculating whether such a facility could exist in real life. The show’s creators have addressed these rumors directly. As reported by BollywoodShaadis and Collider, ‘The Pit’ is not based on a real location, but it draws inspiration from actual maximum-security prisons like Colorado’s ADX Florence and California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. In an interview with Collider, the show’s executives explained their decision: they intentionally avoided modeling ‘The Pit’ after notorious institutions such as Guantánamo Bay, aiming to sidestep associations with human rights controversies. As writer JJ Bailey put it, “We talk a lot about staying away from the GITMO of it all. We don’t want this to feel like a terrorist, human rights violation-type thing even though it is a human rights violation-type of thing. We wanted it to always feel—this is going to sound weird—but we always wanted [the series] to feel fun. It’s crazy and it’s weird and it’s dark. We always want it to be fun and interesting and feel like a fun ride.”
Yet, the show’s fictional elements are rooted in plausible reality. ‘The Pit’ is imagined as a decommissioned nuclear missile bunker, and according to Collider, there are over 400 such missile silos scattered across the United States, many of which remain off-limits to the public. Real-life prisons have been constructed in similarly remote and fortified locations, making the show’s premise feel just close enough to reality to be unsettling. The creators admit that while ‘The Pit’ itself is fictional, the concept draws on these real architectural and security inspirations.
Beyond the physical setting, The Hunting Party delves into behavioral experimentation. Within the show, the government uses ‘The Pit’ to conduct psychological studies on its incarcerated population, hoping to glean insights that might prevent future crimes. Jake Coburn, the show’s co-creator, explained to NBC Insider, “They’ve changed, and the change that occurred in them is manifesting itself in their behaviour. So it’s this process of trying to figure out who this person is now, why they’re doing what they’re doing.” This focus on the evolving psychology of criminals adds a cerebral twist to the otherwise action-packed narrative.
Despite the show’s surging popularity, the critical reception has been far from unanimous. Season 1 holds a paltry 18% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score soars to 82%. The reasons for this divide are stark. Critics have dismissed the show as “dull” and “generic,” with AV Club writing, “The premise of The Hunting Party—searching for serial killers whose ill-advised treatments have rendered them even more vicious—is intriguing in theory, but the writers have somehow chosen the dullest possible execution of that vision.” Decider echoed this sentiment, calling the show “a generic action series that seems to operate on twists that either aren’t that surprising or are pretty much useless.”
Yet, viewers are tuning in by the millions. Many audience reviews praise the show for scratching an itch left by the absence of classic procedural dramas like Criminal Minds and Bones. One fan wrote, “It’s a good watch. So of course critics hate it. They also hated the show Alcatraz. Hunting Party is Alcatraz meets The Blacklist. There’s nothing realistic about it but not like every show has to be realistic. This is fun.” Another added, “You can only binge-watch old episodes of Criminal Minds and Bones so many times before you just NEED something new but also the same. There’s nothing particularly innovative about the premise. But why mess with a good formula?”
This divide highlights a broader trend: while critics may crave innovation and depth, viewers often seek the comfort of familiar formulas, especially when delivered with high production values and compelling characters. In a streaming landscape saturated with true crime documentaries and gritty dramas, The Hunting Party offers a blend of suspense, action, and just enough plausibility to keep audiences binging.
For those looking to fill the gap until Bridgerton returns for its next chapter on February 26, 2026, or simply craving a new procedural to devour, The Hunting Party provides a wild, if sometimes uneven, ride. Whether you side with the critics or the fans, one thing’s clear: the hunt for the nation’s most dangerous fugitives—and for streaming dominance—shows no sign of slowing down.