NBC’s The Hunting Party Learns from The Blacklist’s Mistakes

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As a big fan of crime dramas, I was definitely missing The Blacklist when it ended in 2023. Thankfully, NBC came through with a new thriller, starring Melissa Roxburgh, which premiered in 2025. It’s a really compelling procedural – the show centers around FBI profiler Rebecca “Bex” Henderson and her team as they hunt down serial killers who’ve managed to escape.

Inspired by the success of The Blacklist, NBC created The Hunting Party, a thrilling series where each episode features a new case. The show is designed to stay fast-paced and avoid getting bogged down in complex character development.

The Hunting Party Combined Elements of The Blacklist and Criminal Minds

Rebecca “Bex” Henderson used to be an FBI profiler, but now she works as a security consultant, catching cheaters at a casino. When a highly secure government prison, The Pit – holding some of the most dangerous criminals ever known – is destroyed, several inmates escape. Bex is called back into the FBI to help track down these killers, but powerful forces within the government are determined to keep the prison’s secrets hidden at all costs.

The TV show The Hunting Party centers around Bex and her team as they investigate a different serial killer each week. The way they analyze each criminal’s mind and history to prevent future crimes is similar to other crime dramas. With its blend of secret government plots, characters facing difficult choices, and a recurring list of criminals to catch, the show feels a lot like The Blacklist.

Bex leads the team, and she shares a complicated history with the warden of the secret prison, Odell. He was her mentor, training her to be a profiler, but she left the FBI after making a drastic choice – burning a killer alive to protect a young girl. This girl later became her adopted daughter, adding a deeply personal layer to the situation. Though she disagrees with his methods, Bex still cares for Odell, and their shared past creates a lot of tension between them.

Bex teams up with CIA agent Jacob Hassani while investigating a mysterious situation known as the Pit. Hassani has valuable knowledge about the Pit’s secrets, but doesn’t know the complete story of the government’s involvement. At first, Bex and Hassani don’t get along because she questions his reasons for pursuing the escaped criminals. Later, the audience discovers he’s a widowed father, adding another layer to his character.

Shane Florence is the third member of the team we’re following. He used to work at the Pit, a secretive facility, as a guard. Because the Pit kept information from all its employees, Shane doesn’t know the full story either. Now, the former Marine is trying to uncover the facility’s secrets by visiting Dr. Dulles, one of the Pit’s scientists, who is now in a nursing home.

Around the middle of the first season, Shane shares that he discovered he was adopted and has been trying to find his birth mother. This personal journey echoes themes found in .

The Hunting Party Learned From The Blacklist’s Mistakes

While taking inspiration from The Blacklist, The Hunting Party has successfully developed its own unique style. When it returned to NBC in January, the show continued to build suspense and consistently deliver compelling stories, demonstrating its growth beyond the earlier series.

The central puzzle of The Blacklist revolved around Elizabeth Keen and her relationship with the notorious criminal Raymond Reddington. When Reddington offered to help the FBI catch a dangerous list of criminals—ones they couldn’t capture on their own—he had one condition: he would only work with Agent Keen. The show’s suspense came from figuring out why Reddington contacted the FBI and why he insisted on partnering with Keen specifically.

As the show went on, the central mystery became drawn out and lost its impact. The back-and-forth tension between Red and Liz felt predictable, and the slow reveal of their connection became tiresome. In contrast, The Hunting Party offers a faster pace and more satisfying resolutions. The first season focused more on who caused the explosion that freed dangerous criminals, rather than what the Pit was actually doing to its prisoners and why.

A well-crafted, intricate mystery allows audiences to gradually uncover answers, leading to a more satisfying and emotionally resonant story. By revealing the central puzzle piece by piece, the plot moves quickly and keeps viewers hooked. This approach also allows for strong character development, as seen in the series where initially distrustful team members eventually learn to rely on each other – even to the point of engaging in high-stakes actions like blackmailing a US attorney.

NBC has a knack for revitalizing familiar TV formats. They learn from what worked and didn’t work in the past, adapting and improving to create something new, rather than simply overextending existing ideas.

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2026-03-23 19:43