The art of a good crime procedural is not so easily replicated. Classics such as Law & Order are remembered for their gripping portrayal of detectives and lawyers, but there are just as many series that have fallen through the cracks. To be truly successful, procedurals need to have a solid set-up that can deliver the same formula week to week. Criminal Minds became popular because it added psychology to the mix. NBC has shown that this art is not dead with the latest take on the genre.

The 2025 series The Hunting Party has delivered on the promise of a good procedural, though not everyone may agree. Critics and fans are divided on the merits of the series, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The Hunting Party has garnered an 18% critics’ score and an 83% audience score. When there is such a large divide of opinion on a show, that typically means it’s worth a watch.

‘The Hunting Party’ is Reminiscent of the Golden Age of Procedurals

Right out of the gate, The Hunting Party has a concept that measures up against the greats. The story is straightforward with little room for interpretation, which is where procedurals like to live. The series follows FBI Agent Bex Henderson (Melissa Roxburgh) at a low point in her life. Working security for a casino, she gets recruited to the world of psychological profiling. Her talents are specifically required because a super-secret prison housing serial killers recently suffered a breakout.

The Hunting Party compels audiences to suspend their disbelief with the idea of The Pit, a prison where the worst criminals are kept in secret and experimented on. This is the joy of these types of shows, which have a history on network television. One of the more heightened serialized programs on a network was Prison Break, which joyfully explored government conspiracies with no hint of subtlety. This may explain why critics and fans are divided on the issue of The Hunting Party.

While not exactly reinventing the wheel, The Hunting Party is a classic good-versus-evil tale as Bex races to capture a different serial killer week-to-week. Shows like these are tailor-made for appointment television, which regrettably has become a thing of the past. NBC is one of the last bastions of an era gone by, where viewers can tune in and not feel like they’re missing anything. There is still a place for programming like this, and The Hunting Party doesn’t take it for granted.

In addition to a weekly villain, the series also weaves in overarching mythology to keep viewers engaged. It uses the fascinating field of psychology — like Criminal Minds did — as a touchstone for fans as well. Psychoanalyzing killers is one of the reasons why true crime has become so popular, and The Hunting Party is ready to deliver the same thrills. The first season is only 10 episodes, which means fans can catch up quickly to Season 2.

The Hunting Party airs on Thursdays on NBC and is available to stream the next day on Peacock.

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Release Date

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January 19, 2025

Directors

Thor Freudenthal, Glen Winter, James Bamford, Nicole Rubio, Rod Hardy, Shana Stein, Blackhorse Lowe, Marcus Stokes, Kristin Windell

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Writers

David Loong, JJ Bailey, Jake Coburn, Keto Shimizu, Michael Jones-Morales, Paula Sabbaga, Rebecca Bellotto, Vinny Ferris

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  Melissa Roxburgh

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  Rebecca ‘Bex’ Henderson

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Paris Hilton‘s big 46th has us sayin’ one thing and one thing only, “THAT’S HOT!”

The blonde bombshell — now married and a mama of two — kicked off her iconic ways back in the early 2000s, and she’s aging like a fine wine!

How well do you know Paris?! Here’s some trivia for ya’:

Tell Me Lies will not be coming back for more episodes after its third season.

Creator Meaghan Oppenheimer confirmed on Monday, February 16, that the hit Hulu series would be concluding its run, writing via Instagram, “After three amazing seasons of Tell Me Lies, tonight’s episode will be the series finale. This was always the ending my writing team and I had in mind, and we are insanely proud of it. Your incredible response to this season inspired us to explore whether there was another organic way to continue the story, but ultimately we felt it had reached its natural conclusion.”

She concluded: “My main goal has always been to protect the quality of the show and give you the best experience I can give you. And so, while it is bittersweet to leave something that has been such a happy experience, I am very grateful that we are able to tell a complete story with an intentional ending — a privilege very few shows get. Thank you for loving our show. We are excited to bring you more stories in the near future.”

The season 3 finale scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 17, will now be considered a series finale as well. Oppenheimer previously broke her silence on the assumption that season 3 of Tell Me Lies is the show’s last.

“In terms of future seasons, it’s impossible to really know at this point,” Oppenheimer exclusively told Us Weekly in January. “I certainly had always thought this was always more or less the ending I’d had in mind.”

Oppenheimer didn’t rule out a return, adding, “But you never know what’s going to happen in the future. But there’s definitely a sense where I didn’t want to leave anything hanging this season. Basically, I wanted to satisfy everyone.”

Based on Carola Lovering’s novel of the same name, Tell Me Lies follows the messy relationship between college students Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White). Their problematic on-and-off romance ends up lasting eight years — and everyone around them is affected by Lucy and Stephen’s ups and downs.

Season 3, which returned in January, raised the stakes with a surprise romance involving Bree (Cat Missal) and Wrigley (Spencer House), which complicated the present timeline. Bree’s wedding to Evan (Branden Cook) seemingly went off without a hitch despite her still having feelings for Wrigley — and previously learning that her now-husband hooked up with Lucy in college.

Off screen, Oppenheimer spoke to Us about how the writers’ room juggles the story lines that happen across two timelines.

“I always had a sense of where they are in 2015 and what their dynamic is and what secrets everyone is holding. Once you at least know what people know and what they don’t know, that gives you a lot of space to play,” she noted in 2024. “But the way that we constructed it is we definitely did the 2008 story line first in the room. We kind of mapped out the whole season and then we did 2015 as its own thing.”

Oppenheimer continued: “I knew where I wanted to end the season, though, in 2015. I knew where it needed to get to.”

After Tell Me Lies was renewed for a third season, Oppenheimer signed an overall deal with 20th Television, which is a part of Disney Television Studios.

“Meaghan has shepherded Tell Me Lies for two intensely addictive seasons that fueled an incredible wave of obsessive fan and social conversation,” president of 20th Television Karey Burke said in a December 2024 statement. “We are thrilled to have her officially in the studio fold and at the helm of another dramatic season.”

The final episode of Tell Me Lies airs Tuesday, February 17, on Hulu.