Hunters (2020 TV series)

Hunters
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	David Weil
Starring	Logan Lerman Jerrika Hinton Lena Olin Saul Rubinek Carol Kane Josh Radnor Greg Austin Tiffany Boone Louis Ozawa Kate Mulvany Dylan Baker Al Pacino
Theme music composer	Trevor Gureckis
Composer	Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Tom Lesinski David Ellender Jenna Santoianni Win Rosenfeld Nelson McCormick Alfonso Gomez-Rejon David Weil Nikki Toscano Jordan Peele David J. Rosen
Producers	Jerry Kupfer Kris Baucom Glenn Kessler Mark Bianculli
Running time	57–90 minutes
Production companies	Monkeypaw Productions Sonar Entertainment Big Indie Black Mass Productions Governor's Court Amazon Studios
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	February 21, 2020 – present

Hunters is an American drama web television series created by David Weil. It premiered on February 21, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.

Premise

The series is inspired by a number of real Nazi hunters through the decades, but it is not meant to be a specific representation of any of them. It follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City who discover that Nazi war criminals are conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the U.S.

Cast and characters

Main

• Al Pacino as Meyer Offerman, a Jewish philanthropist and Holocaust survivor who recruited and leads the Hunters.
  • Zack Schor as young Meyer
• Logan Lerman as Jonah Heidelbaum, a young mathematics whiz who takes his grandmother's place on the Hunters
• Lena Olin as The Colonel, leader of the Fourth Reich
• Jerrika Hinton as Millie Morris, an FBI agent who stumbles onto the Fourth Reich and the Hunters during a murder investigation
• Saul Rubinek as Murray Markowitz, Mindy's husband and the Hunters' electronics expert
• Carol Kane as Mindy Markowitz, Murray's wife and the Hunters' signals expert
• Josh Radnor as Lonny Flash, actor and master of disguises for the Hunters
• Greg Austin as Travis Leich, a Nazi acolyte drawn into the Fourth Reich
• Tiffany Boone as Roxy Jones, the Hunters' driver and first fighter
• Louis Ozawa as Joe Mizushima, a Vietnam War veteran and the Hunters' combat expert
• Kate Mulvany as Sister Harriet, a former MI6 operative who now works with the Hunters
• Dylan Baker as Biff Simpson, an Undersecretary of State in the Carter administration and secretly a Nazi refugee
• Christian Oliver as Wilhelm Zuchs, "The Wolf," a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz who tormented both Meyer and Jonah's grandmother Ruth

Recurring

• Jonno Davies as Tobias, the Colonel's body man
• James LeGros as Hank Grimsby, former OSS operative and now Millie's boss at the FBI
• Ebony Obsidian as Carol Lockhart
• Caleb Emery as Arthur “Bootyhole” McGuigan
• Henry Hunter Hall as Sherman “Cheeks” Johnson
• Jeannie Berlin as Ruth Heidelbaum, Jonah's grandmother and a survivor of Auschwitz
  • Annie Hägg as young Ruth
• Julissa Bermudez as Maria
• Phoenix Noelle as Malika
• Megan Channell as Katarina Löw
• 'Keena' Thort-Kourt Kyna Kynetruve as the Great Dane
• Miles G. Jackson as Danny Rohr
• Becky Ann Baker as Commerce Secretary Juanita M. Kreps
• Celia Weston as Dottie
• Ben Livingston as President Jimmy Carter

Guests

• Josh Mostel as Rabbi Steckler
• Barbara Sukowa as Tilda Sauer
• June Ballinger as Woman with Cane
• Judd Hirsch as Simon Wiesenthal
• Keir Dullea as Klaus Rhinehart
• William Sadler as Friedrich Mann
• John Noble as Fredric Hauser

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"In the Belly of the Whale"	Alfonso Gomez-Rejon	David Weil	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
Jonah witnesses the brutal murder of his grandmother inside their Brooklyn home, and subsequently vows to find the truth of her death. He meets Ruth’s old friend, Meyer Offerman, while sitting Shiva for Ruth. In Florida, an elderly NASA scientist is killed in her shower. US undersecretary of state Biff hosts a barbecue, where a new guest is shocked to remember him as a senior Nazi, leading to Biff killing all his guests, including his own family. Jonah, who is a code-breaking prodigy, sees just a few clues in Meyer's home, but uses them to find Ruth's killer — a toy-shop owner who was a murderous guard at the Auschwitz concentration camp and the killer of Ruth's younger sister. The toy-shop owner gets the upper hand, but Meyer arrives and kills him.
2	"The Mourner's Kaddish"	Wayne Yip	David Weil	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
Meyer brings Jonah into the Hunters, who are initially reluctant to have him involved, though he quickly gains some acceptance by breaking a code in the toy maker's correspondence. Jonah learns that Ruth was a major part of the Hunters, having built their extensive archive of historical files and more recent interviews. FBI agent Millie, investigating the death of the scientist, starts to uncover the Nazi links. Travis, a deadly American born Nazi working for The Colonel, who is leading the Nazi underground, is sent to Florida to learn who is killing their members. The Hunters track down a record producer who used to be the murderous Pied Piper of Buchenwald concentration camp. The Hunters find seemingly innocuous messages the man is secretly broadcasting, but Jonah messes up and the man is killed before they can learn more.
3	"While Visions of Safta Danced in His Head"	Wayne Yip	Nikki Toscano	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
The Markowitzes discover a code in the Pied Piper's broadcasts, suggesting that tragic events in America's past, including the Watergate scandal and the assassination of RFK, were part of a Nazi plot. The messages suggest the next big Nazi-managed event will take place on July 13, 1977 in New York. Jonah's friend Bootyhole, who was working in the comic book store instead of Jonah, is killed by Travis.
4	"The Pious Thieves"	Nelson McCormick	Mark Bianculli	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
The Hunters find a huge collection of Nazi stolen treasure hidden in a bank in New Jersey. Jonah finds letters written by Ruth, explaining the deepening affection between her and Meyer while at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
5	"At Night, All Birds are Black"	Dennie Gordon	David J. Rosen	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
At Auschwitz concentration camp, a doctor known as The Wolf is disappointed when Ruth will not work with him, so he does tortuous experiments on Meyer in retaliation. Half the Hunters goes to Alabama to pursue a Nazi doctor who experimented on prisoners during the war, while the others go after Tilda, a Nazi propaganda film director now working as a political consultant. Millie continues pursuing her own leads on the presence of Nazis in America. Sister Harriet rescues a Nazi from the others and drives off.
6	"(Ruth 1:16)"	Millicent Shelton	Zakiyyah Alexander	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
The day of the Markowitz' daughter's wedding, Murray recalls how they were taken, with their young son, to be sent to a concentration camp, where an officer killed their son. Flashbacks show that Sister Harriet was secretly sent to England, with other young German girls, to hide out during the war. She arrives at the wedding, revealing that she has tied up the Nazi, who she had realized was the man who killed the Markowitz boy. Unknown assailants (Nazis? FBI protecting the Nazis?) beat up Millie. Millie breaks up with her live-in girlfriend, fearing she will be attacked too. Travis breaks into Meyer's mansion and burns all the files the Hunters are using to track Nazis.
7	"Shalom Mother******"	Nelson McCormick	Eduardo Javier Canto & Ryan Maldonado	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
During the New York City blackout of 1977, The Hunters discover a Nazi plot to blow up the subway. During that plot, Hunter Murray Markowitz is killed.
8	"The Jewish Question"	Michael Uppendahl	David Weil & Charley Casler	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
Mindy Markowitz kills the man who murdered her son after burying Murray, who she was surprised to find out wanted a Jewish funeral when he finally died. They find Nazi and NASA scientist Wernher Von Braun via real life Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
9	"The Great Ole Nazi Cookout of '77"	Nelson McCormick	Nikki Toscano	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
The episode begins with a review of the reasons given for bringing over the Nazis to the United States in the first place, so that the USSR would not be able to recruit them for their government and space program. The Hunters attack the Fourth Reich's bunker, destroying it and the corn syrup carrying their pathogen before it can be released. Meyer manages to capture the Colonel who suggests that the pathogen isn't the Fourth Reich's only plan. A struggle ensues, causing Meyer to crash the car into the river.
10	"Eilu v' Eilu"	Michael Uppendahl	David Weil	February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21)
Meyer is rescued from the wreck by Harriet while the Colonel is killed. Jonah begins a search for Wilhelm "The Wolf" Zuchs, the Nazi doctor who tortured Meyer and Ruth thirty years before. From clues, Jonah discovers Ruth's files which lead him to capture a surgeon he believes to be the Wolf who Meyer executes. However, Meyer doesn't recite a prayer he'd sworn to Ruth he would if he ever caught up to the Wolf, leading a horrified Jonah to put the pieces together and realize that Meyer is actually the Wolf. Zuchs confesses, explaining that he had killed the real Meyer to take his identity and escape the Soviets while later undergoing plastic surgery to complete the transformation. Having lived a Jewish life for thirty years, Zuchs insists that he regrets his actions and that a visit by Ruth a year before inspired him to bring the Hunters together as penance. Despite a vision of Ruth attempting to talk him down, Jonah kills Zuchs and reveals the truth to the other horrified Hunters. Harriet, after having consulted with an unidentified woman, suggests to the remaining Hunters that they continue their mission in Europe.

Production

Development

On May 17, 2018, it was announced that Amazon Video had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was created by David Weil who was set to executive produce alongside Jordan Peele, Tom Lesinski, Jenna Santoianni, and Win Rosenfeld. Weil was also expected to write for the series as well. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment. On August 7, 2018, it was announced that Nikki Toscano had joined the production as an executive producer and would also serve as co-showrunner alongside Weil.

Casting

On December 13, 2018, it was reported that Logan Lerman was in talks for a lead role in the series, Jonah Heidelbaum. On January 10, 2019, it was reported that Al Pacino was finalizing a deal for a starring role in the series. On February 7, 2019, it was reported that Jerrika Hinton, Dylan Baker, Lena Olin, Greg Austin, Catherine Tate, Tiffany Boone, Saul Rubinek, and Carol Kane were in various stages of negotiations to join the cast of the series. Four days later, it was announced that Boone had officially joined the cast. Josh Radnor was cast in March. In April 2019, Kate Mulvany, James LeGros, Ebony Obsidian, Caleb Emery, Henry Hunter Hall and Jeannie Berlin joined the cast of the series, with Mulvany joining as a series regular.

Reception

Hunters received polarizing reviews, with criticism for its tone and pacing and praise for its performances. The series has a 65% approval rating with 92 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.21. Metacritic gave the series a score of 55 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

The series has received some criticism from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum due to inaccurate use of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The scene depicting prisoners being forced to participate in a game of human chess was called out as "dangerous foolishness and caricature". The museum was also concerned that the show "welcomes future deniers".

See also

Operation Paperclip - A secret U.S. government program after World War II relocating prominent German scientists (many of them Nazis) to the U.S.

External links

• Hunters at IMDb
• Trailer