Shooter Season 2 Episode 1 Review: The Hunting Party
Jasmine Blu
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The Swagger Squad is back and better than ever.
Shooter Season 2 Episode 1 didn't hold back. There were explosions, shootouts, sexy times, and more importantly, a brand new conspiracy to unfold.
The season premiere was not only strong, but tighter, and better paced than the first handful of installments from Shooter Season 1. Season two is upping its game.
It has been roughly a year since the events of Shooter Season 1 Episode 10. The Swaggers have relocated, and the events of the past still weigh heavy on them. It was particularly noticeable with Julie.
Julie is such a fierce and badass character in her own right. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the action, that one forgets the emotional repercussions of enduring as much as she was forced to endure. It has so clearly taken a toll on her, and it's one of the best aspects of the premiere.
We had a long year, Jules. Without you, Mary, and the boys, I don't know what I would have done.
Bob Lee
PTSD is a hell of a beast and something that should be explored. It's a nice twist to explore it via Julie. Bob Lee has admitted to having his own struggles and acknowledge that it's her, Mary, and his old unit that helped him through the past year.
It's a bit different for Julie. Did anyone else get the impression that she has become a lot closer to Nadine as well? I'm definitely in support of a strong female friendship on this show. She and Nadine work well together.
The Swaggers were left flying under the radar at their new home in Texas. Julie clearly is done with anything that reminds her of the awful ordeal that they have been through. So Bob Lee being called to Germany for an awards ceremony for one of his "brothers" was not something she was on board with.
She knows her husband well because where Bob Lee goes, trouble is sure to follow, and that was some serious trouble that the Swaggers stumbled upon. Of course, the awards ceremony couldn't go on without a hitch.
The shootout at the hotel was intense. It was the kind of sequence that Shooter does well because it leaves the viewer on the edge of his or her seat every time. This particular sequence of events was great because it introduced us to some of the people in Bob Lee's unit and our potential casualties of the season.
Tio stood out instantly. It will be interesting to learn more about her, but so far, she's a bit of a spitfire. Then there is the other guy, whose name I never caught. Did anyone else catch it? He's going to be interesting as well, and it's clear that Bob Lee's team just got bigger.
Once again, the belief is that the event is a terrorist act, but Bob Lee quickly figured out that it's personal. Someone (Solotov) is after their unit specifically. The question is, why?
Josh Stewart is really nailing this creepy thing. Solotov is downright chilling but in the best possible way. He's already more interesting to watch than Payne, who felt like a caricature of a cartoon villain 96% of the time.
Solotov is calculated and cold. We're one hour into the series, and it's already believable that he's Bob Lee's ultimate adversary. It's going to be just as interesting watching Solotov enact his plan as it's going to be watching Bob Lee take him down.
Bob Lee: It's going to take the police ten seconds to figure out this wasn't a suicide.
Marine: Let's not be here when they do.
It's scary how close he was to taking Bob Lee out. He had him right in his crosshairs. If not for his strategic one-night stand waltzing in when she did, Bob Lee would have been a goner. R.I.P to that woman. I question your judgment leaving a guy you picked up at a bar in your home unsupervised, but you didn't deserve that.
One of the best moments, was when Solotov was stalking Bob Lee and the gang, and Bob Lee sensed his presence. Those instincts never go away. The two of them going head to head will be the ultimate treat and the build-up to it is going to be thrilling.
There have to be bigger things in motion here, right? Solotov is the same ghost sniper responsible for taking out Donnie. Now he's going after everyone else on the unit, but why now? It has been years since everyone was together. Why in this moment was it imperative that he kill as many of them as he could?
It must have something to do with whatever their unit was tasked with doing overseas, right? Could Solotov be C.I.A. or adjacent? Did someone with more power put a hit out on all of them?
Julie isn't going to like it, but Bob Lee and his unit are going to have to work together to keep each other safe and take Solotov and whomever else down. That, of course, includes Isaac.
This wasn't terrorism. This was murder. We're being hunted.
Bob Lee
Isaac and Lin sure got the hell out of dodge, didn't they? It was surprising to see him in Thailand of all places, but not as surprising as seeing that someone was sent to Thailand to take him out too. The others made sense and were easier because they were all gathered together, but how the hell did they find Isaac all the way in Thailand?
Personally, I'm still bitter with Isaac. I don't care who he was working for or what his reasoning was, the man killed an elderly woman without consequence. There's no coming back from that, but I can begrudgingly put up with him joining forces with Bob Lee.
Both of them need to survive and an ally is an ally. They don't have to be likable, so long as they're loyal and useful when it calls for it. Lin, on the other hand, is pretty damn likable. Fingers crossed that we'll see more of Isaac's wife.
The woman took a bullet like a champ. She and Julie are truly representing the badassery of Marine wives. It would be awesome if she somehow joined the Swagger Squad too.
A year and heroics didn't do very Special Agent Memphis much good. She may have colored outside of the lines to save lives and catch an assassin, but she did well. It's unfortunate that she is being blackballed for it.
Nadine is someone who should be out in the field, not riding a desk in D.C. You could feel her frustration with where she is in her life. It's clearly not where she imagine she would be, and it's not fair at all. She was just itching to get back into something exciting.
Gregson knows this and is trying to exploit it and use it to her advantage. What incentive would Nadine have for working with Gregson other than to avoid pushing papers for the rest of her career? Gregson is such a shady character and should not be trusted.
She probably has something to do with this Solotov vendetta.
Gregson: They're never going to let you out of that office, Nadine. You have to know by now.
Nadine: I did everything right.
Gregson: They don't care, but I do.
Speaking of untrustworthy characters, Nadine's new boyfriend has to be a plant or something, right? There are only two possible outcomes here. Either he's shady as hell or he's going to end up dead. Nevertheless, why not enjoy the heck out of Jesse Bradford while he's on here?
It probably won't end well, but it's nice to see Memphis with a semblance of a personal life.
I'm turning it over to you, Shooter fanatics. What are your thoughts on the premiere? Do you have any theories about Solotov and Bob Lee and his unit being hunted? Do you trust Gregson?
Sound off below! Don't forget you can watch Shooter online here at TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
