Hunters Series Review: In Troubling Times, This Revenge Fantasy Is Just What The Doctor Ordered

"Hunters" dropped on Amazon on February 21. The series is executive produced by Jordan Peele. He's hitting it out of the park these days with everything he touches. More please!

"Inspired by true events", "Hunters" is about a group of vigilante Nazi hunters in 1970s New York City. We meet the team via Jonah (played by Logan Lerman). His grandmother/safta Ruth is killed during a home invasion.

As Jonah searches for answers, he meets a team led by Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino). The other members include:

Morty and Mindy Markowitz (Saul Rubinek and Carol Kane)- weapons experts
Sister Harriet (Kate Mulvany)- former MI6 and obviously a nun.
Roxy Jones (Tiffany Boone)- former Black Panther and counterfeiting expert
Joe Torance (Louis Ozawa Changchien)- a Vietnam vet and hand to hand combat expert
Lonny Flash (Josh Radnor)- an actor and master of disguise

Jonah reluctantly joins the group and provides value thanks to his analytical/code breaking abilities.

The Nazis are lead by "The Colonel" (Lena Olin). Her main henchman is American born Nazi Travis Leich (Greg Austin). They plan to bring about the Fourth Reich. We're not sure of specifics until later in the show. The Hunters have a list of 74 Nazis in the US. The find a record producer who is sending encoded messages via secret radio broadcasts.

The show's opening scene is excellent. Family and friends celebrate Fourth of July. US Undersecretary of State Biff Simpson has invited a coworker and his girlfriend. She drops her pie when she realizes the host is the Nazi who killed her family in the concentration camps. Biff (who looks possessed at this point) pulls out a gun and shoots first his wife, then his children, then his guests and finally the woman who recognized him. He calmly calls for someone to clean up he crime scene. Wow!

FBI agent Millie Malone (played by Jerrika Hinton) slowly uncovers the Nazi conspiracy. An elderly chemist at NASA is mysteriously killed when gas (instead of water) comes out of her shower faucet. Her brother, a physician, is also killed mysteriously. Millie gradually learns about the VERY REAL Operation Paperclip (in which 1600 German scientists and engineers were brought to the US to help us win the Cold War over the Soviets). Who knows how many more Nazi's were allowed in over the "official" number. We know Millie's persistence is putting her on a crash course with the Hunters and the Nazis. Will she get out alive?

There show's ten episodes have lots of twists and turns I wont go into here. Just make sure you watch till the final episode. My one major criticism involves what I think is a totally whacko plot twist. But you be the judge.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters total (out of 5). Amazon's new series about 1970's Nazi hunters is a wild ride. "Hunters" has one of the best opening sequences out there and keeps the audience invested until the closing credits. Al Pacino (as Myer Offerman) is great (as always). My favorite quote from him: "Living well is not the best revenge. Revenge is the best revenge." The supporting cast is also excellent. Standouts include killer nun Sister Harriet (Kate Mulvany) and married weapons experts Morty and Mindy (Saul Rubinek and Carol Kane)-.

There has been some controversy around the show (especially the human chess scenes). Creator David Weir says he wrote this story as a homage to his own grandparents who survived the concentration camps. I too am confused about how real life tragedies should be handled when they're converted into entertainment. Do shows like "Inglorious Bastards" or "The Man In The High Castle" belittle the real life suffering of millions of people (or do they impress upon younger viewers the horrors of the past)? I'm not sure what the answer is. I do think we need to look at the show's genre though. "Hunters" is not meant to be a documentary. It's a drama with grindhouse elements (and some comedy thrown in). And grindhouse movies such as Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof are completely over the top with gore and violence.

All things considered, I still very much enjoyed "Hunters". In troubling times, this revenge fantasy is just what the doctor ordered.