You’re missing out if you haven’t watched NBC’s new show, The Hunting Party. It features high-stakes drama, intense character dynamics, and an overall mystery.
The talented cast helps to pivot these story arcs forward as Bex Henderson and her team hunt for prison escapees who broke out of the Pit, a secret prison that no one knows about.
One of those cast members is Nick Wechsler. He gets to flex his acting chops and play a greyer character as Oliver Odell, Bex’s former partner. Wechler’s prior experience tracking killers on Chicago PD may prove helpful, too. We’ve been fans of his for a long time.
In a recent virtual press day, TV Fanatic chatted with Wechsler about his new character, Oliver and Bex’s complicated relationship, and the season premiere cliffhanger.
Check out the interview below.
Hello, Nick. It’s great to see you. I’ve been a massive fan of yours since Revenge.
That’s so nice to hear.
What attracted you to the role of Oliver Odell?
The honest answer is most of us can’t afford to be picky, and we all need work. However, the script appealed to me when I read it.
First, I watch every serial killer documentary and listen to every serial killer podcast. I like all of them.
I might not listen to repeats if one podcast covers the same person, and I’ve already listened to one that was thorough, but I consume all that stuff.
So, the idea of a show that delves into serial killer psychology and where we go get him was right up my alley. Then, they added another layer to it.
So, it wasn’t just the prison escapee of the week stuff. It was a mystery of whether someone wanted this to happen, and if so, who? Why? That stuff was fun.
I love crime procedurals, so this was very intriguing to me. And when I watched the premiere, I was like, wow, there are so many twists around every corner.
Yeah, it’s so cool.
So, Oliver and Bex have a history. Does he regret burning down that cabin on that fateful night?
[Laughs] That’s a nice way of putting it. He burned down a man. I’m pretty sure we didn’t have a scene about this, but my take is no.
Should Oliver have done it? No. Did the suspect deserve it? Yes. Oliver has a harder line than the average person where if he could, he’d do that to everybody who has done this horrible shit, but he can’t. I think Oliver regrets that it cost him a chance with Bex.
It seems complicated because she wouldn’t have her daughter if he hadn’t.
I know, but in some ways, he sees the life she has with her. Like you said, it wouldn’t have happened, and Bex wouldn’t have Sam. But it’s almost like that is the life he could have had. It’s a vicious cycle because she wouldn’t have ended up with her if I hadn’t done this.
However, he has this fantasy in his head about Bex being her mom and Oliver playing her dad. We could have been this family.
Knowing that, how will Oliver and Bex’s dynamics be now that they’re forced to work together again?
She doesn’t trust him now. In the show, it’s almost like I betrayed her. I feel like it’s not quite that.
But she saw something. She saw a side of Oliver that she didn’t know was there. Once she saw it, she couldn’t unlearn the horror of what she saw. She couldn’t forget that Oliver could kill a guy in cold blood, even if he deserved it.
She thought he had lost his mind when he did that, and she wondered if she could stay with someone who had done that.
It’s tough for them both to be with each other because they have a brief but dramatic history where they almost had significant love, but it didn’t launch because he did this thing. They are for each other, this person from their respective pasts.
It’s like they both meant a great deal to each other years ago, and there is still a lot of baggage to get past. I think he’s more capable of getting past it because he’s weirdly okay with what he did. I mean, it cost him a lot. He’s not okay with the cost, but she struggles with it.
It messes up their working relationship. Then, Jacob Hassani always whispers in her ear, which doesn’t help matters.
Well, I can’t wait to see that. And what can you tease about Oliver’s knowledge of the Pit? Because we left off on a major cliffhanger at the end of that premiere. How does he come across the information that he tells Bex?
I’ll think of a way to tease it without giving anything away. Later in the season, we learn how he came to work there.
Some of the backstory is that he was Bex’s mentor. However, Bex surpasses him in terms of ability. She’s gifted. They worked together at the FBI before the events of the show.
So, after he burned down the cabin, Bex stopped talking to him. Oliver’s employers also stopped talking to him. He became pretty isolated and became the warden.
We’ll learn later how he became involved with the Pit and discovered what he did.
Well, we can’t wait to find out and see what happens. Having you back as a series regular on an NBC show is lovely.
Thank you so much. I got lucky in these because everybody behind the scenes is so wonderful. It’s been so cool to work with loving, supportive people. Honestly, I don’t have an experience where anyone was horrible in my past, either.
But at every new job, there’s always a chance that somebody will be a jerk, and nobody is. Everybody is terrific, and I feel so lucky.
It’s a long moment, and it’s not over. Everything’s changed. No one can get work and stuff. It’s another way I can’t believe I was chosen. So, I feel fortunate.
The Hunting Party returns Monday, February 3 at 10/9c on NBC.