What Happened in ‘The Hunting Wives’ Season 1? Everything You Need to Remember Before Season 2

The good Christian women of Maple Brook are saddling up for Season 2 of The Hunting Wives, which promises more high-stakes hijinks, saucy scandals, dangerous secrets, and enough sex, lies, and backstabbing to make any churchgoer clutch their pearls.

With new antics on the way, it’s worth revisiting the wild events of Season 1, including the shocking betrayals, deadly twists, and jaw-dropping finale that left plenty of unfinished business. Here’s a refresher on where things stood when we last left the ladies.

Who murdered Abby Jackson?

The central mystery of The Hunting Wives Season 1 revolved around the murder of Abby Jackson (Madison Wolfe), a teenage girl whose body was discovered in the woods near Maple Brook, Texas.

The investigation threatened to expose the secrets of the town’s wealthy social circle, particularly Margo Banks (Malin Åkerman) and Sophie O’Neil (Brittany Snow), who became entangled in a web of infidelity, blackmail, and murder.

Netflix

Margo was the killer. She had been having an affair with Abby’s boyfriend, Brad Thompson (George Ferrier), and became pregnant. After Abby discovered the affair and abortion, she threatened to expose Margo. Margo shot Abby with Sophie’s gun, allowing suspicion to fall on Sophie.

Who killed Starr Jackson?

Grieving for her daughter’s murder, Starr Jackson (Chrissy Metz) realizes that the police aren’t looking into anyone but her for her daughter Abby’s murder; Starr takes matters into her own hands. Soon, Pastor Pete tells Starr that Abby allegedly had an abortion, which triggers Starr to get her own rifle and head straight to Jill Thompson’s house.

Starr believed Jill had killed Abby because Jill disapproved of Abby’s relationship with her son, Brad, and was obsessed with protecting her family’s reputation. When Starr learned that Abby had supposedly gotten pregnant and had an abortion, she assumed Jill had discovered the pregnancy and murdered Abby to prevent a scandal.

Netflix

What Starr didn’t know was it wasn’t Abby who was pregnant. It was Margo. Abby discovered their affair and threatened to expose Margo, who killed her to keep the secret.

Starr went to Jill (Katie Lowes) house to confront her about her daughter Abby’s murder. Armed with a rifle, Starr went to Jill’s house seeking revenge. However, Jill managed to overpower Starr and fatally shot her. The actual confrontation happened offscreen.

Related

‘The Hunting Wives’ Season 2: Cast, Plot, Premiere Date, and More Details

What happened to Jill Thompson?

After Jill fatally shot Starr, Margo and Callie (Jaime Ray Newman) arrived at her house to question her about Abby’s murder. They discovered Starr’s body bleeding out on Jill’s kitchen floor. Margo and Callie wanted to call the police, but Jill panicked, fearing she would go to prison. She pulled a gun on Margo, prompting Callie to shoot Jill in the chest, killing her.

What happened to Margo and Sophie?

After meeting at an NRA fundraiser hosted by Graham’s (Evan Jonigkeit) boss, Jed Banks (Dermot Mulroney), Sophie was pulled into Margo’s social circle of other well-to-do housewives. Soon, they develop feelings for each other, and their relationship soon becomes physical.

During their drunken gathering at Margo’s lake house, Margo uses Sophie’s gun to shoot Abby after the teenager threatens to expose Margo’s affair with Brad. When investigators connect her gun to the murder, Sophie becomes the prime suspect. This does not bode well for the budding romance.

Netflix

By the finale, Margo gets away with murdering Abby Jackson, but her secrets are beginning to unravel. After Jill is blamed for Abby’s murder, Margo appears to be in the clear. However, Sophie discovers Margo’s abortion, and she realizes Margo killed Abby to prevent her from exposing the affair.

Sophie confronts Margo with the truth, but Margo refuses to confess. Instead, she turns to her brother Kyle (Michael Aaron Milligan) for help. Kyle confronts Sophie on the road in a threatening manner, causing her to panic and run him over with her car. Sophie then drags his body into the woods to conceal what happened. In the last moments, Sophie answers Kyle’s phone to hear Margo asking if he took care of Sophie.

The season ends with Margo still free, unaware that Sophie has killed her brother. Both their lives are in shambles, but at least they are not in prison. For now.

That’s a lot. Is there anything else that needs to be noted?

Hold on to your hats, here is everything else you should know:

• Pastor Pete (Paul Teal) is exposed as a predator who drugs and kidnaps teenage girls, ultimately killing himself when police close in.
• Callie struggles with jealousy over Margo’s growing obsession with Sophie, but ultimately saves Margo’s life by shooting Jill. The two were also having an affair.
• Margo and her husband Jed are on the rocks as his political ambitions are threatened by Margo’s behavior.
• Sophie’s husband watches their marriage deteriorate as she becomes increasingly consumed by Margo and the murder investigation. By the end, their marriage is effectively destroyed by her own choices.

That’s all, folks! Be sure to tune in to Season 2 of The Hunting Wives to see what fresh hell the ladies of Maple Brook can raise.

The Hunting Wives, Season 2, November 26, Netflix