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‘Hunters’ Episode 8: David Weil revisits the New York City blackout of 1977 in a brilliant fictional take

The highlighting blackout of the episode might be circumstantial as per the story, but it refers to a real-life incident that took over NYC in 1977

It’s incredible how fact and fiction can be married into something so impactful that it remains in your memory forever. When it comes to 'Hunters' Episode 8, we have creator David Weil, to thank for that.

Here’s what we want to talk about. The episode titled ‘The Jewish Question’ opens with a scene of total chaos.

There is a blast in a downtown subway, followed by one in a utility plant in Buchanan and soon New York City is engulfed in absolute darkness. Then as Rolling Stone’s ‘Paint It Black’ plays in the background, you see NYC in a state of chaos, people running amok, the anti-socials causing mayhem and turning the biggest city of America into a massive riot ground. The events of July 13, 1977, as ‘Hunters’ show us, are not all fiction. Weil might have created the attacks by Nazi as a part of the story, but the blackout was a real event that had left NYC shaken like never before.

For those unaware, the blackout was a result of a power plant at Buchanan South being struck by lightning, tripping two circuit breakers and shutting down power in the entire city, including its surrounding areas. Parts of the city, like the southern part of Queens and the Statue of Liberty were not affected by the blackout (since the flame torch of the statue is fueled by gas).

But the power outage is not the only darkness the episode is all about.

“And there was a thick darkness in all the land. As The Hunters wallowed in the valley of the shadow of death, they turned to the stars to point them on their path. Still, darkness trespassed upon the heart of Jonah, which did tempt him toward sin…” says the synopsis.

With Murray Markowitz (Saul Rubinek) being killed, Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman) goes on a guilt trip, feeling the darkness in his heart all over again. The show’s creator Weil does a brilliant job in using the real incident of 1977 to portray the darkness of this episode and of the character’s emotions.

‘Hunters’ is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.