The Hidden Angle | 'Hunters' relies on trauma mining but Jonah's character, unmarked by trauma, is intriguing
Spoilers ahead for Amazon Original 'Hunters' ahead
One cannot call 'Hunters' a brilliant show. There is a lot about the show that works and there are a few things about the show in its entirety which could be construed as problematic. In today's column, I want to address the one strand of thought in the show that worked so beautifully that it built up into a well etched out character arc for Logan Lerman's Jonah Heidelbaum. This strand of thought is the disconnect that Jonah had with his Safta (grandmother) Ruth's life that she had led through the war.
He had no idea of the horrors that she lived through; not because he was not aware of his Safta being imprisoned by Nazis, but because her experiences did not influence his life in the present. Sure, she told him bedtime stories about her struggles and how she arose victorious with the help of a knight; but that was all the details he was given and from the looks of it, he didn't bother to ask her for more. He considered it a tale that old people retold during gatherings that only rich people had time for. All he had time for was to live his life and ensure he earned. However, with his Safta's death, everything changes because now, he has become privy to a legacy that he was disconnected from.
Jonah's conflict about accepting the Hunters' view on what it means to get justice plays a huge part in the first half of the show's season. From getting out after watching Meyer Offerman and his friends torturing and killing a Nazi, it takes a bit of mulling over and trying to understand his grandmother's perspective to put things in its place. His first real experience of coming anywhere close to understanding an iota of what Ruth went through came through a note in his grandmother's diary. How the Nazis went about erasing the identity of an entire section of the population slowly begins to trickle into Jonah.
Throughout the show, Jonah has many moments of truth that help him decrease the wide chasm between him and his legacy. First is when his friend Arthur is killed in his stead in the comic store. It gives him an idea of how horrific the Nazis really and what extent they would go to, to hurt and erase Jewish existence off the face of the world.
Second is when he learns the difference between exacting revenge and seeking justice from Meyer. When he is raging about his best friend's death, all he can think about is killing the murderer himself, but then Meyer tells him that vengeance comes after justice because what they must stand up for is the millions of people who were killed. The cause is to stand up for the ones whose voices were quashed and ensure that the same doesn't repeat. To understand the purpose, one must be able to comprehend the cause.
Third, is when he attends a Jewish wedding and the happy occasion brings him closer to his grandmother. This occasion also helps him understand why his grandmother wanted him to connect with his roots, the people of their tribe. As he watches happy faces at the wedding, he understands that it is important to know the lives that millions could have led had they been alive. So giving up on that seemed like a tragedy.
Finally, when he learns the one truth that Meyer had wanted to teach Jonah from the beginning. To own his birthright and lead The Hunt, Jonah must realize that compassion for Nazis will not take them anywhere but breed further hatred. Travis proves that by continuing to believe in the war that is upon them soon. And when Jonah follows the trail of the Wolf, the Nazi doctor who tortured his Safta and Saba (grandfather), he learns a truth that destroys his world and yet gives him a clarity that he hadn't had since his Safta's death. With the horrific truth about what The Wolf had done to his Saba and continued to do in the present, Jonah finally accepts that it is important to do what is difficult and not what is right.
From an ignorant teenager who thought the only way to put food on the table was by peddling drugs, to a man who experiences loss, grief, conflict, anger, and finally acceptance, he is probably one of the few well-written characters in the show.
‘The Hidden Angle' is a weekly column examining narratives, frames and sounds that add value to movies and shows but are not part of conversations surrounding their success or failure. The column will be published every Friday.