'We Hunt Together' Episode 2 Review: Could Freddy really be as smart as she says she is?
Spoilers for 'We Hunt Together' Episode 2
Stylish and sexy in equal degrees, Showtime's latest thriller slash murder mystery plays with neon-lit aesthetics and philosophical repertoire to set the narrative at enticing levels. Add to that a cold-blooded murderer in the form of Hermione Corfield's phone sex worker femme fatale Freddy, and she alone is capable of pulling the plot through. Let's be real. despite Baba (Dipo Ola) having a past grittier than most others, the former child soldier turned nightclub chauffeur has been manipulated to the T by his newest obsession, Freddy after he saved her from getting assaulted.
Upon Freddy's directions and indulgence, he murdered the man in a few days' time, and together with her, goes on a murderous rampage in the latest and second episode. But even with two brand new murders, DS Lola Franks (Eve Myles) eating rat shit for breakfast cereal and DI Jackson Fendy (Babou Ceesay) trying to establish how seriously he takes his job, it's something that Freddy says about herself that strikes us the most unique. And for the most part, the entirety of Episode 2 highlights the extent of it.
The second episode kicks off with Baba at the church and Freddy going to visit him there. Two days have passed since they killed Simon together and a depraved murder scene all too humiliating to be ignored as some sort of robbery gone wrong. There's a certain kind of hope burning in Freddy, but Baba has seen too much to shed his guard at all.
Freddy's life meanwhile has been making steady calls at her phone sex center, but also, unfortunately, being stalked by a former employer who had tricked her into the escort business, and now she owes him about 10 grand. Buried under life threats and worried the utmost might happen if she doesn't pay him back, Freddy hatches a plan to trap and kill, once again, proving that she is, in fact, smarter than all her men.
In a unique interrogation of types between Freddy and the detectives who turn up without information, the writers play with Jackson's cheery optimism, rivaling it with Freddy's smug arrogance. She talks about being smarter and intellectually superior to most of her men and even shrugs when Lola asks her if she thinks she is smarter than the cops. This drives Jackson to believe that Freddy is not just your regular case of narcissism. They reach out to Freddy, enquiring about Simon's murder, and she, like the docile, concerned, clueless, and crushed fling she's pretending to be, tries to urge them towards this money-guy Matt, who had been threatening her.
Freddy lies to the cops that Matt and Simon fought at the bar and it looked like they knew each other. Later in the streets, she found a beaten and bruised Simon who was too embarrassed to report the apparent attack. It's a classic case of a chain of fingers pointing at each other, but one can't help wonder whether its Freddy's exceptional sociopathic instincts or just Corfield's impeccable portrayal that makes her such an intriguing persona even as your new age 'Natural Born Killer'.
Freddy's smug confidence and the calm with which she tackles the interrogation hints this is definite;y not the first time she's conning murders and men. Not only does she misdirect the detectives, but she also sets up a meeting with Matt on the pretext of paying him his money back. We all know what that's code for. The shock value and suspense build-up with their plans of ambushing Matt in the car, strangling and hanging him on a tree with an apology message scribbled on the ground saying "I'm sorry Simon".
Lola and Jackson's superior at work believes it's a case of murder-suicide after CCTV video at the club Freddy and Simon went last revealed he did get into a brawl with Matt that night. It all seemed too convenient — jilted gay lovers entangled in a depraved murder-suicide, but turns out Freddy might not be as smart as she thinks she is. Not at least in front of our very capable detectives.
The writers take the liberty of exploring a little more family life for Jackson, while hints of a deep personal loss and probably addiction are highlighted in Lola's personal life. Her relationship with her new boss softens as she gets used to his tactics, and the narrative uses tropes of rat traps to highlight the still unrevealed dilemma and turmoil Lola continues to swim in. She writes in her journal, wishing a Jessica happy birthday, but she can't quite get to finishing it all. It could be a dead child or even a partner who's no longer there, explaining why she is so shut off.
But it is these very inner battles she engages in that also propels her to dig a little deeper into CCTV footage with all the free time in her hand. Rewinding, Lola finds out that it was Freddy who had initiated a conversation with Matt before he attacked Simon. True to her testimony, Freddy did send Simon a "Hope you're okay" message a few days later, but perhaps it was all a part of the plan, deduces Jackson. Looks like Freddy is being outwitted in her own web of murders. There definitely is at least one man still smarter than her.
'We Hunt Together' airs on Sundays at 10 pm on Showtime.