HUNTERS is a new show about the catastrophic evil of World War II. The show was created by David Weil and he is the co-showrunner with Nikki Toscano (Revenge, Bates Motel) as well as co-executive producer with Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions. The premise is about a young Jewish man, Logan Lerman (Jonah Heidelbaum), whose grandmother was murdered under suspicious circumstances and who was a Holocaust survivor. He meets Meyer Offerman, played by Al Pacino, who is one of his mother’s old friends and another Holocaust survivor. He informs Logan that Nazis have emigrated to the United States and are plotting a takeover; however, Offerman and his late grandmother had formed a team to hunt the Nazis. It is a tale of revenge and the meting out justice to some of the worst villains ever to live on our planet, set in the year 1977.
During the panel at TCA, Weil was asked if this series was based on truth and he replied that it was. I did look into it and the part about Nazis being allowed to emigrate to the United States after the war, shockingly, is quite true. How Thousands Of Nazis Were ‘Rewarded’ With Life In The U.S. While the Nazi hunters at the time mostly fought them in the courts and through other legal means – by documenting the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi crimes against humanity, this show is more of a fantasy of violent and direct action against the Nazi menace within our borders and is quite timely considering that we are living during an alarming rise of fascist sentiment in the USA and abroad.
Weil said that this was more of a story of regular people acting as defenders of their country and their people from the Nazi scourge and also as a tribute to the survivors of the Holocaust, like his grandmother. As time passes, fewer and fewer of the survivors remain and the memory of the Nazi atrocities fade with time as well. He saw these characters as superheroes who would right wrongs done to the victims of the pogroms and save America from the same fate as Germany in the 1930s. He saw the series as a love letter to his grandmother.
Al Pacino said that during the process of filming, the cast and the creators and showrunners would get together on set and discuss and work out the show that they were filming. While they didn’t have the luxury of rehearsal, like he experienced while working with Sidney Lumet in the ’70s, he felt that it was an excellent way to bring the actors together on how best to proceed. He also said that he feels Logan Lerman carries the show and that the feeling of confidence from the showrunners, David Weil and Nikki Toscano, was what sold him on what he considered a difficult project. Logan Lerman replied that Pacino brings electricity to any scene with an actor that he has not experienced before and that Pacino makes the work easier for everyone.
Jessica Hinton said that she was drawn to the character of Millie Malone because of Millie’s curiosity and sense of right and wrong. She also said that playing a character like Millie, a black female FBI agent who is the smartest person in the room and at the Bureau, was a huge enticement to her. She added that she felt Millie was ahead of her time and just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up to her. I thought these were terrific reasons and would make the character a great asset to the show.
David Weil added that while there is a cathartic superhero tone to the show and how it is largely about reclaiming power, he does caution that HUNTERS does ask the question of whether fighting and killing monsters can make you into a monster yourself.
HUNTERS also stars Kate Mulvany as Sister Harriet, Tiffany Boone as Roxy Jones, Carol Kane as Mindy Markowitz, Saul Rubinek as Murray Markowitz, Josh Radnor as Lonny Flash, Louis Ozawa Changchien as Joe Torrance, Dylan Baker as Biff Simpson, and Lena Olin as The Colonel. HUNTERS will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on February, 21, 2020 and you can read our review here.
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