The Perfect Holiday Escape: The Hunting Wives Unwind After Christmas

Looking for something to binge-watch as you gorge your way through that super-sized box of miniature chocolates? Well, premiering in the middle of that no-man’s land period between Christmas and New Year, ITVX’s latest American import The Hunting Wives should be at the top of your list.

Blending the prime-time soap opera antics of Desperate Housewives and murderous twists and turns of Big Little Lies with the red state attitudes of Taylor Sheridan’s ever-expanding Yellowstone universe, the eight-part series might not be the most original drama of 2025. But thanks to its gung-ho performances, beach read narrative (it’s adapted from May Cobb’s bestseller) and unashamed sense of camp, it’s undoubtedly one of the most fun.

Brittany Snow’s Sophie is our gateway into its MAGA-supporting, megachurch-attending world. Formerly a PR on the polar opposite end of the political spectrum, she’s just moved to the fictional Texas town of Maple Brook with her husband Graham (Evan Jonigkeit), an architect now working for Dermot Mulroney’s brilliantly slimy oil baron Jed (there’s always an oil baron in these things, of course).

As you’d expect, she’s initially reluctant to embrace her new community. At a swanky soiree designed to raise funds for the National Rifle Association, she has no qualms telling Jed that his speech was “slightly racist,” a review he appears to take as a compliment. In one of many political asides steeped in the real world, she describes the army of immaculately styled Stepford-esque wives as a bunch of “mini Marjorie Taylor Greenes.” And she’s left aghast when after asking them about their jobs, they reply, “We don’t work, we wife.”

However, there is one she does take an instant shine to, a feeling very much reciprocated too. Indeed, Jed’s Queen Bee wife Margo (Malin Akerman) is a force of nature entirely averse to the societal constraints that define the rest of her buttoned-up posse. Within minutes of meeting in the bathroom, she’s brazenly undressed from head to toe, a power move which appears to awaken a different part of Sophie’s sexuality. By the time they leave, they’ve shared a Xanax and forged a bond that will change both of their lives forever.

Last seen co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, Swedish native Akerman is clearly having a blast showing off her best Texan drawl. Never too far away from a honky-tonk bar or the pants of an 18-year-old basketball star (and son of her reverend’s wife friend), Margo is an outrageous creation whose justification for causing chaos is simply “because it’s fun.” In fact, the only thing she’s apologetic for is the trailer trash background she desperately tries to hide. And Akerman, who apparently modelled the character on Melania Trump, lights up the screen whenever she takes center stage.

It’s Margo’s magnetism which makes Sophie’s remarkably quick acceptance of the Maple Brook life easier to swallow. By the end of episode two, the teetotal non-driver (two life decisions which stem from a dark secret of her own) is sipping $25,000 whiskey and doing donuts in a parking lot. By the third episode, the liberal who once balked at the mention of the NRA is gleefully purchasing her own gun. Oh, and soon she’s also taking advantage of Margo’s approach to monogamy (“Open marriages are for liberals – Jed and I have an arrangement”).

Yes, be warned: The Hunting Wives isn’t the kind of show to watch with all the family. At times, it resembles the kind of old school ‘bonkbuster’ they used to make in the ‘80s. Jackie Collins, eat your heart out. But in an age where Hollywood has become strangely prudish – a study last year revealed that sexual scenes in cinema have fallen by 40 percent since the year 2000 – it’s something of a novelty to see a grown-up drama that doesn’t shy away from the bedroom.

When its residents aren’t hopping into bed with each other, they’re weaving another tangled web of lies and secrets involving everything from teenage abduction and blackmail to changed identities and vehicular manslaughter. Of course, the central mystery is the murder of the blonde-haired woman we see being gunned down in the woodlands-based cold open.

Almost every major player, including Margo’s jealous best friend Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), outcast mom Starr (Chrissy Metz) and creepy guitar-wielding youth pastor Pete (Paul Teal, who tragically died from pancreatic cancer shortly after filming wrapped), find themselves in the frame at some point or other. But there’s so much illicit activity going on elsewhere that the whodunit almost starts to fade into insignificance.

Indeed, while The Hunting Wives could never be described as boring, it would undoubtedly benefit from a bit of breathing space every now and then, cramming more plot into its eight episodes than many shows would across eight seasons. Still, it’s this relentless pace which sets the show apart from the glut of ‘rich people are terrible’ dramas that have become a staple of the schedules in recent years.