I did not think this was possible, but Hunters managed to make Hitler and the Holocaust boring. The first season of Hunters was a schlocky, Nazi punch-fest, with goofball characters, and an ultra-hammy Al Pacino. It was low-stakes, good old fashion Nazi ass-kicking. It was a satisfying if not elegant, guilty pleasure.

Then for season two, they decided to up the stakes and make it about capturing an aged Hitler. This Hitler is more like Grandpa Simpson than the worst human ever. He dodders around his villa complaining about how nobody likes him.  Yawn. 

The other characters all fell flat. They shoehorned Jennifer Jason Leigh into the show this season in an attempt to out-ham Al Pacino. Her character made little sense. I enjoyed Kate Mulvany’s kick-ass nun schtick in the first season. She became a groovily-attired lesbian nun double-agent with unlimited ammunition this season. And what the hell was up with Louis Ozawa’s character. He was bad, then good, then bad, then who the hell cares.

Uber-ham-mensch Al Pacino had way more screen time than he deserved. They kept jumping back in time to tell his origin story, which was less believable with each passing scene.

In a weird twist, the penultimate episode to the show was quite good. They ditched the entire cast to tell a stylishly weird story of an older German couple harboring Jews during WWII. It had all the original hallmarks of the first season – schlocky Nazi killing good times. It also had an entirely different visual and tonal aesthetic. It felt like that was an entirely different show.  

The final episode was a snooze-fest trial of Hitler. The only thing I found mildly interesting was that they shot the trial in the same Jewish University that Star Trek IV used for Khittomer Accords. They tried to cram in some lines echoing today’s fascists and their anti-woke nuttery. It did not work.

I am always up for watching Nazis get their asses kicked. Hell, I’d watch nine seasons of people mercilessly beating the shit out of Tucker Carlson. But Season 2 of Hunters was overstuffed and dull. It is probably for the better that the show was not renewed.