Original subtitles

Previously on "the hunting party"...

It's called the pit.

It's home to the most dangerous and violent criminals

in history, all of whom the world believes are dead.

Or at least it was until the blast hit.

Shane deserved to know the truth.

What are you going to tell him?

Hey, we found your serial killer mom,

and she happens to be our boss?

I don't know, but I'll find the right words.

You were impressive.

Thank you, sir.

And my name's John, by the way.

Jonathan Mitchell peck.

I read your file.

I've been thinking a lot about that,

and I should never have kept that from you or the team.

I am done looking for her.

You don't want to find your mom?

Welcome.

My name is Noah Cyrus.

Ooh, wait.

Can you make one of those heart design things?

I want to post it.

Maybe a star.

No, wait, a flower, like an orchid.

They don't really teach us how to do that.

I can make a swirl.

That's just so basic.

Just try a flower.

It's already half swirl.

I mean, if you have to make a fresh one, it's totally fine.

I will pay for it.

Do you mind?

There are other people in line.

Shoot.

My gosh, I forgot that I have hot yoga in 15.

Don't worry though.

When I post this, I'm going to totally

make your cafe go viral.

Sorry for that. What can I get you?

Hi. Drip coffee, please.

Totestina here.

And it is time to reveal the newest addition

to Tina's less to impress list.

First off, I need you guys to go... no, not go, run...

to the cutest new coffee bar I just found,

bernice's coffee.

No, seriously, people, it's the best oat milk latte

I've had all year.

Whoever's feeling blessed, say "blessed."

Also, this new raspberry lip gloss,

it makes my lips just feel so...

Hey, did peck tell you what this was all about?

No, but when I get a call to come to the command center,

it's usually not for breakfast.

Right, but when it's an inmate,

I always get a heads up.

You didn't?

As agent hasani will explain, we have a problem.

Last night, the convoy

transporting Noah Cyrus was attacked.

Everyone, including Cyrus, was killed.

Do we know who did it?

Why would somebody do this?

Could have been one of Cyrus' followers

that we didn't know about?

This is way too complicated for someone of the 13th hour.

Who else knows about the convoys?

Just my people at CIA.

Well, clearly, you're mistaken.

Someone outside of this command

knew exactly when and where to ambush

a covert prisoner transport.

So either a member of your team is talking

or one of you is.

- Colonel... - as it stands, the Pentagon has insisted

upon a certain balance of powers

in the recovery efforts.

So that means, agent hasani,

prisoner transport and relocation remains

under your purview, for now.

I don't think I need to impress upon you all

the seriousness of this operational failure.

Sorry to interrupt, colonel.

We just got a hit on another inmate.

No more mistakes.

I expect perfection.

Dismissed.

Inmate h89, Lou kaplan.

A.k.a., the selfie slayer.

Not to brag, but low-key,

I created a program to alert me if any inmates,

logged on to their dormant social media platforms.

Wow, that's very clever.

Thank you.

It uses malware software I designed to bypass vpns.

It looks like Lou just logged on to his old

snapmax account for the first time since 2019

in midtown Manhattan.

I guess even pit inmates can't stay off social media.

Snapmax, that's the one that's, like,

if Instagram and TikTok had a baby, right?

Well, I don't know.

We have a strict no social media policy at my house.

That's fun.

It says here that Lou was a gifted coder

and one of the original software designers for snapmax.

He had some pretty lofty ideals about social media

fostering community and empathy.

I'm sensing a turn coming.

Well, he wanted his technology

to bring people together.

Instead, according to him, the app, quote,

"became a breeding ground for vanity, vitriol,

and self-isolating behavior."

So I'm guessing the nickname the selfie slayer

is not a metaphor.

His m.O. Is interesting.

Despite the fact that he carefully selected

and then stalked these victims for days,

the kills themselves were semi-improvised

and always public.

This one, he threw into oncoming traffic

as she was live streaming.

And then another, he beat to death

in prospect park using his own tripod.

He claimed that his six murders were a message,

a way to wake the world up to the dangers

of social media.

The post wrote a whole exposé on him,

turning him into a social media sensation himself,

an ironic poster child for disruption.

They even had merch with his face on it

outside the courthouse during his trial.

- Gross. - Gross.

- Gross. - Yeah.

If he's already logged back into snapmax again,

he's probably stalking victims.

Let's head out.

Ok, time to shine.

Just remember, be bright.

Be bold.

Be Becky.

Hello, fellow bakers.

It's your friend, baking with Becky.

And today, I've got a big treat for you all.

We're making banana nut muffins.

Now, I know these look a bit ripe.

Don't you worry.

That's the secret to yum.

But before we start, I want to make sure

you hit that subscribe button to stay in the loop

for all my best new recipes.

All right, it's baking time.

Now, you're gonna want to start

with two cups of all-purpose flour.

Next, we're gonna crack two eggs.

Damn it.

Take seven.

You guys get the feeling Lazarus knows more

about this convoy hit than she's letting on?

I mean, her pointing fingers at us is definitely theater.

She knows something.

So do I.

Cyrus's convoy deviated from its planned route last night.

Maybe they saw the attack coming?

Well, there was no report of contact before the firefight.

Ok, so now we have two mysteries...

who attacked the convoy

and how it got deviated in the first place.

What comes next?

The eggs?

Then why are you looking at me?

Crack the eggs.

Bravo.

Ok, now say it.

Becky, say it.

Ok.

Hi, everyone.

This is gonna be my final post.

I want to try to put this in terms

that someone as simple as you can understand.

I had the biggest tech companies in the entire world

engaged in heated bidding wars

to bring me to their teams, right?

Instead, I chose snapmax, a no-name startup,

because I believed in their mission.

Also, Linda Cranston personally came to my home

and practically begged me on her hands and knees

to work for her.

We designed snapmax as a tool to help our users connect.

But after snapmax launched, a very unfortunate truth

became abundantly clear to me...

most people are basically rats.

But it's worse than that because we have

the intellectual capacity, but we don't use it.

All the likes, and the clicks, and the comments,

and the shares,

jonesing for another hit of dopamine, right?

Just click, click, click, click, click,

just for dopamine.

Just a little hit.

Tell me, are you on social media?

Yeah, of course you are.

This guy seems like a real winner.

Yeah.

Hey, how can you be so whiny

and crazy at the same time?

It's a skill.

Did you guys know his account

has 10 million followers on snapmax?

World thinks this guy's been dead for years.

Still, he has more followers than the people he's killed.

You know, I'm all aboard the social media's

destroying society train,

but it's not a cause worthy of murder.

Lou rationalized his murders through his message.

He warned people the dangers of social media.

He thought it was a just cause,

which is why his therapist at the pit

tried to humanize his victims.

Just or not, these were people.

That tracks.

Kaplan's file says he was given Whitmore's empathy drug.

I've seen a lot of that.

It was effective,

so long as he maintained his dosage.

Well, it must have worn off.

Morales got a ping on a body drop

four blocks from where he logged in.

Why is the DEA so interested in a dead influencer?

Becky Roman is actually an undercover informant

for a sting operation we're running.

If you say so, buddy.

Any details on cause of death?

Asphyxiation.

Death by banana muffin.

That's definitely a new one.

Well, we're gonna need the place to ourselves there, pal.

Thank you.

Ok.

So Becky was clearly in the middle of making a video

when Lou killed her.

That speaks to his old m.O., but...

All of his previous kills were quick and improvised...

And public.

This feels more intentional.

Is that because of how he desecrated the body postmortem?

I mean, he savored the chance to humiliate her.

That kind of viciousness speaks to an increased level

of emotional engagement.

Well, we got Lou's therapy to thank for that.

All of the other kills were successful influencers.

I mean, Becky's got a decent following,

but nothing like the others.

So why her?

Hey, morales, what's up?

A new video was just uploaded to Becky's snapmax.

Well, that seems unlikely.

I'm sending it to you now.

Thanks.

Ok.

Hi, everyone.

This is gonna be my final post.

And to start, I... I need to apologize.

I haven't been honest with you.

The truth is...

the truth is, I hate baking.

It's messy, and it never turns out right,

no matter how close I stick to the recipe.

I'm not special.

I'm just a nobody and a liar.

But I hate everything about what social media

has turned me into.

This is tough to watch.

I am a fraud.

And if we're being honest, I might as well tell you,

I don't even really eat baked goods.

I'm gluten-free.

Yeah, how messed up is that?

So now this is the part where, normally,

I'd swap out the burnt muffins

for the pretty store-bought ones, but not today.

I guess that's growth.

Ok.

So then, for the last time...

we need to take this down.

We can't do that.

That'll tip off Lou that we're on to him.

Just remember, make every day sweet.

You think she knew Lou was gonna post this?

Yeah, I do.

I think Lou got Becky to make that final video

before he killed her.

And he forced her to post it as some kind of warning?

This is what social media can do.

No, this was a confession.

He wanted Becky to confront how social media

had turned her into a dishonest version of herself.

How did Lou know she was a fake?

I don't know,

but I think he wanted Becky's followers to take it to heart.

We need to figure out how he targeted her

before he sets his sights on the next victim.

- Show me where that is? - Yep.

I-I don't understand.

Who would want to hurt Becky?

I know this must be hard.

Were the two of you close?

She was a good neighbor, very focused on building her brand.

Bet the building smelled nice,

what with her baking all the time.

Yeah, when she wasn't setting off smoke alarms.

I mean, she was a sweet girl, but let's just say,

I made sure those fire extinguishers were up to code.

That's good.

When's the last time you two spoke?

Yesterday.

She was all excited because someone

was coming over this morning to do a collab.

Sorry, there was another influencer over this morning?

And apparently, it was kind of a big deal.

Whoever this person was, she said she had a huge following.

Ok, do you know this person's name by any chance?

Yeah, it was kind of dumb, missconfection.

Hey, check this out.

Becky and missconfection have been messaging

for the past three weeks,

and their dms really took off.

It looks like missconfection started

her channel two months ago.

She's already racked up over 100,000 followers.

That's not normal, is it?

It is if you buy them.

Missconfection was supposed to meet Becky

at her apartment this morning.

And if she did, she either found Becky dead or...

or she found Lou, and he gets two influencers

for the price of one.

Ok, her real name is Christina custodio.

Morales just sent me her address.

It's 10 minutes away.

Here, I'll punch it in.

Miss custodio?

Christina, you home?

Ok.

Clear.

What the hell is all this?

This is Lou's place.

How did he afford all of this?

Bot farming, stealing and selling identities,

hacking into bank accounts.

If you're a good enough coder,

making a fast buck is never a problem.

- Everything's still running. - I think he saw us coming.

Hey, guys, I cannot wait for y'all to see my latest post.

I've never tried baking these before,

but I've been wanting to make them forever...

sourdough spinach feta croissants.

Now, I know what may be thinking.

Are croissants already tough enough?

Well, like I like to say, when the going gets tough,

the tough get baking.

So let's give it a whirl, missconfection-style.

What the hell?

Missconfection isn't real.

What do you mean?

It's a fake avatar Lou created to catfish Becky.

She doesn't exist.

Ok, go.

How's it look?

Like she's you.

Or, you're her.

I don't know.

Try saying something again.

Abracadabra.

How does this even work?

Well, I've hacked into his system.

People like Lou use AI avatar generators

to create virtual people like missconfection.

It happens all the time.

They're so human-like, it's hard to tell the difference.

But Lou then used advanced generative video creation tools

to make his avatar do whatever he wants,

like missconfection baking.

It's like those deep fake

girlfriends people fall in love with.

- Yes. - What?

I saw a documentary.

It's not just fake girlfriends.

AI avatars like lil' miquela do fashion campaigns,

brand integrations, you name it.

And she's 100% not a real person.

And judging from missconfection's comment

and dm history, 99% of the people that follow her

don't have any idea she's AI.

Whoa.

Please tell me these aren't influencers

that Lou is targeting.

No, these are all avatars he's created.

What's... what's going on? What is it?

No, no, no, no.

Whoa.

Morales? Peck?

You guys have anything?

Nothing.

Who are you?

Yes, you, blondie.

What? Are you deaf?

I said, who are you?

No!

Morales. Here, use this.

You're a godsend.

I should have seen this coming.

I was careless.

The moment our team found Lou's computer still on,

I should have known it was a trap.

What exactly is going on?

Lou set a tripwire, and I tripped it.

Damn it.

Lou's virus fried the entire server.

Even the backups got hit.

How long do you think it'll take before

we get our computers up and running?

Hey, this isn't your fault, all right?

Just get us back online, ok?

Ok.

Ok.

I'm an FBI agent.

We know missconfection is an avatar you made up, Lou.

Well, kudos to you, then.

That's more than I can say for Becky?

But what can you expect from minds that have begun

to rot from the inside out?

You really think that you're gonna convince people

social media is the problem

when you're the one out there using it to kill them?

I actually disagree.

You know, we used to reward creativity.

We used to reward innovation.

And now we're just obsessed

with our own reflections online.

God, humanity is going down the drain so fast...

addiction, depression, anxiety.

Our lives feel broken, not because they are,

but because nothing can compete

with edited, rehearsed perfection.

God, we pay more attention to the little lights in our phone

than we do to the real world around us.

People think that social media's not bad for you,

but they're wrong.

So what?

You're just gonna kill influencers?

That's your answer?

You know that these are people, right?

People?

Barely.

Becky's was a pitiful existence.

Look, she was a lab rat.

She was addicted to the dopamine drug of likes.

I gave humanity a beautiful gift, a gift to unite us.

And people like Becky turned that into a cesspool

of narcissistic banality.

She didn't know what to like, what to believe in,

until it went viral.

So you know what I did?

I freed Becky from the maze?

And I will keep helping people like Becky

until humanity wakes up.

Is something funny?

Yeah, Lou, some free advice for you,

if you're gonna wage war on narcissistic banality,

then maybe don't speak in cliches.

I am speaking truth to power.

And I think what scares you is that my message is resonating.

People like what I say.

They're tired of sleepwalking through the abyss.

Millions have seen my face.

Millions have heard my voice

since I was captured by somebody

much, much smarter than you.

Truth to power.

Lou, you are lying to yourself.

You want to talk about being a fraud?

You're not mad at influencers.

You're mad because you felt ignored your whole life.

And these snuff films,

those are your banana nut muffins.

You don't know anything about me.

But, maybe I'll teach you something?

Rory.

Wait, who's that other guy?

That's his next victim.

It's time to take your juice.

No, don't.

Lou! No, wait!

Hang in there, buddy. Ooh, rock hard.

You're gonna be famous, Rory.

My name is Rebecca Henderson.

I'm with the FBI.

Can you tell us who you are

and where you are right now?

I'm Rory, Rory losquadro. I'm in 924...

Samuelson court.

- Rory, we're on our way. - Please hurry.

We're sending an ambulance.

I can't die.

I don't want to die, please.

Hasani?

Got him.

Clearing.

He's od'ing on steroids.

Shane, cut him down.

Hey, Rory, can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Ambulance is on the way. You're gonna be fine.

- You got him? - Yep.

Got you, Rory.

Let's lay him down.

- Got his head? - Yep.

Clear.

Is he breathing?

Barely.

Ambulance is on the way, Rory.

Just hang in there.

We got you.

You're gonna be all right.

So you didn't catch Lou, but you did save Rory.

That's no small feat.

Lou left Rory's laptop.

Trying to get in, but I'm definitely locked out.

Look, if he's following the same pattern

as he did with Becky, his next move

is gonna be to upload Rory's final post

from wherever he is right now.

When he does that, we need to track his location.

Can we do that?

Yes, as soon as I get the central server back up.

How long is that gonna take?

Let's go with as fast as I can.

All right, I believe in you. Good luck.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

What is it? What can I do?

Lou's virus fried the entire system.

But the physical server I initially programmed

when we started the command center

shouldn't have been affected, except that...

It's not here... Someone must have replaced it

and thrown it out when we were sidelined?

I asked for them to be upgraded.

You did this?

These are supposed to be better.

Ok.

Well, unless they have them lying around somewhere,

I'm gonna have to factory reset this whole situation,

which is time that we don't have.

- The old servers are here. - They're here?

What do you mean?

They're military servers with top secret information

passing through them.

They weren't thrown out.

Where are they?

Yeah, come on.

Damn it.

Still no luck?

Nope.

Hey, side note.

Did you ever get anywhere with that track and field theory

about Lazarus, you know, running the five-minute mile?

Any high school records?

No, it was a dead end.

Bummer.

- Ok... - What? - So...

didn't find anything in there.

Get into Rory's laptop yet?

Nope, just looking for the password.

How about you? Find anything useful?

Lots of swag.

That's not my style.

Musclemarco.

That's one of Lou's fake avatars,

and they were supposed to meet next week.

So Lou knew that we were onto him,

and he came here earlier to attack Rory.

Whoa, if that's the case,

then everybody Lou's been cat fishing

is in serious danger today.

Which one is it? Where is it?

Hey.

Hey, is this thing gonna start?

It's only two years old.

All right, now you can find Lou.

Only if I can hack into the main server for snapmax

before he uploads the video.

What's good, everyone?

It's your boy, rippedrory, here.

This is gonna be my final post.

My workouts are legit, but...

All this muscle that you see here, all this progress,

are not.

They're not.

Man, I'm on gear.

What am I doing?

I've been juicing, man.

I'm sorry to tell you, family. I'm juicing.

You know, I was so wrapped up in this...

- did you... - just stop hovering.

Sorry. I'm sorry.

He's uploading it now.

Because it's so hard to stay true to yourself when you...

when you feel like you gotta keep up with everybody else.

It's so hard, man.

Boom, I got him.

Ok, the ip address is 109 east 42nd street.

That's the headquarters for snapmax in Manhattan.

What's wrong, Linda?

Scared of growing a conscience?

That's a nice mask.

How much you want for it?

So Lou uploaded Rory's video from the snapmax headquarters.

Looks like snapmax just reached a billion subscribers.

Their celebration was today.

Every bigwig from the company would have been there.

Including Linda Cranston?

Yeah, she was the keynote speaker.

Why does that name ring a bell?

Lou mentioned her in his therapy videos.

She was the ceo of snapmax that hired him to build the app,

then used it to turn it into this vanity-fueled empire.

Lou's going after Linda.

Directing us to Rory's place was just a distraction

to get us off the scent of his ultimate prize.

And if he is targeting Linda like he did with the others,

he would have messaged her already.

Morales, I need you to scan all the dms from Lou's fake avatar,

see if there's any messages between him and Linda Cranston.

You know, I think that the ceo

of a major social media company

would be too tech savvy to get catfished.

C-suite makes you soft.

No, peck's right.

He would have had to up his game with Cranston.

It may not look like cat fishing that he did with the others,

but there's got to be something.

Hey, there's this guy, Stuart Wyatt.

He's been messaging Linda Cranston for weeks.

Funny, you look like one of those protesters.

Ok, so Lou's pretending to be a real person

because Linda knew this guy.

Yeah, and it looks like he knew her intimately.

Based on the messages that we're reading,

Linda and the real Stuart had an affair years ago

when they worked with Lou in the early stages of snapmax.

Get in here, st...

Office romances, they're never a secret.

And Lou knew that being a fake Stuart

was the best way to catfish Linda.

Morales, let me guess, they're planning a rendezvous?

Their last messages were 30 minutes ago.

She told him to come to her home.

I can't believe we're really doing this.

It's been so long.

Come on. Take off the mask.

It might be fun to leave it on.

Your... your voice sounds different.

A lot about me is different.

You could say that I'm a whole new st...

Ok, I can't take any more teasing.

I want to see your face.

God.

Surprise.

You know, it is lovely light this high up.

Ok.

Just relax.

Just connect with your followers?

Hello.

I'm Linda Cranston, ceo of snapmax.

When I started this company,

I said it would connect the entire world,

create a better global community.

But?

But that was a lie.

The truth is, community doesn't sell.

Snapmax uses a proprietary algorithm

to boost users who post the most polarizing content.

Our AI micro-targets users

with media that will enrage them.

It's a lot of technical jargon, Linda.

How about a little simpler for the lab rats in your maze?

We promote division.

But why?

Why would you do that, Linda Cranston, ceo of snapmax?

Because anger goes viral.

Self-righteousness is addictive.

Everyone wants to think that only they can see the truth.

I run a company with shareholders who demand...

no excuses!

The truth for once, Linda, for once in your life.

You wanted to get rich.

Yes! I wanted to get rich!

And you didn't care how many little lab rats

you hurt in the process, did you?

You don't care.

Tell them.

Tell the rats.

I didn't care.

What about your children, Linda?

Do you treat them like little lab rats?

God.

I don't even allow my children to use social media.

None of us do.

Kaplan! Don't!

Whoa, you don't want to do that.

- Who are you? - We are the good guys.

- Linda, put the gun down. - Shoot her, Linda!

- Shoot her! - Shut up.

How is he still alive?

They said he died in prison.

Linda, lower your weapon.

Just kill her, Linda. Kill her.

- Hey. - Not another word out of you.

I... I need that phone.

- What? - That recording, I need it now.

I need to destroy it.

What's the matter, Linda?

You're afraid people might see the real you for once?

Shut up.

Linda, that video will never see the light of day.

You have my word on it.

Your word.

He's supposed to be dead.

If that ever gets out, I'll be ruined.

Give me the phone, now!

Linda, you don't want to hurt anyone, ok?

You just think that you're out of options, but you're not.

Whatever you've said, whatever you've done,

it can be forgiven.

There is a chance at redemption,

but that chance goes away if you don't put the gun down!

I'm... I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I know you have a lot of questions,

but it's been a long day.

So right now, have a drink. Take a bath.

Tomorrow, someone's going to reach out about next steps.

Ok?

Ok.

Knock, knock.

Hey, you're still here.

Yeah, I was just writing up a report.

And don't worry, I left out the bit where you yelled at me.

Well, you know, stay away from my servers.

Now I know.

How do we even write up the things

that we see in this job anyway?

Carefully.

You're hovering again.

I am.

Is there anything else that you need?

Are you gonna ask me out or what?

No.

Maybe.

I'm not even sure I'm allowed to,

you know, given the boss/employee situation here.

You think that I work for you?

Well, I have been told that, you know,

I'm in charge.

Is that right?

Well, I think that we should settle this over a drink.

Hey, what's up?

- What are you doing right now? - Nothing.

What's going on?

Turn on channel nine.

What? Why?

Quick, you're gonna love this.

Just calm down.

Why, effective immediately,

I have decided to step down as ceo of snapmax

to focus on my family.

- Whoa. - Yeah,

that's ceo speak for, "I did some shady stuff,

and now I'm bailing before anybody finds out."

Noah Cyrus' convoy was attacked

when it varied from the route at 2200 hours.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Listen to me.

I'm asking you who authorized the change in the route.

That's what I'm telling you, sir.

I have it right here.

That's impossible.

Look again.

Records show the prisoner transport

was given field orders to reroute

by agent in charge, Jacob hasani.

Ok, what about badguybuster?

No, I am not creating an account.

Bexfiles.

That's a good one.

Stonecoldbex.

It's not your worst.

You've had worse.

All right, your turn.

What about secret prison guard... no.

Ooh, snack man.

Snackman?

Ok, I like that. I can get down with snack man.

Well, snack man, my food is here,

so I'm gonna say good night.

I'll see you tomorrow, ok?

Ok, stonecoldbex.

- See you then. - Good night.

Hi, Shane.

We need to talk.