Sunday 13 November 2016

Hunted Episode 3 Review

We're halfway through the series and already ex-marines Jeremy and Kirk and hedonistic would-be couple Hamish and Michaela have been hunted down.  Curently left we have house-husband Nick Cummngs, Temp Lorna "Lolly" Jones, and two sets of best friends, Ayu and Mado and Elizabeth and Anna.  The latter two took a backseat in this episode.

The first fugitive focused on househusband Nick Cummings aka my favourite to win.  One of the hunters revealed that she is secretly rooting for Nick, as he is an underdog. This is the best description for him.  Feeling emasculated having been a house-husband for 17 years he goes on the run to prove his worth.  He initially comes across as a bumbling Englishman, however, his greatest weakness could be his greatest strength.  He narrowly escaped capture before through sheer dumb luk.  He has currently evaded capture through camping in Cornwall.  Unlike all of the other fugitives who have massive social media profiles, Nick's generally consists of cat videos.  He has a very small circle of friends for the Hunters to exploit. However, one friend they do find is an old school friend Paul Nash whom they pay a visit to. Paul is less than helpful and it was great to see the Hunters so pissed off.  Nevertheless, they still bug Paul's phone.  This is when Nick calls Paul to ask for money.  Paul obliges but also tips Nick off about the Hunters.  The Hunters track Nick to a farm and prepare to go in for the kill.  However, this is where Nick shows some cunning.  He asks the former for a lift, but he refuses his request to go with the farmer's suggestion for a safe place.  If the former does't know where Nick has gone, then he can't tell the Hunters.  Here we also see the terrifying powers of the state.  Using sniffer dogs and thermal-imaging drones, they attempt to catch him, but he gets away.  Go on, Nick.  Do it for the little guy.

Next we move onto best friends Madu and Ayo, who are very similar to Lauren and Emily last year.  When the Hunters interrogate Madu's wife, they quickly discover that the two have a tumultuous relationship brimming with fights and arguments.  Madu is organised and calm, whilst Ayo is a loose cannon.  We see Ayo's rebellious nature in the tweets he sends to taunt the Hunters, which is bloody stupid.  Madu is perhaps on the other end of the spectrum, using mirrors to help him see round corners, in the Welsh street where they are staying.  The Hunters confiscate Madu and Ayo's electronics and hack into Ayo's Facebook, after they find a list of passwords on his computer.  Another stupid thing to leave lying around, made even stupider by how the passwords are easily guessable ones like 1234568 etc.  From there, the Hunters create a social media campaign, which Madu and Ayo see and Ayo is humbled by.  Quite rightly too.  Ayo is a loose cannon and could get the pair caught.  From here, we see their relationship starting to fracture.  Escaping on a train, Ayo is desperate to call one of their contacts, but Madu begs him not to.  As we've seen before, using your phone on the run is a massive no-no.  Madu and Ayo then get into a barmy, of which Ayo is a the winner.  The two remain uncaught, but considering how different they are, I wouldn't be surprised if they split up like Lauren and Emily did.

The last fugitive in this episode is temp worker Lorna "Lolly" Jones (34) who goes on the run as a "fuck-you" to people who say that at 34 she should be married and have a proper career.  So far she's stayed out of the Hunters' grasp, relying on a network of friends.  One of these friends is her getaway driver, Emily Sears, whom the Hunters interrogate.  They also take her phone and find cryptic texts from SJG.  From social media, they quickly identify this is Sophie Johnson GIll.  Meanwhile, Lolly who is hiding in Hertfordshire and running low on money, writes a message to Sophie hidden in a secret code.  Lolly then posts this letter to Sophie, as she thinks the Hunters won't be able to find this.  However, unbeknownst to her, the State has the power to seize and read mail, which is exactly what happens to Lolly's letter to Sophie.  They crack her code, which they acknowledge as being a very clever code, and more to intercept Sophie.  Chaos and confusion ensue.  With guard dogs, thermal-imagery drones and men camouflaged as bushes, they move to pounce on who they think is Lolly, but is actually Sophie.  Lolly is watching from a distance and after becoming spooked runs away.  It looks like the Hunters have screwed up again, but the men camouflaged as a bush soon catches Lolly.  After over a week on the run, Lolly has been hunted

Five down, five to go.  Can they escape? And remember, don't tell me your plans for going on  the run in the comments below.  Who knows who's reading?

Top tips for going on the run:

1. Be digitally savvy.  The Hunters will go through your social media, so delete to deactivate your accounts.  Also be clever about your passwords.  Don't use "password" or "123456" as your passwords and don't have a list of your passwords on your computer.  Hell, why not go one step further and wipe or remove your harddrive?

2.  Budget.  You know that you're only going to have £250 to last 28 days.  Spend it wisely.  Going to ATMs or calling for friends to help is too big of a risk.  This leads into my next point.

3. Be self-sufficient.  Don't rely on your friends and family.  They'll be the Hunters' first target.

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