Hunted, the English TV show where 9 ordinary men and women go on the run from the government for 25 days, has returned to our TV screens for a third season.
I reviewed the first and second seasons, so it's only natural that I review the third season too. But before I begin my review, let's explore the concept a little more.
As mentioned before, nine ordinary men and women from all ways of life- marketing executives, electricians, grandmas and deputy mayors, become fugitives from the British government for 25 days. They are allowed to use any means as possible, as long as it's legal and they don't leave the British mainland. If they escape detection for 25 days, then they will win a share of £100,000.
However, hunting them down is a crack team of government hunters headed up by former Scotland Yard Detective and perhaps the most Cockney person ever: Chief Peter Becksley. Rounding out his vast team are Julie Clegg - an intelligence specialist, Donna Young - a behavioural Psychologist and Ben Owens a former military sniper, as well as a whole host of former police officers, hackers, techies and analysts.
They have all of the powers of the state at their disposal from mobile tracking to ANPR to drones with thermal imaging cameras. In the first series, 4 fugitives escaped detection and in the second series, this halved to two. Will any fugitives make the distance in this series?
While the series cuts to all of the different fugitives teams, they also focus specifically on two to three teams per episode. I'll be taking a similar approach, but before I begin delving into the three teams that this episode focusses on, let's quickly look at the 9 different fugitives.
Team 1: James Clark, 37, - a former firearms police officer with counter surveillance experience.
Team 2: Magid Mah, 27, Deputy Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Somalian refugee
Team 3: Sandra Canron 30, Marketing Executive and Mella Mwama, 28, full-time mother
Team 4: Robert Ayling, 60, electrician and his son Alex Ayling, 26, postman
Team 5: Joseph Appleton, 29, and Daniel Murphy, 33,
Team 6: Carlene Crowe, 67, retired college tutor
The nine fugitives are driven in a van to St Peter's Square in Manchester, where they all bail out and immediately go on the run, with no chance to plan their escape. This episode focusses on Magid, the Aylings and Carlene Crowe and we see little of the other teams.
We see James Clark being pursued by the Hunters' helicopter through Manchester city centre and struggling to remain calm. He gets in a taxi to Salford, where he is last seen. From there, we jump to Joseph Appleton and Daniel Murphy who get a taxi away from Manchester city centre. Sandra and Mella go for a similar tactic, getting a taxi to Preston, with the intentions of roughing it.
Where all of the fugitives are in non-distinctive black clothing, Magid is in a noticeable blue coat. This meant that he stood out like a sore thumb and he immediately gained the attention of the Hunters. Magid ducks into a Subway and some of the Hunters wonder whether he has already screwed up, but the wilier ones think he is setting a trap. And that's exactly what he's doing. He takes off his blue coat and gives it to a stranger who reluctantly agrees to wear it and then leave the store, as a decoy. While this is happening, Magid asks whether he could leave out of the back exit, which he isn't allowed to do.
Meanwhile, the decoy leaves the store and the Hunters takes a few seconds to realise that it isn't Magid. The decoy has a different build, but, more importantly, he isn't the same rushed, panicked person, which ran into the Subway store. However, these few seconds they spent concluding this was enough time for Magid to give the Hunters the slip. We last see Majid trekking through the forests.
From here, we go onto Carlene Crowe, a 67 year old retired college tutor and grandmother. She's competing in Hunted, so she can have one last adventure, but also to prove that age shouldn't be any barrier, and I applaud this goal. I think, as society, we do tend to write off the over-60's as weak and feeble, which is far from the truth.
She begins her escape in a very different way to the other fugitives. While the rest of them are scrambling to safety, she calmly walks out of the van, which is a smart way of doing things. Obviously, running brings a lot of attention to yourself and, by walking, Carlene was able to blend into the crowd more effectively. But she also chose to walk, as she was too dignified to run.
She then makes her way to Manchester coach station, where she intends to get a coach to Milton Keynes. With CCTV at their disposal, the Hunters quickly spot her and identify the coach she is travelling on. But Carlene continues to play it smart by putting on a disguise. She dons a silver wig and puts her big rucksack into a carrier bag. Continuing to play it cool, she boards the coach. Although the Hunters have CCTV in the coach station, they're unable to get a positive ID on Carlene. Amusingly, just by coincidence, there is a passenger wearing a massive sombrero, but the Hunters quickly rule this person out.
Unsure of whether Carlene is on the coach or not, the Hunters decide to risk it and send a ground team to intercept her coach in Milton Keynes. And this is where after beginning well, Carlene begins to make mistakes. She starts talking to another coach passenger, telling him her name and giving him her mobile number. Mistake number 1: never trust anybody on the run. She then begins to worry that the Hunters might be waiting for her at Milton Keynes and asks the coach driver whether they could bypass Milton Keynes and instead go straight onto London. As the driver doesn't have any pickups or dropoffs, he agrees and they continue to London.
This was another clever tactic, which helped to throw the Hunters off the trail, although they quickly recover and continue pursuing the coach to London, with the intention to intercept it at Marble Arch. Carlene's coach stops at Marble Arch and she departs it without any real strategy, while also continuing to wear her disguise. She dithers a little, before deciding to get a taxi. While she is nonchalantly walking off, the Hunters spot her and quickly catch her.
This was a sad end to what was an early favourite for me. Carlene reminded me a lot off Nick Cummings, winner of the second series. Nick was your stereotypical, bumbling Englishman who started as the joke contestant, but finished as anything but. Just like Carlene, he was endearing and had a warmth that made him completely likeable.
However, unlike Nick, Carlene was perhaps too nonchalant throughout. She made a mistake by boarding a coach, which the Hunters could easily intercept. And while the disguise was a clever move, she should have taken it off, after she left the coach. The Hunters knew to look out for it. Finally, she should have had a plan when leaving the coach. The few seconds she spent dithering was enough for the Hunters to catch her.
Anyway, onto the final team of fugitives: Robert and Alex Ayling. This father and son team are also early favourites for me, because of their evidently strong relationship. As a child, Alex was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and as such has low-self confidence. When looking at his Facebook page, Hunter, Donna Young, a psychologist, notices he has posted lots of imagery relating to failed relationships, depression and struggling to face the outside world.
However, Robert is the polar opposite of this. Robert is your typical happy-go-lucky, Jack-the-Lad, man's man type. Despite their differences, Robert is fiercely protective of his son, claiming that he is competing in Hunted, not for the money, but for Alex. Robert wants Alex to realise that he is more confident and intelligent than he gives himself credit for.
While the Aylings aim to win, the Hunters are not going to make things easy for them. They immediately start tracking Lynne Aylings (Alex's mother) phone, as well as the Aylings' bank account. This was a smart tactic, which already led cracks to form. Robert goes to an ATM to withdraw money and quickly becomes flustered and panicked, when it begins to play up. They then get a taxi to Wilmslow with the intention of heading to the Peak District via the countryside.
While in the Peak District, they stumble across a tiny, unlocked parish church, where they begin making serious blunders. Worried about running low on samples, they decide to call Lynne, so that she can deliver more equipment. They call her on a pre-pay, burner phone, thinking the Hunters won't be able to detect this. This is a grave mistake, as the Hunters can track anything which gives off an electrical signal, and thus, they hear the entire conversation, including when Alex tells his mum his exact location and what road to take to get there.
Although, the Hunters are suspicious of this being a decoy, they take it at face value and dispatch a team to intercept them. The Aylings then become heavily worried that they've turned themselves into "absolute fucking sitting ducks," to quote Robert Ayling, (which they have) and debate whether to leave the church or not.
Meanwhile, the Hunters have dispatched a ground team and their remote-controlled drone. However, when they arrive, they find that the Aylings have already left, leaving behind some snacks and water and a taunting note reading "cheers. Don't look too hard." While, it might be tempting to taunt your Hunters like this, I can't help, but think that you're going to need this food later.
The Hunters do not take this taunt lightly and release their most terrifying weapon: a remote-controlled drone with a thermal-imaging camera. The episode ends with the drone having potentially spotted the Aylings. We won't know whether they've been caught until next week.
So, one day into it, and one fugitive has already been caught: Carlene Crowe, but with eight fugitives left, perhaps we'll have multiple winners yet again.
Top Tips for going on the run:
1. Always change disguises: Carlene Crowe went wrong, as she didn't remove her first disguise.
2. Always have a plan. Carlene also went wrong by not having a clear strategy. You cannot wing this.
3. DON'T PHONE HOME. I feel like I say this every series and this moment had me screaming at the TV. And if you have to phone home, then don't say your exact location and the route there.
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