When it comes to network drama shows, the maximum age rating is TV-14. However, The Hunting Party may be a little too grisly for some children and teens.
When you take a look at the promo for the series, you’ll get an idea of some of the murders to come. This is more like Criminal Minds and The Blacklist rather than NCIS and FBI. It brings a darker look at serial killers, including the psychology of them.
Does this completely rule it out as a show to watch when they’re up? This is going to depend on the stomachs of your children.
Explaining The Hunting Party TV-14 age rating
Network TV is usually either TV-PG or TV-14. It doesn’t matter if the show airs in the afternoon or in the evening during primetime hours. The networks don’t want something that is too adult in terms of material. Those types of shows are left for the likes of HBO, Netflix, and Prime Video.
The Hunting Party is no different. Let’s take a look at the breakdown based on the pilot episode and what we know of the series to come.
Sex & nudity: There wasn’t any sex or nudity in the first episode. This isn’t that surprising as the focus was on setting up the crime part of the series. We needed to understand The Pit, the people inside The Pit, and the danger to citizens of the U.S. that the special task force is now out to catch.
This doesn’t rule out some bits of nudity in the future. A show on broadcast can have characters in just their underwear. There are times when characters are in bed with each other but covered up by sheets or items of clothing. It adds an element of reality while being conscious of the TV-14 rating.
Language: The worst of the swear words are likely to be the B-word. The S-word and F-bomb are unlikely to be dropped at all. However, there may be some phrasing that makes it clear that they are saying those words. Think about The Good Place and how “fork” was used instead of the F-bomb. In a show like The Hunting Party, the swear words are usually cut off mid-sentence.
Violence & gore: The pilot episode didn’t have too much in the way of gore. There is a moment in the pilot episode when a criminal grabs a gun and fires it, but there is no injury shown on the screen.
However, this is going to get worse, and this is why the series may not quite be for children. The trailer for The Hunting Party showed a woman killed and hung up like a ballerina doll. Another victim is seen in the park with visible wounds holding his cello.
We are expecting this series to do gore in the way Criminal Minds or some of the darker episodes of The Blacklist did it.
Alcohol & drugs: While the first episode had none, we’re expecting to see some alcohol and drug use throughout the series. After all, we usually see characters from task forces drinking in bars. It’s their way of coping with what they see and socializing with their teammates.
There was talk of experiments on the inmates. This could lead to some drug use by the criminals. I don’t expect this to be overly graphic, but enough to make it unsuitable for younger viewers.
Overall verdict: Who is The Hunting Party suitable for?
From the beginning, I’ve viewed this as an NBC version of Criminal Minds. There is a mixture of Prison Break and The Blacklist in there as well. So, if your teens found that they could watch all of those shows, then they’ll be fine with The Hunting Party.
If you have children under 14, I’d avoid watching it around them. It could end up being a little dark in places.
The Hunting Party airs on NBC on Mondays at 10/9c.