Upcoming in "The Hunt With John Walsh" Season 2- 2015

OK, finally watched! Here's what I have to say.

In regards to the "Still Running" episode- to be honest, I started watching and decided to finish it later. I was disappointed because I'd thought they'd update leads and stuff like that on the still unsolved fugitive cases. Instead, it was pretty much just quick recaps. And it did not flow the way AMW did. So we can say The Hunt at least does a better job when it focuses on just 1-2 cases.

As for the technical season debut, first of all, I still feel Alexander Hill Jr. and/or Matthew Dion would have been the debut fugitive for season 2 had they not been caught. AMW usually always opened a season with a new case where the crime had been committed within the year or 2 years. Shane Miller seemed to continue that trend on The Hunt. However, once they were caught, it seemed pretty obvious they pretty much had to pick a former AMW case as no new cases we knew they filmed, while still all bad cases, would have the same impact. Since Yaser Said was just recently named to the FBI's Top 10 list, it gave The Hunt an angle to work with. Just mentioning this to be fair for the season review.

With that being said, the Said episode was exactly what we have come to expect from The Hunt. A highly-stylized and interview oriented documenting of a tragic fugitive case. While it wasn't the best episode of The Hunt to date, it was a solid episode. It was standard Hunt and that's a good thing. A few more thoughts:

-It's hard for me since I knew so much about this case already but I know WE all knew about Said probably sexually abusing Sarah and Amina, but I believe this is the first time this has been mentioned on an AMW and/or Hunt airing. Or at least they hadn't gone into that much detail.

-The best interviewee on the show was Sarah and Amina's aunt Gail. I don't want to be too judgmental here, but let's just say I was on her side.

-My biggest criticism of the episode is they did not go into enough detail on potential whereabouts for Said. As a matter of fact, the ending profile told of absolutely ZERO locations. The personal details- good. But what about saying he might be in Egypt? What about saying he might be driving a cab in New York City? What about saying he has a lot of family in Texas who could easily hide him in plain sight in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? NONE OF THOSE WERE DISUCSSED.

-The best part of the show- was Amina's poem- it was so tragic but summed up the case perfectly. Reminds me of how they ended the Guillermo Madrigal Ballesteros episode with a tribute to the victims. The one thing we can say about The Hunt is they know how to end well.

OK. Why am I the only one to comment when a bunch of you guys and gals probably got to see it live? And where the heck is Pakman?

Actually, I think the liked the episode even better on second viewing. I was fighting back tears- but then again every time I watch anything about this case I always have to fight back tears. I can't tell you how many times I've heard that 911 call and how much I hate it.

As for next week, I saw a commercial previewing Dan Hiers would be on the show next week. But nothing about the father abusing his stepdaughter? Sometimes cases get bumped or a planned profile changes. Wondering if it's possible the show will turn into an entire hour on Hiers. Then again commercials only have 30 seconds to get the word out, so they may have only had time to preview Hiers.

The fourth episode preview in the 1st Season only mentioned David Burgert and I'm pretty sure the eighth episode preview only mentioned Jacob Wetterling. I'm pretty certain we're getting two cases next episode.

It's now on The Hunt's home page that this Sunday will be Gonzalez and Hiers. While of course we already know about Hiers, really glad the world will learn of the horrible Gonzalez case as well.

I was talking about this show on another message board- when it again turned into an AMW vs. Hunt debate, when I realized something and even mentioned it. A lot of people debate the format of 1-2 fugitives vs. the multiple cases AMW had. But while AMW averaged at least 1 capture an episode, often it wasn't the baddest guy/girl on the show. I always say there's no such bad thing as a bad capture, but when you have a show with Yaser Said on it, and AMW announces a direct capture, and it turns out to be a lesser-known fugitive who had a 15 seconds of shame, while still a great capture, it is admittedly disappointing it wasn't the biggest fish.

So while The Hunt's format means less captures, I think it increases the likelihood of capture for that one particular fugitive (or two) by focusing on just the one fugitive (or two). That's not to say Yaser Said will definitely get caught off The Hunt, but I'd say the odds are better by devoting the entire hour rather than just 10 minutes to him.

I'll give another example, even though he hasn't been caught yet, the information about Jason Derek Brown possibly hiding in Thailand came right after that Dateline NBC airing that devoted an entire hour to him. They never mentioned Dateline NBC as the reason, but I find it a bit of a coincidence. So possibly the most hopeful lead we have ever had on Brown came after a show that gave more and expanded detail than AMW ever did. That show came out before The Hunt, so it was like a foreshadowing of what JW's new show would look like.

So it's like yeah less captures, but what would you rather have. Increased likelihood for Yaser Said or some random short profile? (Once again, not that the random short profile wouldn't have been a great capture).

Just chiming in with some more thoughts since I know the debate won't go away. Although what I will say is one thing we can't debate is AMW is gone for good for the time being, so it is important that we all #jointhehunt and focus and supporting it rather than reminisce about AMW. (And this coming from the guy that loved the show so much he made a message board for it.)

Season 1 had 11 fugitives (12 if you count Jacob Wetterling's unknown abductor). So ideally, you'd like to see at least 22 fugitives for season 2. Which will hopefully happen.

And yeah good point. We can still support The Hunt but reminisce about AMW.

Alright, another solid episode. Pretty precise and to the point in both cases. Gonzalez case just as disturbing as I unfortunately expected it to be. Even more frustrating is there was NO REASON for Gonzalez to kill Ana. All he had to do was leave as he promised. I do feel very good at the chances Gonzalez can become a Hunt direct capture, but we may have to wait a while for official confirmation since he's likely in Mexico.

Dan Hiers segment was good too. This isn't a race issue or I hope this doesn't turn into one but more an accuracy issue I have- and not about The Hunt. I know we shouldn't criticize our former favorite show since it was cancelled anyway but didn't the AMW re-enactments feature a white blonde girl as the molestation victim? Was it so they could hide the identity since Lauren hadn't revealed herself yet? The mother I can swear sounded white too. It turns out Hiers victim appears to be African-American. Why AMW chose to change the race of the girl apparently is beyond me.

In any case, I found Lauren sincere and what is sad is how both victims blamed themselves in tonight's episode. So in addition to what happened to them, they have to live with guilt they shouldn't have. I just wanted to say that so if Ana's brother or Lauren ever come across this site, that it's not their fault, and they didn't cause Gonzalez and Hiers to allegedly murder their partners. Place the blame on the culprit.

I do wish The Hunt talked about Hiers car being found in Laredo (could have been a ruse but still a possible clue), and the rumored KKK connections however. They had to cram everything into a half-hour, so it's a little more understandable than last week where they had an entire hour on Said but could only spend two minutes on tips.

Still, the home video footage and mentions of his enjoying karate should help somewhat tip-wise.

Also, why wasn't JW tweeting tonight! Only other time that happened last season was the Guillermo Madrigal Ballesteros episode.