Hunting Wives ending explained: Motives, Betrayals, and the Finale Twist (Spoilers)
Inside the finale twist: who killed Abby, who got framed, and why the ending flips the whole show
Full spoilers ahead for The Hunting Wives Season 1 (Netflix). If you haven’t finished Episode 8, this is your exit ramp.
If you’re searching for a true Hunting Wives ending explained breakdown, the key is this: the finale isn’t just a “whodunit” reveal. It’s a story about how power protects itself—through sex, status, loyalty tests, and (eventually) violence—and how Sophie’s attempt to survive Maple Brook ends with her becoming exactly what she swore she wasn’t.
Quick recap: what the show is really about
The Hunting Wives drops Sophie into Maple Brook, Texas, where a wealthy, politically wired clique—led by Margo Banks—treats guns, booze, and “girls’ nights” like a religion. The show sells the fantasy (glamour, freedom, taboo desire), then slowly shows the bill coming due: if you want to belong, you’ll be asked to lie… and then you’ll be asked to bleed.
Abby’s murder becomes the town’s pressure cooker. The closer Sophie gets to Margo, the more Sophie is pulled into a system where reputation matters more than truth—until Sophie becomes a suspect herself because the murder weapon leads back to her.
Who killed Abby (the real killer reveal)
The killer isn’t Jill. It isn’t Sophie. It isn’t Pastor Pete. The finale reveal is that Margo Banks shot and killed Abby. Abby confronts Margo at the lake house, threatens to expose her, and Margo—drunk, cornered, and desperate—fires the gun that ultimately ruins Sophie’s life.
The nastiest layer of the twist: Margo uses Sophie’s gun. That single choice turns Sophie into the perfect fall guy for Maple Brook— the outsider, the messy new woman, the one with a past.
A quick trailer refresher
Margo’s motive: the secret that could burn everything down
Margo’s motive is less “crime of passion” and more “crime of preservation.” Abby figures out that Margo is sleeping with Brad (a teenager and the son of fellow Hunting Wife Jill). Abby also connects that the rumored pregnancy/abortion story isn’t hers—meaning Margo is the one who got pregnant. Abby’s threat isn’t just emotional blackmail; it’s a political and social nuclear bomb for Margo’s carefully built life.
That’s what makes Margo terrifying: she doesn’t kill because she’s reckless. She kills because she’s calculating—because in her mind, the “real” violence would be losing her status, her marriage’s power arrangement, and her husband Jed’s future.
The “tampon clue”: how Sophie cracks the case
The finale’s detective work hinges on a tiny callback: early on, Margo claims she can’t use tampons. Later, Sophie finds a box of tampons in Margo’s bathroom. Sophie Googles why someone wouldn’t use tampons and lands on a key clue connected to abortion recovery—then everything snaps into place.
It’s not just a twist for twist’s sake; it’s character writing. Sophie doesn’t solve the case with police work—she solves it through intimacy, noticing what doesn’t match the persona Margo performs for the town.
Betrayals that mattered most (and who used who)
1) Margo’s “love” is also a weapon
Margo insists she never meant for Sophie to take the fall—but the reality is uglier: Margo’s choice to use Sophie’s gun is what makes the frame-up possible. Then, when the heat rises, Margo tries to “solve” the problem by pointing the town at Jill and pushing everyone to move on.
2) Jill gets sacrificed so the circle can survive
Once Jill is dead, she becomes the perfect closed case. The show makes a point of how quickly institutions accept a neat story when the alternative threatens the town’s real power players.
3) Callie’s loyalty is conditional
Callie isn’t just Margo’s ride-or-die—she’s also wounded by Margo. We learn Callie is the one who planted the explicit photos of Margo and Brad in Margo’s car with a threatening note, trying to scare her (and punish her) for spiraling.
4) Jed is loyal to power, not to Margo
When Margo tries to confess the affair/abortion/murder situation to Jed, his reaction isn’t “how do we fix this?”—it’s rage and rejection. It’s one of the show’s bluntest takes: the marriage is an alliance, and Margo’s value is tied to what she can protect for him.
A big “where do we go from here?” moment (Season 2 announcement)
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Every major death in the finale (and who pulled the trigger)
- Abby: killed by Margo at/near the lake house during the confrontation about Brad, the pregnancy, and the abortion secret.
- Starr (Abby’s mom): killed by Jill during the armed standoff at Jill’s house.
- Jill: killed by Callie when Jill points a gun at Margo and Callie shoots first.
- Pastor Pete: dies by suicide when police close in; kidnapped girls are discovered alive in his trailer.
- Kyle (Margo’s brother): killed by Sophie after he threatens her on the road; Sophie disposes of the body, creating the cliffhanger.
The finale’s body count isn’t random shock. Each death is a different kind of “community violence”: reputation panic (Starr/Jill), predation hidden behind righteousness (Pastor Pete), and elite impunity (Margo) collapsing onto the person with the least protection (Sophie).
One more layer: Netflix’s Season 2 is already in motion
Netflix’s own update confirms Season 2 is in production and continuing with an original story (not a direct book blueprint), with returning cast and new additions. The official Season 2 logline frames Sophie and Margo as “on the outs,” pulled back together by old secrets and new enemies.
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The cliffhanger twist: why Sophie’s ending is the point
The final twist isn’t just “Sophie kills Kyle.” It’s that Sophie—who spends the season insisting she’s not like these women—ends up making the same survival choice: hide the truth, control the narrative, protect yourself first.
Structurally, the show sets up a moral ladder (Margo at the top, “bad people,” Sophie below, “still redeemable”) and then kicks it out from under you. By the time Sophie is dragging a body and dodging Detective Salazar’s call, the show is saying: Maple Brook doesn’t just corrupt outsiders—it reveals them.
What Reddit Theories Say About this
Reddit’s reaction tends to split into two camps: viewers who think Sophie’s relapse-and-cover-up ending feels “too much,” and viewers who think it’s the only ending that makes Sophie’s arc honest—because the show repeatedly frames her struggle as addiction + obsession + status hunger, not just “bad luck.”
Reddit discussion thread
One common theory line: Season 2 won’t be about “who killed Abby” anymore—it’ll be about leverage. Margo knows Sophie has Kyle’s death hanging over her. Sophie knows Margo killed Abby and engineered the cover story. That’s a mutually assured destruction relationship… which is exactly the kind of bond the show loves.
Reddit finale reactions thread
How the ending differs from May Cobb’s book
The Netflix adaptation deliberately swaps the book’s “cleaner” culprit path for a longer-running TV engine. In the novel version, Jill is positioned as the true killer (and the book’s endgame is more definitive). The series changes that, keeps Margo alive, and ends on Sophie’s new crime—basically building a runway for Season 2.
Translation: the show’s ending is less about “justice” and more about continuing consequences. The book closes the trap; the series leaves it open and invites you back in.
FAQ
Did Margo mean to frame Sophie?
Margo claims she didn’t mean for Sophie to get blamed, but she knowingly used Sophie’s gun and then benefited from the chaos that created—so, intent or not, Sophie becomes the convenient shield.
Who killed Jill?
Callie shoots Jill when Jill pulls a gun on Margo during the confrontation at Jill’s house.
What’s the finale cliffhanger?
Sophie kills Kyle with her car and disposes of his body—then avoids Detective Salazar’s call, leaving her future (and potential cover-up) hanging going into Season 2.
Is Season 2 happening?
Yes—Netflix’s Tudum coverage states Season 2 is in production and outlines returning cast, new cast members, and a new Season 2 logline.