The Hunting Party

- Previously on "The Hunting Party"...

It's called the Pit.

It's home to the most dangerous

and violent criminals in history,

all of whom the world believes are dead--

or at least it was until the blast hit.

- I'm--I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say.

- You don't have to say anything.

This can be whatever you want it to be.

Reform is possible, Rebecca.

And I'm living proof.

How'd it go with Lazarus?

- I think she's one of the most dangerous sociopaths

I've ever met.

- A pair of shoes tells the world who you are.

Show me the shoes, and I'll show you the man.

Polyester, rubber, foam--

they're cheap, synthetic, weak.

The most beautiful shoes are made of leather

because it is the skin of the conquered.

Every step is a reminder of who's really in control.

- But no matter how exotic its origin,

a dead animal is just meat and skin,

wasted in the hands of the unskilled.

But in the hands of a master craftsman, however,

that same animal can be formed into

an exquisite display of power.

The right shoe is a celebration

of your place at the top of the food chain.

You don't need to sell me.

I flew in from LA to visit your shop.

You're a long way from home.

- It's all part of the adventure.

Speaking of which, I was so hoping

you might have something a bit more exotic.

More exotic than alligator?

- Not to be rude, Mr. Carr, but I didn't plan a trip

for something I can get at Ralph Lauren.

I may have something in the back.

What is it?

- Well, just a fine pair of stilettos

fashioned from the rare Eastern black rhino.

There you are.

- What is that supposed to mean, she graduated?

- So that was a term Dulles used

to describe her being rehabilitated.

- If Colonel Lazarus went from the Pit into the military,

do you think that there are others?

- Let's just deal with one mystery at a time.

- Right, let's stay focused on Lazarus for now.

I'm starting to get the sense that this whole attack on Cyrus

and the transport was just a false flag

to give her the pretext to seize control

of the whole operation.

- Yeah, she wanted to take command

of the whole task force-- we need to figure out what for.

- She doesn't exactly seem like the chatty type.

Why don't I talk to her?

She left the door open for more conversation.

I could, uh-- I could reach out to her.

- Are you sure that's a good idea considering--

She's my mother?

I get it. But I can do this.

I want to do this.

- That could put you in a very uncomfortable position,

or worse.

- Look, no one is more curious about this woman than I am.

But I'm under no illusions as to who she really is.

I can remain objective.

Well, here we go.

Set it up.

But please, just be careful.

Who knows what she's capable of?

- A partially-skinned body was just found

in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle

in New Haven, Connecticut, identified as David Stevens,

a local reported missing by his coworkers a week ago.

DNA on the trash bag matches Pit escapee Elliot Carr.

The Connecticut Cobbler.

- Excuse me, did you just say cobbler?

Oh, yeah, sure did.

Carr was a high-end shoemaker out of New Haven, Connecticut,

specializing in rare and exotic handmade leathers.

Before Carr was caught, he ran a successful

boutique business with high-profile clients

from all over the world.

He was known for his black market,

bespoke leather goods made from the hides

of endangered animals-- elephants, rhinos, stingrays,

and people.

He would skin them alive

and then make shoes from human leather.

Okay, yep, I'm done.

- Diagnosed as a malignant narcissist,

he had focus on power, control, and dominance,

killing nine people over ten years,

making one pair of shoes from each.

- This dude actually sold shoes he made from people?

- No, no, he kept those ones for himself.

- Oh, yeah, that's better, then.

- He targeted people he saw as confident and powerful,

those that had command over their own lives.

Not a surprise that his sociopathy

stemmed from a difficult childhood.

Let me guess, daddy issues?

Uh, uncle issues, actually.

- When he was young, he apprenticed under his uncle,

a well-known shoemaker, who ridiculed and berated him,

instilling a desperate craving for power over his uncle

and control over his own life.

Which is why, at 17, he snapped,

killing his uncle before skinning him.

- So he made shoes out of his uncle?

Um, boots, technically.

- Ugh, I don't know why, but that is so much worse.

- Yeah, he even wore them to his first police interview,

showing power over the cops and his uncle.

Public trophies like this are not uncommon in serials,

but this sort of exhibitionism, that's rare.

- That's one hell of a flex. - All right, get going.

We'll send you the files in the air.

Some people just have a way

of moving through the world, you know?

It's how they talk,

how they carry themselves, their walk.

Power.

So self-assured and in control.

My uncle was like that.

Richard.

He was a man among men,

until he was a shoe.

For days, I held his life in my hands.

The tables had turned.

I was God, and he was...

an engorged tick.

I plucked him between my fingers,

squeezed until--

What's going on?

What's going on?

Where are you taking me?

What is this?

- Time for your execution, Elliot.

Yes?

Understood. Stop.

Lucky you.

Your execution's been postponed.

Until when?

Until when?

Nobody knows.

[The Black Keys' "Howlin' for You"]

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

- Stop. Stop.

Stop. Stop.

Stop.

Good news, your execution has been postponed.

Please, just kill me already.

- Elliot received what was called

the memento mori treatment over his decade at the Pit.

He'd be abruptly taken for his execution at random times.

And then in the final moments, they would call it off.

- Sounds like a bunch of psychological torture to me.

- Yeah, how do they even come up with this stuff?

- There's actually a precedent for it.

In Japan, death row inmates

aren't told the date or time of their execution.

One day, they're just yanked from their cell and killed.

Keeps them in a near-constant state of expectation.

- Still sounds like torture to me.

Look, I'm not defending it.

But in his file here, it says that the treatment caused him

to have a complete lack of control over his own life,

forcing him to experience the same uncertainty

and helplessness that his victims felt.

- What you're doing to me is wrong.