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Spoiler warning: This is a complete explanation of The Hunting Wives Season 1, including Abby’s killer, the deaths of Starr, Jill, and Kyle, Pastor Pete’s fate, the book-versus-series change, and the Season 2 setup.
Spoilers for the complete first season of The Hunting Wives: Margo Banks killed Abby. The series reveals that Margo shot Abby at the lake house after Abby discovered Margo’s affair with Brad—the son of Abby’s friend Jill—and threatened to expose Margo’s pregnancy and abortion. The ending then complicates that answer: Jill kills Starr, Callie kills Jill, and Sophie kills Kyle before hiding his body.
Who killed Abby in The Hunting Wives?
Margo killed Abby. Abby had become suspicious of the relationship between Margo and Brad. Pastor Pete had told Abby that Brad confessed to an abortion, but that version of events was deliberately misleading. The abortion was connected to Margo, who had been involved with Brad and had become pregnant.
On the night of July 18, Margo, Brad, Sophie, and Jamie are at Margo’s lake house for a spin-the-bottle gathering. Brad and Jamie leave before Abby arrives. Abby confronts Margo and threatens to reveal the affair, the pregnancy, and the abortion. That disclosure would endanger Margo’s marriage, social position, carefully managed public image, and Jed’s political ambitions.
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Margo takes Sophie’s gun and shoots Abby. The murder is therefore not simply an act of romantic jealousy. Margo is trying to protect an entire identity and lifestyle built on secrecy. The official Netflix explanation likewise connects Abby’s threat to Margo’s fear of losing her life and exposing the abortion secret; Netflix’s ending explanation provides the series’ account of the reveal.
How does Sophie figure out that Margo was the killer?
At first, Sophie is in a vulnerable position because Abby was killed with Sophie’s gun. Sophie also has impaired memories from the night of the murder, allowing other people to manipulate the investigation and encourage suspicion that she was involved.
The breakthrough comes from a small contradiction in Margo’s story. Margo had previously suggested that she could not use tampons. Sophie later notices a box of tampons in Margo’s bathroom. Sophie recognizes that someone may temporarily avoid tampons after a recent abortion, and the clue connects Margo to the abortion mentioned in Brad’s confession.
That discovery changes the meaning of the other evidence. Margo had the motive: Abby knew about the affair and pregnancy. She had the opportunity: she was at the lake house and confronted Abby there. She also had access to Sophie’s firearm. The tampon clue is the practical turning point, while the show’s repeated visual focus on Margo’s presence and clothing around the lake-house events can be read as retrospective foreshadowing. That visual interpretation is analysis, not a specifically confirmed creator explanation.
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Margo kills Abby to stop her from revealing the truth about Brad. The secret threatens several parts of Margo’s world at once:
- Her sexual relationship with Brad would be exposed.
- Her pregnancy and abortion would become public.
- Her marriage and social standing could collapse.
- The scandal could damage Jed’s political ambitions.
- Abby’s disclosure could destroy the controlled, respectable identity Margo has built.
That is why Margo’s motive is better understood as self-preservation and protection of power than as jealousy alone. Abby is dangerous to Margo because she knows a secret that reaches into Margo’s family, reputation, and political network.
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Who killed Starr?
Jill killed Starr. Sophie tells Starr that Abby may have had an abortion and suggests that Jill might have had a reason to oppose Abby’s relationship with Brad. Starr concludes that Jill killed her own daughter to protect the family’s reputation.
Armed with a gun, Starr goes to Jill’s house, apparently intending to confront or kill her. The confrontation is not shown in full, but the result is clear: Jill shoots Starr first.
Who killed Jill?
Callie killed Jill. Margo and Callie arrive at Jill’s house and find Starr dying. Jill tries to stop the women from reporting what happened and pulls a gun on Margo. Callie shoots Jill before Jill can shoot Margo.
Jill’s death creates an opportunity for a convenient false solution. The surviving characters can present Jill as the person responsible for both Abby’s murder and Starr’s death. Brad changes his statement, and the police are able to close the case around that explanation—even though viewers know Margo killed Abby.
This is one of the finale’s central ironies. The official answer is wrong, but it benefits almost everyone who remains: Jill is dead, Margo is protected, and Jed’s political and social machinery does not have to confront the truth.
Who killed Kyle?
Sophie killed Kyle when she ran him over. After Sophie confronts Margo about the abortion clue, Margo turns to her brother Kyle for help. Kyle attempts to force Sophie off the road and later approaches her car. Sophie panics during the escalating confrontation and runs him over.
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The scene is framed around immediate fear and self-preservation, but the series does not present Sophie as completely cleared of wrongdoing. After Kyle dies, Sophie moves his body into the woods instead of contacting the police. Her previous history involving vehicular homicide and her fear that authorities would reject her explanation help account for the decision, but hiding the body is still an intentional cover-up.
Kyle’s death changes Sophie’s position in the story. She begins the season trying to prove that she did not kill Abby. She ends it having killed Kyle and concealed what happened. Sophie does not simply expose Margo and walk away; she becomes morally and legally entangled with her.
What happens to Pastor Pete, Nina, and Kaycee?
Pastor Pete is not Abby’s killer, but the finale reveals him to be a dangerous predator. He takes an interest in Abby’s friend Nina, drugs her, and abducts her. Detective Salazar connects Pete to Abby’s phone records and to an earlier kidnapping investigation.
When the police close in, Pete drives away in a U-Haul containing Nina and Kaycee. He dies by suicide before he can be arrested. The police find both girls alive in the trailer.
This storyline gives the finale a second, more institutional form of corruption. Maple Brook’s respectable religious and civic structures conceal crimes that are far more serious than the group’s affairs, gossip, and social betrayals. Pete’s plot is separate from Abby’s murder, but it reinforces the season’s larger idea that public respectability is not evidence of private innocence.
Why does the ending matter?
The finale is about competing versions of truth. Margo kills Abby, but the murder is absorbed into a false story blaming Jill. Starr acts on that false story and dies. Jill tries to keep the truth about Starr from reaching the police and is killed by Callie. Sophie discovers the real explanation, then kills Kyle and buries him.
Guilt is not resolved; it is transferred. Each character’s attempt to control the story creates another crime or another cover-up. The police may have a neat explanation, but the audience sees that it is built from convenient lies.
Sophie and Margo become mirrors of one another. Margo deliberately kills Abby to preserve her world. Sophie reacts to an immediate threat from Kyle and then makes a conscious decision to conceal his death. Sophie’s fascination with Margo’s apparent freedom and willingness to break rules has gradually drawn her into the same kind of moral compromise.
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That is also why the final relationship between Sophie and Margo is so dangerous. Sophie knows that Margo killed Abby. Margo knows that Sophie killed Kyle and buried the body. Either woman could expose the other, but doing so would also create a serious risk to herself. Their connection is now a mutual-blackmail arrangement, even if neither woman openly names it that way.
How is the TV ending different from May Cobb’s novel?
The television adaptation changes the identity of Abby’s killer. In May Cobb’s novel, The Hunting Wives, Jill is the killer. Her motive is tied to Abby’s relationship with Brad and the threat created by Abby’s abortion. In the Netflix series, Margo is the killer, and the abortion secret belongs to Margo’s affair with Brad.
The difference is substantial rather than cosmetic. The book’s solution centers on Jill’s maternal protectiveness and willingness to protect the family. The series turns the reveal into a conspiracy involving Margo, Brad, her pregnancy, and the political consequences of exposure. It also leaves Margo and Sophie connected by separate crimes, creating a stronger foundation for the continuation of the television story.
Readers should not treat the two answers as interchangeable: Jill killed Abby in the novel, while Margo killed Abby in Season 1 of the television adaptation. The publisher identifies Cobb’s book as the source novel, a suspense story built around Sophie’s move to Texas, her attraction to Margot Banks, the Hunting Wives, target practice, and murder. If you want to compare the adaptation with its source, you can find the original The Hunting Wives novel by May Cobb (availability and format may vary by retailer).
What does the Season 1 ending set up for Season 2?
Netflix has renewed The Hunting Wives for Season 2. Netflix’s official materials reported that the second season was in production as of January 20, 2026, with major cast members including Brittany Snow and Malin Åkerman returning alongside new cast members. At the latest point covered by the available official information, Netflix had not announced a specific premiere date, so no firm release date should be assumed.
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The most immediate story engine is the secret shared by Sophie and Margo. Sophie can expose Margo as Abby’s killer, but Margo can reveal Sophie’s role in Kyle’s death and the disposal of his body. That reciprocal vulnerability is an inference from the Season 1 ending, not a confirmed episode-by-episode synopsis. It nevertheless explains why Sophie cannot simply walk away from Margo and why Margo cannot safely eliminate Sophie as a witness.
The Hunting Wives ending, in one sentence
Margo killed Abby to protect her affair and abortion secret, but the cover-up produces a chain of deaths that leaves Sophie—once the suspected innocent—bound to Margo by a crime of her own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who killed Abby in The Hunting Wives TV series?
Margo killed Abby. Abby knew about Margo’s affair with Brad, Brad’s pregnancy-related secret, and the abortion, and threatened to expose her. Margo used Sophie’s gun to shoot Abby at the lake house.
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Jill killed Starr after Starr arrived at Jill’s home armed and apparently intended to confront or kill her. Callie then killed Jill when Jill pulled a gun on Margo.
Was Sophie cleared for killing Kyle?
No. Kyle’s actions create an immediate threat, and Sophie runs him over in panic, but she later hides his body. That deliberate concealment means the series does not present her as completely exonerated.
Is Jill the killer in the book?
In the television adaptation, Margo killed Abby. In May Cobb’s novel, Jill is Abby’s killer. The two endings should be treated separately.
Has The Hunting Wives been renewed for Season 2?
Netflix renewed the series for Season 2 and reported in January 2026 that it was in production. No specific premiere date had been announced in the official information covered here.
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The television series’ answer is Margo, not Jill: Margo shot Abby after Abby threatened to expose her affair with Brad and the resulting pregnancy and abortion. Jill later killed Starr, Callie killed Jill, and Sophie killed Kyle before hiding his body. The false story blaming Jill closes the case publicly, while Sophie and Margo remain locked together by mutually dangerous secrets ahead of Season 2.
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