ALIENS AMONG US
Syfy’s new show, Hunters, discovers a dastardly alien conspiracy afoot.
Aliens secretly plotting humanity’s downfall? A common theme in SF, but Syfy’s upcoming Hunters puts a new spin on the old scenario. Based on Whitley Strieber’s bestselling novel Alien Hunter, the series finds FBI agent Flynn Carroll ( Nathan Phillips) investigating the disappearance of his wife. When he crosses paths with a covert division of Homeland Security, however, he discovers that they have a common enemy…
“My starting point was, ‘ What bothers me about alien mythology?’” explains executive producer Natalie Chaidez. “It’s like, ‘ If aliens are here, why aren’t they taking over already? What’s taking them so long?’ I started working backwards and came up with a mythology that explained, ‘ What if they were here, but they weren’t super- powerful?’”
These extraterrestrials, known as Hunters, may not possess the technology to obliterate the Earth with the push of a button, but they are still a formidable foe. They have successfully infiltrated the human race, after all.
“The Hunters are stronger than humans,” says Chaidez. “Their main advantage is this super- powerful hearing. It’s quite important to them on their home planet. Sound is not only crucial to the Hunters’ species, but to the show.
“The Hunters are acting as a terrorist organisation,” she continues. “They are bombing and stealing in an effort to raise money, to what end we aren’t sure. They are committing crimes and this unit is chasing them.”
Chaidez intends to avoid many of the clichés associated with alien invasion shows. Don’t expect any lights in the sky or crashed UFOs at Roswell. In addition, she’s determined not to string viewers along with dangling plotlines…
“The first season is really about unravelling who the Hunters are, what they are doing here, what they want and how do we stop them?” explains Chaidez. “We’re building towards a big surprise at the end of the season. What you think they want is perhaps not where their true agenda lies.
“I feel strongly about knowing where the show is going and answering questions,” Chaidez concludes. “It’s a little unfair to not answer stuff. The big questions will be answered by the end of season one, but another bigger question will arise as well. Stuff will be answered but with more mysteries to come.”
Hunters airs 11 April on Syfy in the US, UK broadcast TBC.