The Hunting Wives is a sprawling, soapy saga of guns, sex, drugs, lies, and murder. It’s set in the MAGA world of east Texas, where every virtue is a fake cover story and every sin is celebrated in secret.

The Hunting Wives begins when a couple of liberals from Harvard, Sophie (Brittany Snow) and Graham (Evan Jonigkeit), move to Texas. Graham’s new boss Jed (Dermot Mulroney) and wife Margo (Malin Akerman) throw a party. The party is a fundraiser for the NRA, the speeches are about the scary people crossing the border, and the folks on the dance floor are wearing guns. Welcome to Texas.

The complication hits Sophie and her liberal ideas right in the face because Margo lights a raging fire of lust in everyone she meets, including Sophie. Margo latches on to Sophie immediately and introduces her to her group of hangers on, I mean wife friends.

The key people in Margo’s orbit are Callie (Jaime Ray Newman) who is married to Sheriff Jonny (Branton Box). Callie has been Margo’s lover for some time, but Sophie is obviously going to displace her in this role.

Jill (Katie Lowes) is married to the pastor but the real important man in her life is her high school age son Brad (George Ferrier). Brad also enjoys Margo’s sexual favors. Brad has a girlfriend named Abby (Madison Wolfe). He stays busy.

There are a few more women in Margo’s group, but these are the key ones.

Abby is from the poor side of town. Her mother (Chrissy Metz) is not part of the in crowd.

Sophie can’t resist Margo. She gets pulled into the gun culture, heavy drinking, secret sex and more with Margo and her minions.

There is a LOT of sex in this series. A lot of nudity. A lot of drinking and drug use. Everyone hides it behind a facade of pious talk. The sexy nature of this story is a magnet for the viewers as well as for the characters. It keeps pulling you along.

The Hunting Wives is by women, about women. It’s based on a novel by May Cobb and created for television by Rebecca Perry Cutter. It has all women directors: Cheryl Dunye, Jennifer Getzinger, Melanie Mayron, and Julie Anne Robinson. Yet none of the women are likable. Margo especially is a manipulative terror of a woman. What are all these women and the actors who agreed to take on these roles trying to say? The message I got was that gun-toting right wing wives are a scourge on the American soul. Also, like the message in The Secrets We Keep, the rich get away with everything and manage to exist above the law. Equally important is the way the church is such a secure hiding place for evil.

Those messages seem to shout, “We have to do something about this!”

There are several murders in the series. The drama comes with more soapy twists than a corkscrew. By the time it’s over we’ve met the one great female character in this Texas town – Det. Salazar (Karen Rodriguez). She’s dedicated to finding the truth and she’s good, but maybe not good enough.

This is not great television. But it is compelling television. If you watch it, I’d love to know what you think.