The A&E documentary series Secrets of the Bunny Ranch continues its mission to dismantle the myth of the world’s most famous legal brothel with this week’s episode, The Predator. The story is a harrowing one: a woman, fleeing an abusive husband, seeks what she believes is a safe haven and a chance at financial independence at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. What she finds instead is a situation that is reportedly far more dangerous and exploitative than the one she left behind.
This episode cuts to the core of the series’ argument, contrasting the glitzy, party-girl image projected by the HBO series Cathouse with the much darker accounts of women who worked there. The Predator tells a story not of liberation, but of entrapment, where a vulnerable person is allegedly targeted and manipulated. The series uses new interviews and previously unseen footage to build its case, suggesting that behind the neon signs and reality show cameras was a system of control.
The documentary has already explored Lamar Odom’s near-fatal overdose and the political ambitions of the late owner Dennis Hof. This third episode appears to be the most direct examination yet of the alleged human cost of the Bunny Ranch’s operation. It presents a disturbing account of a woman who sought refuge but found herself in an even more precarious position, challenging the long-held narrative of the brothel as a place of female empowerment.
Secrets of the Bunny Ranch airs on A&E, Thursday, June 19, at 9:00 PM ET.
