I feel like some people within this fandom have forgotten this fact, so this is a super friendly reminder that Hunter has higher-than-average observation skills, especially with other people.
He is able to make quick and accurate assessments of Luz and Amity's personalities in Hunting Palismen and Eclipse Lake, despite both episodes being the first time he spends any significant amount of time with either of them (Because threatening Luz for two minutes in Separate Tides doesn't really count as a meaningful conversation)
Hunter is powerless, with a weapon pointed at his face, and is still able to maintain his composure and clearly and confidently lay out the fact that he knows Luz is bluffing here.
Likewise, he's able to quickly get a read on Amity in Eclipse Lake, and relate her insecurities about her relationship with Luz to his own struggles with his Uncle in order to gain Amity's sympathy and trust while also being the one who was most knowledgeable about their surroundings and keeping them alive, in spite of Eda and King's antics.
This continues into the end of the episode. Even when he's in the middle of a mental breakdown, Hunter is STILL able to keep his observation skills sharp and realize that;
1.) He has come into this fight already pretty spent after fighting off the other Coven Scouts
2.) He's using a new weapon he isn't used to yet, which differs enough from his former staff to throw him off
3.) Amity has allies in the form of King (who kept jumping in and making the fight more difficult for him) and Eda (who he knows is probably on her way)
4.) Amity's not a slouch, so all of these disadvantages will probably NOT work in his favor if he keeps trying what he's doing and doesn't change tactics.
The fact that he's got her at a stalemate is already pretty impressive, given the fact that the fight is heavily weighted in Amity's favor here. But, rather than continue combat, Hunter goes for what he knows to be Amity's weakness in order to secure what he needs, and reminds her that if she keeps the key, Luz WILL be in danger.
Then we have my personal favorite example of this, where we watch Hunter look at Willow and go from "Wow, she's awesome (neutral)" to "Wow. She's awesome (affectionate)"
Right off the bat, Hunter clocks Willow's talents. Her strengths with both magic and her physical skills, as well as her courage. But then she does something no one else ever did before.
She proves that his skills of observation, which he is obviously VERY proud of, are not infallible.
Hunter wrote off the rest of the Emerald Entrails as lost causes when he first laid eyes on them and nearly walked away from what ended up being one of the best things to ever happen to him, but Willow stopped him and proved his first impressions of the others to be wrong.
I feel like people underestimate just how much this exchange impacted Hunter, in many different ways. THIS was the turning point that made him take notice of Willow as more than just a potential Emperor's Coven scout. Here, she proved herself not only to be a capable leader, but even better then HIM at observing and assessing the talents of others. With Luz and Amity, Hunter was able to observe them in about the same amount of time, assess them accurately, and apply what he observes to get the outcome HE wants. But with Willow, right from the second he meets her, he's caught off guard, and swept up in HER energy. She's constantly surprising him, and effortlessly has him marching to the beat of her drum.
And even after he insulted her team and tried to blow them off, she gave him a second chance. Second chances are NEVER offered in the Emperor's Coven. There, failure is final. Which is probably a big reason why upsetting Willow impacted Hunter as much as it did.
And even at the end of the episode, Willow is still surprising Hunter. It's clear as day he didn't expect her to give him another chance, after he tried to have them indoctrinated into the Coven. He thought there was no coming back from that. He wasn't doing it to be forgiven. He was doing it because he cared about the team, realized he made a mistake, and wanted to save them from that mistake before it was too late to do so. Even though he obviously thought that Willow would never want anything to do with him ever again. But, just like before, Willow proved that he thought wrong.
So yeah, Hunter is NOT the naive, sheltered, inexperienced abuse victim that's completely ignorant of how to interact with others that some people like to portray him as. Not only does Hunter possess the power of observation and the ability to quickly assess someone's strengths, weaknesses, goals, and capabilities, but he's used to being quick and accurate in doing so even in extreme situations, and takes a great deal of pride in this ability. And he is NOT walking into his crush on Willow blind. He's been observing her, and his respect and affection for her has grown with every new side of her that he sees.
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