Mindhunter Season Two Review

Title: Mindhunter
Production: Denver and Delilah Productions
Director: David Fincher
Main Actors: Jonathon Groff, Holt Mcallany, Anna Torv
Original streaming: Netflix
Run Time: 2017-Present
Rating: 3/5 stars

Nearly two years after its critically acclaimed first season, the Netflix original series Mindhunter returned with its highly anticipated second season earlier this summer. The crime thriller, inspired by the non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, debuted in 2017 with a 97% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus that, “Mindhunter distinguishes itself in a crowded genre with ambitiously cinematic visuals and meticulous attention to character development.” But the long-awaited second season, as cinematic and complex as it was, felt painfully anticlimactic.

The series is based on the chronicles of retired special agent John E. Douglas, who became one of the first criminal profilers for the FBI in the 1970s. Douglas is the primary inspiration behind Mindhunter’s protagonist, Holden Ford (Jonathon Groff) while Bill Tench (Holt Mcallany) and Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) are modeled after FBI agent and author Robert K. Ressler and psychiatric forensic researcher Ann Wolbert Burgess respectively, who both also had roles in pioneering criminal profiling. The series follows special agents Ford and Tench as they jump through bureaucratic hoops to research the country’s most infamous serial killers by conducting in-person interviews.

Agents Ford and Tench spent the first season touring the country to educate local law enforcement on criminal behavior until Holden, frustrated and determined to become a hot-shot investigator, suggests interviewing some of the decade’s most infamous serial killers. The agents become well acquainted with Edmund Kemper, most famously known as the “Co-ed Killer,” who is open to discussing his murders and what drove him to commit them. This is where Mindhunter initially distinguished itself from other crime dramas: the interview scenes are based on the actual interviews with the real serials killers, sometimes almost word for word. These details, plus the beautifully artistic cinematography, are what initially pulled in and kept all eyes on screen during the first season.

For its second season, Mindhunter strayed away from its goldmine of serial killer interviews to expand and showcase the narratives behind its main characters. Tench and Ford temporarily relocate to Georgia to consult on the case of the Atlanta Murders of 1979-1981, in which at least 28 children were murdered. Ford focuses on constructing a profile of the unknown subject while Tench is torn between using their research to find their first suspect and mitigating his strenuous relationship with his family back in Virginia. The Atlanta Murders spanned three long, frustrating years and apparently so did this second season. Whether that was intentional or not, the season only contained nine episodes and somehow felt dragged on and yet incomplete all at the same time. Even when agents Ford and Tench finally interviewed the subject they were after since the beginning, Charles Manson, it didn’t seem to fit.

Despite the lack of substance behind the main plot, the season wasn’t all that bad. The main characters finally began to unfold and take shape as fully developed. The characters’ personal lives came front and center, offering stories to digest in-between the injustice done for the story of the Atlanta Murders. The cinematography justly created the illusion of experiencing the sweltering and sticky Atlanta heat and the discomfort lingering in a room. What’s really eerie though, is the uncanny resemblances that the actors cast as murderers and suspects have to the criminals they portray. Watching the interview scenes is like watching the real thing; it’s uncomfortable and scandalizing, but you just can’t look away. There is obviously no shortage of talent when it comes to the actors, but the stories their characters are a part of don’t do them justice

Overall, while the character development and dialogue remained steady, the season’s plot fell short. Too much time was spent on following a case that was never resolved (although Wayne Williams is known to have been behind it), while the most captivating narratives were pushed to the side. The season felt unfulfilled without a proper ending – it felt a lot like the saying “you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”

Mindhunter season two fell just shy of being as good as season one. The bones were there, just put slowly and awkwardly together. It’s already rumored that season three has been put on indefinite hold until director David Fincher finishes his next film, so it looks like we’ll be waiting a while to see if the show will redeem itself. Let’s just hope the writers use this off time to craft a more well-rounded follow up.