Mindhunter
Series, 2017, The 2010s, Set in The FBI's Behavioral Science Unit
Mindhunter is #11 of 13 in release order and #11 of 13 in chronological order in the David Fincher.
The story
An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.
Mindhunter recap
Mindhunter (2017) follows two FBI agents and a psychologist who interview imprisoned serial killers in the late 1970s to learn how they think. Created by Joe Penhall from the book by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker, it ran on Netflix for two seasons from 2017 to 2019, with 19 episodes (10 and 9). David Fincher directed several episodes and ran the show in practice. Jonathan Groff plays Holden Ford, a young hostage negotiator turned instructor, and Holt McCallany plays Bill Tench, a veteran agent who teaches criminology to police around the country. Anna Torv plays Dr. Wendy Carr, a Boston University psychologist who helps turn their work into the Behavioral Science Unit. Season 1, set from 1977 to 1980, centers on their talks with Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton) and others such as Jerry Brudos and Richard Speck, while Holden grows arrogant. Season 2, in 1980 and 1981, sends them to Atlanta, where at least 28 people, most of them Black children, have been murdered, and adds talks with David Berkowitz and Charles Manson. Each season opens with brief scenes of Dennis Rader, the BTK killer. Mindhunter sits between Gone Girl and Mank in Fincher's work.
Mindhunter ending explained
Mindhunter ends with season 2's finale, "Episode 9", in which Wayne Williams is convicted of killing two adult men and Atlanta officials pin most of the child murders on him to close them, over Holden's objections. Bill comes home to find his wife Nancy has left with their son Brian. Season 1 had ended with Holden suffering a panic attack after Ed Kemper hugged him in a hospital. Netflix put the show on hold in 2020 and Fincher confirmed in 2023 that it is over, leaving the BTK story unfinished.
Where to watch Mindhunter
Mindhunter is streaming on Netflix in the US.
Ratings
IMDb 8.6/10
Where it fits
Cast
- Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford
- Holt McCallany as Bill Tench
- Anna Torv as Wendy Carr
- Sonny Valicenti as ADT Serviceman
- Stacey Roca as Nancy Tench
- Cotter Smith as Unit Chief Shepard
- Hannah Gross as Debbie Mitford
- Joe Tuttle as Gregg Smith
- Zachary Scott Ross as Brian Tench
- Lauren Glazier as Kay Manz
- Albert Jones as Jim Barney
- Michael Cerveris as Assistant Director Gunn
Created by Joe Penhall.