So just finished Mindhunter. A meticulously paced & intellectually written show based on the FBI facilitating a group of individuals to profile and convict serial killers and rapists by studying criminal behaviour through interviewing convicted offenders of the highest caliber.

Spoilers ahead.

Season 1 showed how Holden clearly underestimated the repercussions of communicating with vile criminals especially the worst of the worst. The finale displayed all of Holden’s character flaws, extended upon them and then lets everything unravel/loose.

His girlfriend splitting ways, his colleagues choosing the truth instead of lies (His side) & betraying him from his perspective. Insulting the internal affairs for acting ‘feeble’ and even utters the term “principal’s office bullshit” for not following through with his methods.

The final scene with Ed Kemper was also quality. An intense performance and for a brief moment Holden was in grave danger. He’s at a point now where he’s blended in more with the ‘serial killers’ he interviewed than his own co-workers and friends. Quite the terrifying realisation

"That is *your* world, and it has made you paranoid.” fading into the end really does capture the essence and dilemma of Holden’s character. By interviewing the crazy he became the crazy. In other words he let his own mind get hunted.

I also respect the historical approach of the show very much. Ed Kemper was actually quoting a real life case where a high profile criminal was alone with an investigator and he threatened him roughly along the words of “I could kill you now, pretty easily”.

This prompted the whole thing about not being allowed to interview alone due to safety reasons. It just shows how scary the concept of interviewing the deranged and unstable really is.

If you’re not careful you could fall down into the rabbit hole and have your own psychology damaged in the path of justice. You keep more offenders off the streets but at the cost of your own mental stability?

S2 on the other hand, covered a realistic depiction of police work, funding restrictions, public concerns, racial controversy & political tensions and the fact that some cases won’t have a clean wrap up of events since catching high profile offenders isn’t exactly straightforward

In real life, police investigations for serial offenders often take months or even years to resolve. It’s a cruel life but that’s just how it is. Some people are just good at not getting caught. This series highlighted how limited crime investigation truly was back in the days.

Season 2 episodes were done in a way that never felt conclusive to increase the tension and it paid off for the most part and I enjoyed the build up in suspense.

S1 finale was stronger as it played out a visceral crescendo for Holden’s character arc coupled with Ed Kemper’s brilliant performance as the trigger for Holden’s downfall while S2 finale played out as more of a silent but realistic portrayal of being underwhelmed by failing to

resolve a case despite spending months and years at it. Putting all eggs in the basket yet yielding no results is something that happens pretty often in this line of work.

Both Holden and Bill were great for their roles and I was impressed with their acting. My only complaints were that I didn’t really like the whole Brian subplot and at times the background noise was too loud that it felt occasionally difficult to follow the ongoing dialogue.

Wendy is a great character but her role in S2 didn’t really do much for the narrative. Exploring her sexual preferences was cool but I feel that was better handled in S1. I did like her moment though when she lashed out at her girlfriend for being hypocritical in terms of honesty

Overall It’s a well acted show that kept me engaged throughout. The directing was sound with very atmospheric and suspenseful music throughout and even western tracks to give off that nice American vibe. There were plenty of nice sequences and I have to repeat the pacing was

Scenes never felt rushed or dragged and it always moved on seamlessly. It gave the viewers the room to breathe when we should after all the chaos and it also knew when to keep the tensions at an all time high and not let up in suspense. You could tell Fincher directed this show.

I’m glad I watched this show. It does a lot of things right and manages to keep the viewer engaged & immersed which is the most important thing for this type of show that relies on realistic storytelling rather than its own fictional concept.
Definitely a fav of mine.

I miss Ed Kemper and Debbie though. They were some of my favourite aspects to do with the show so I hope they return in some fashion for S3 if that ever gets announced.

I also do like the fact that everyone lost while the BTK killer remains at large. Holden basically lost the case (unresolved) as he couldn’t find the person who killed all the victims with the title card reading "As of 2019, none of the remaining 27 cases have been prosecuted."

Bill lost his marriage as he once again chose work over family and Wendy romance ended on a sad note as it became clear that Kay did not want Wendy to be a part of her son’s life.

All the opening scenes for each episode also add up as the ADT salesman we saw since S1 is officially confirmed as the BTK killer aka Dennis Rider. Who knows if he will return for more disturbing behaviour in S3. It feels like they are teasing us a major event for S5

Where the BTK killer will finally encounter Holden and Bill.