Almost two years since it first season hit the small screen to a plethora of acclaim, agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff), Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), and psychologist Dr.Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) return, to delve into the inner workings of the minds of some of the worst killers is history, in order to create a profile of how to identify serial killers.
First things first, this season focuses a lot more on its main characters and less on the notorious individuals sat across the interview table. The lives of Ford, and in particular Tench and Carr are explored in new depths during this only nine episode run.
It’s also worth noting that this season picks up straight after the events of season one, with Holden having suffered a panic attack following visits to the undoubted star of season one, the creepy, but captivatingly articulate Ed kemper, better known as ‘The Co-ed Killer’ and played by the Emmy nominated Cameron Britton. Following Holden’s return he is informed there is a new man in charge of the Bureau, the straight talking, straight shooting Ted Gunn (Michael Cerveris), a situation that may in fact aid the team in their research. With the four words Holden has always wanted to hear, ‘I’ll get you Manson’ delivered to him in the opening episode.
What follows the season opener is eight episodes, of course rich with the tantalising interviews with some of histories most cruel beings, including the likes of ‘Son of Sam’, ‘Elmer Wayne Henley’, and the most famous of them all Charles Manson (who engages in a fantastic linguistic sparing match with Tench), find themselves wrapped up, surrounded by thread after thread of intriguing sub-plot, each fighting its way to the forefront of an episode, only to be drawn back by Fincher and his team and replaced with another, before being revisited later. It’s a cycle of intrigue that draws noticeable comparisons with Fincher’s masterful ‘Zodiac’, and a testament to those involved that it does so. Fincher himself takes on directorial duties for the season’s first three, before handing over to Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James’) and Carl Franklin for the remaining six. With each director ingeniously intertwining these plot threads without starving the majority of them of the detail, weight, and oxygen they need to thrive.
Most notably in the case of McCollany’s Bill Tench. No spoilers here, but Tench’s story is almost the perfect, yet nightmarish encapsulation of the danger of the work being undertaken by the team, and how quickly mindsets can change. Never has the phrase ‘taking your work home with you’ been more scarily apt. huge credit must go to McCollany for standing out with his powerful and withdrawn subtleness in a show that is built around such subtleties. He takes the character above even Groff’s Ford in this season, not a side-kick, no longer Robin to Ford’s Batman. In fact, his patience wears increasingly thin with Ford, something no doubt to be explored in the (hopefully) three remaining seasons of the show.
It’s also great to see more Anna Torv as Wendy Carr, as this season allows us to establish a personal connection to a character who’s first season relationship with the audience felt
strictly professional, as we learn more about Carr and her personal relationships, although the character still feels a tad under-served.
However, the real reason for even an interview with Charles Manson to take a back seat is how the season evolves in its back-end. The series (mostly on Holden’s end) becomes an all-out man hunt to capture the ‘Atlanta child murderer’, a killer who operated between 1979-1981, and who killed 22 black children, and six black men. Impossible to discuss the case without spoiling it for those in the dark, this story represents the first time Mindhunter has entered the realm of Crime Procedural (all be it the best one you’ve ever seen), as Ford, Tench, and the highly underrated Albert Jones as Agent Jim Barney navigate increasing pressure to find the killer, whilst Ford himself comes under scrutiny after being accused of creating a profile for the suspected killer that fits into his serial killer schematic.
The most obvious thing to say here is the best thing. Mindhunter is back, and on form. Puzzling, creative, intriguing, sharp, and positively dripping in Fincher DNA. And with the notorious ‘BTK’ killer from the first season still being teased in its prologues. Bring on season three.
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