Mindhunter’s Hair-Raising Plot Has Viewers Disturbed and Wanting More
Netflix originals have recently taken over the lives of many — including myself. What’s great about Netflix originals is the various genres of television and movies they offer, and most of them seem to be interesting. When I came across Mindhunter while scrolling through Netflix, I decided to give it a try, and after that it was nothing but binge-mode for me.
Mindhunter was released on Netflix this past October, and is loosely based on the memoir Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit — a book written by former FBI criminal investigator John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The ten-episode season starts in 1977 and stars Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford, a young FBI agent who is a hostage negotiator. He also teaches news students at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia, and focuses on psychological strategies to negotiating with criminals. He is eager to learn more and is empathetic when it comes to his job, which is something that was odd for others around him. When he decides to try out new ways of teaching that focus on these methods, his supervisor Shepard tells him, “as far as the bureau is concerned, psychology is for backroom boys.” This is a common theme in the show — no one is used to trying to understand why criminals do what they do. During that time period, people did not truly ask why these killings were happening. Holden actually wanted to understand the logic behind these killings and what caused them to snap. It was quite frustrating to hear the constant backlash Holden received when suggesting new concepts.
Holden eventually allies with the experienced and blunt Special Agent Bill Tench, who is a specialist in behavioral science and played by Holt McCallany. Bill informs Holden that he is what they called a “blue flamer” aka someone that’s “so eager to do good, [they] have a big blue flame shooting out of [their] a******.” It is hard to grasp the fact that wanting to do better, especially being in a place of power, was a bad quality to have. The entire force was so stuck in their old ways of doing things, they did not want to make the effort to change and see where it takes them.
The two take their combined forces to the road and present to various police departments in hopes of opening up their minds to this new way of thinking. In episode two, the partners head to California, where Holden interviews infamous ‘Co-Ed Killer’ Ed Kemper by himself. From here, the show sucked me right in with the scenes of the interviews. Cameron Britton was creepily amazing at playing this sadistic killer. What I found especially admirable about the show was the lack of extreme gore, because it was not necessary due to the dialogue. The script in itself was graphic enough that there was no need to have the visual — the audience could understand just how horrible some situations were without it. When Kemper was describing his evil acts, we see nothing but his face as he stares right back into the camera. It was absolutely terrifying without having to try too hard to be.
There were many different crimes described throughout the series that Holden and Bill worked together and sometimes apart on solving along with their third ally, the intelligent and alluring university psychologist Wendy Carr played by Anna Torv. She is the one that encourages the two men to do their study, and she eventually joins them due to her knowledge and interest in the subject. Her character was refreshing — it was nice to have the female perspective in a sea of males. The confidence she exuded automatically attracts you to her character.
Overall, the show did an amazing job of making the viewer want more. After episode two, you are thrown into the dark and twisted world of Holden Ford. He starts off as a likable character, and slowly lets his work take over his personality. The audience sees that it slowly starts to chip away at his character. It sometimes felt emotionally exhausting as a viewer to listen to the dialogue of some of the interviews and crimes. However, the point is to make people uncomfortable. Although the ending was pretty much anti-climactic, it still left us wanting more due to its cliffhanger that foreshadows what will hopefully be talked about in upcoming seasons. We can only hope that the new season will make up for an ending that was unsatisfying, to say the least.
