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Mindhunter is the new Netflix series from David Fincher and Charlize Theron, focusing on the period in the 1970s where the idea of trying to understand the psychology of serial killers was floated within the FBI. Adapted from the book of the same name, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Douglas, it follows a pair of agents that criss-cross America interviewing killers like The Co-Ed Killer Ed Kemper, Dennis Rader, Jerry Brudos and Richard Speck. From these interviews, they start to put together the very beginnings of profiling. The first and last two episodes (4 total) are directed by Fincher himself, and the whole thing is saturated with his directorial style. 

 

With that out of the way, I deeply enjoyed the vast majority of the show. To me it felt very much like a continuation of the themes and styles of Zodiac, focusing on the obsession with the killers rather than the killers themselves, necessarily. That said, the actual interviews with the killers (which I think are closely adapted from the actual interviews John Edward Douglas conducted), are incredibly compelling, and all of the actors cast as the killers knock it out of the park. 

 

Few general spoilers:

 

Spoiler

The only weak points to me are, at first, the way that Holden's character comes across, which is more to do with his delivery than anything else. It comes across almost a little too practised, every statement seeming prepared rather than natural. It's a recurring problem between him and his girlfriend, but with the rest of the cast it eases off after the fast few episodes. 

 

I also thought that the whole Principal line was an interesting one that does a lot to emphasise the flaws in his character. It's way more about being right and testing his theories than actually doing his job, and regardless of whether the Principal needed to be fired or not (he did), that was so far out of Holden's jurisdiction it was bordering on absurd. He was so desperate to get out there and be right about his theories that he nearly fucked the whole thing up. I think that's what really hits him in the hospital room with Kemper, when he realises he wasn't close to losing his job, but his life. God damn, Kemper is terrifying.

 

Anyway, I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys anything Fincher has done, but especially Zodiac. It's probably my favourite straight drama Netflix has produced.

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Mindhunter had a 30-minute episode which was great and felt just as complete as any of the other 60 minute episodes and made me question my life and why the hell I watch so many streaming series that insist on filling 60 minutes with material that clearly wasn't long enough or interesting enough for 60 minutes. I'm looking at you Netflix's Marvel shows.. >:(

 

I hope more shows start doing this! :tup:

 

*Also* I liked Mindhunter quite a lot.

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Wow, yeah, they really vary their episode lengths: 60/56/45/54/42/34/52/53/48/52. I think I heard ages ago that HBO shows could do that too due to there being no particular scheduling restraints or something. I agree, it would be great if more shows had the freedom to pick the correct length for an episode.

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It's definitely one of the things I think streaming is going to lead to more of. I suppose it's good to have a template for length, but if you have more or less than that and it feels like an episode, why pad or cut it unnecessarily?

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I wanted to like this show because I'm a pretty big David Fincher fan but also I've wasted too much of my life reading about serial killers late at night over the years. The whole thing just left me cold though. It was overall pretty fucking boring. The plots didn't really go anywhere exciting or engaging except for Bill Tench's personal life. It's so coy about revealing any plot and then leaves it there for season 2 to pick up some semblance of an ongoing story. The show already seemed at risk for getting another season but it's Netflix so who knows.

 

Hannah Gross who I wanted more screentime of very early on becomes a peripheral character who exists only so she can reply to Holden.

 

I also sort of wish David Fincher would branch out and try something else at this point. This is now his fourth thing dealing with serial killers.

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5 hours ago, syntheticgerbil said:

I also sort of wish David Fincher would branch out and try something else at this point. This is now his fourth thing dealing with serial killers.

 

Well, he is supposedly making World War Z 2, that seems way out of his wheelhouse.

 

 

I loved the show. It felt almost...scary I guess. I know it's a thriller, but stuff like Kemper's monologue straight to the camera in episode 2 gave me way more chills than most horror movies. When I found out that Kemper is a real guy and that those scenes were at least based on real interview transcripts... oof, that was unnerving.

 

I do mean this in a nice way though. The show didn't feel exploitative to me. I would compare and contrast with shows like Law and Order SVU, or even Criminal Minds which is about the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit as well. Those shows aren't R rated, but I always felt like they were trying to get away with as much as possible. They at the same time condemned and reveled in the violence in display. Mindhunter on the other hand, despite being R-rated, felt like it showed less violence by comparison. Yes, there were a few striking moments of it, but usually it was just a polaroid picture being held at a distance and such. It comes somewhat with the territory, considering it isn't a show about catching a serial killer, but rather a show about talking to them.

 

P.S.: The real Kemper as it turns out was involved in an inmate project where he and others recorded audiobooks for the blind. Here's an article about it on the LA Times, from the 80s.

 

And if you're mildly curious, here's a tiny snippet of one of those audiobooks he recorded:

 

 

 

Edited by Saltimbanco

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I found the Fincher-directed episodes (the first two and the final two) a great deal more engaging than almost all the others.

 

Picking up on what Arkestry said about Holden, Groff seems stilted throughout to me, especially next to Holt McCallany as Tench (I feel like I must have seen McCallany in loads of other stuff, but looking at his filmography, it's only Alien³ - also Fincher), and the actors cast as the killers. I know he's meant to be an exasperating character, but the performance was too - just unconvincing.

 

Whilst it didn't quite justify ten episodes (despite the admirable policy of not sticking to an arbitrary episode length), the slow burn did allow them to establish the ADT man in a menacing way with a series of head-scratching cold opens. I thought that was great, until absolutely nothing came of it! I'll probably watch the second season to see where that leads.

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The BTK cold opens were still my some of my favorite bits of the show even though they mostly amounted to a season-long tease for season 2 (presumably). I thought they were eerie, enigmatic, laden with dread.

Also my favorite: any scene with Kemper in it. Cameron Britton hit those scenes out of the park! He, Tench, and Wendy Carr were compelling characters to me, while Holden Ford's arc was cliché and at times cringy.

 

I agree that the Fincher episodes were the most engaging. Related: this video about the way Fincher moves the camera (one of the reasons I get sucked right into anything he directs, even if upon reflection, some of the writing is dumb).

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I think Holden is well portrayed. He's not likable or genuine, but I've known people who act like him. He's out of touch with his own motivations and good at lying to himself and others. 

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You guys make me wanna give this a second shot, though I initially bounced off, finding the writing pretty boring. 30 min into the first episode and nothing was interesting.

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After a while, I'm starting to feel a bit torn about the series. The manner in which it ends makes me feel like it wasn't really about anything other than reveling in the weirdness of the killers. I did like watching the show a whole lot, but I thought it was going to have something more to say. 

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On 11/29/2017 at 4:47 PM, Simon said:

Picking up on what Arkestry said about Holden, Groff seems stilted throughout to me, especially next to Holt McCallany as Tench (I feel like I must have seen McCallany in loads of other stuff, but looking at his filmography, it's only Alien³ - also Fincher), and the actors cast as the killers. I know he's meant to be an exasperating character, but the performance was too - just unconvincing.

 

He is also in Fight Club - I reckon he is a Fincher favourite. Honestly, I loved his performance and he was the thing I liked the most about the show, I am hoping this will do for his career what Whiplash did for JK Simmons.

 

I actually like Holden - I haven't finished the season yet but I am hoping that the show builds towards showing him to be a Psychopath. Not all psychopaths are killers and it would be a nice message to convey.

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I liked the show and I liked Holden's portrayal, kind of went through liking him and enjoyed as they drew out his flaws to the point that stopped. As for him being a real character I kind of see pieces of myself in him from back when I was coming out of some heavier things in my life. I really wish they'd done more with the female characters, kind of had standard Fincher vibes where the female leads were quite under-utilised and let down in places; it's been just about long enough that I can't really name specifics so it's just the impression left on me.

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