101 in 1001 - Mindhunter

Mindhunter

Mindhunter is a show I watched recently as part of the 101 in 1001 goal:

• 067. Watch 5 new (to you) TV series (all current episodes). 

Year: 2017

No. of Seasons: 1 (Season 2 will be released later in 2018)

No. of Episodes: 10

Cert: 18

Genre: Crime, detective, dark humour, psychological thriller

Language: English

Holden Ford, Dr. Wendy Carr and Bill Tench

Cast (main):

Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford

Holt McCallany as Bill Tench

Anna Torv as Wendy Carr

Plot:

In the late 1970s two FBI agents - street-hardened professional Bill Tench & enthusiastic but inexperienced Holden Ford - and a sociologist/psychologist/researcher Dr. Wendy Carr expand criminal science by investigating and exploring the psychology of murder. As part of the Behavioural Science Unit, the team use their encounters with killers to both build profiles of the people who commit violent crimes and to help solve current cases. 

Holden interviewing Ed Kemper, the "Coed Killer"

Overall: It was enjoyable, for the most part, and I appreciated that they based the main characters on people who were working in the field at the time (Holden is based on the FBI agent John E. Douglas and Wendy's character is inspired by psychologist and scholar Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess). The way the killers are portrayed is interesting as well. Even though they've done horrendous things and aren't shown as sympathetic or empathetic characters in any way, there is a kind of sympathy for most of them and what they've been through until that point. As Mindhunter is a show dealing with the psychology of criminals, I think it was important that the writers did that.

Best Bits:

Holden fanboying over and getting excited about meeting some of the serial killers before the interviews amuses me, especially when combined with Bill's disgust and disapproval. Also, the parallels between what happens in Holden and Bill's (and eventually Wendy's) private lives and what they encounter during the interviews/cases are also interesting. In addition to that, I like that they use music, and cars from the 70's in the show and talk about/meet fictionalised (but accurate) versions of real-life serial killers from the era and slightly before. It's very effective for world immersion.

Interview with mass murderer Richard Speck

Worst Bits:

Some of the interactions that Holden has with his girlfriend, Debbie, are superfluous to the plot and offer little to either character or plot development. In contrast to that, some of the conversations between other characters feel extremely unnatural, as they have to convey certain pieces of information or explanation of technical terms during them. Neither of those things render the show unwatchable though, and it does improve as the season progresses.

Watch It If You Like:

Serial killer-themed plotlines, detective shows, criminal psychology, behavioral science and the evolution of criminal profiling, shows based on criminal history, dark humour, the 70's.