The year is 2017. It’s autumn. Little does the rest of the world know, but David Fincher is about to release one of his most fascinating and frightening films yet on Netflix. That project was Mindhunter, a ten-episode series. It premiered on Netflix in mid-October to critical acclaim and quickly established itself as not just one of the finest episodes the streaming service has ever created, but also one of the best shows to have ever shown in the previous decade.
Mindhunter, which was set in the late 1970s and covered the early days of the FBI’s criminal profiling programme, proved to be one of the heaviest dramas ever made. As a result, it devoted a significant amount of time delving into the heinous actions and damaged minds of some of history’s most prominent serial murderers.
Those investigations were led by an ambitious young agent (Jonathan Groff), a stoic veteran (Holt McCallany), and a whip-smart psychiatric expert (Anna Torv), who would utilise their discoveries to build the framework for practically every serial killer investigation from the 1970s onward.
MINDHUNTER | Season 2 | Official Trailer
Season 1 of Mindhunter was immensely captivating, but it didn’t quite turn into the Netflix success Netflix had hoped for. Despite this, Netflix greenlit a second season, which premiered in the summer of 2019 and was just as binge-worthy and brilliant as the first, prompting many to expect Fincher and Netflix to release the third season sooner rather than later. Even if that season hasn’t arrived yet, it’s still a possibility. Here’s all we know so far about Mindhunter’s potential third season.
When will Netflix release Season 3 of Mindhunter?
At the time, the exact release date for Mindhunter’s third season is uncertain. They’ll stay that way for the time being, because David Fincher doesn’t appear to have the time or energy to continue the programme. Mindhunter hasn’t been officially cancelled by Netflix; instead, it’s been placed on an “indefinite pause” by the streaming service. Fincher may “revisit” the series in the future, implying that he will return to it.
Fincher told Vulture that one of the reasons season 3 of Mindhunter hasn’t materialised is that the programme is simply too stressful for him. That most confusing news occurred in 2020, while the renowned detail-oriented filmmaker was promoting his now Oscar-nominated Netflix feature Mank. He stated, “It’s a 90-hour week.” “It suffocates your entire existence. ‘I don’t know whether I have it in me right now to break season three,’ I stated after finishing [season 2].”
Fincher went on to suggest that the third season of Mindhunter “probably” wouldn’t happen, citing the time-consuming nature of the project as well as the fact that the programme is a costly product that isn’t breaking any viewing records. “Listen, that was an expensive concert for the audience it attracted. I honestly don’t think we’ll be able to accomplish it for less than what I spent on season two. And you have to be honest about the fact that dollars must equal eyes on some level.”
And, if that wasn’t bad enough, Fincher has been busy lining up even more directing projects in the meanwhile and has already started pre-production on The Killer for Paramount Pictures — which means Fincher will have to wait at least another year before considering a Mindhunter revival.
Season 3 of Mindhunter will include who?
As if the “indefinite halt” news wasn’t awful enough, Netflix has also removed the show’s core cast members from their contracts, which reportedly included terms for hypothetical fourth and fifth seasons. Despite the show’s “indefinite vacation,” executives rightly concluded it wouldn’t be fair to Mindhunter’s in-demand performers to restrict them from taking new contracts while everyone waited to see if season 3 would happen.
Even though reuniting the Mindhunter group (which includes Groff, McCallany, Torv, Joe Tuttle, and now Michael Cerveris) down the line would be challenging, it’s a safe bet that the whole cast would be eager to return because the show is certainly a career highlight for each of them. McCallany, who is one of Fincher’s few regular collaborators, has shown interest in the third season of Mindhunter, telling Popculture.com in 2019 that he was “hopeful” for a third season.
“We did have a bible, a five-season bible, that existed when we began rehearsals for season one,” McCallany added, admitting that the cast and crew of the programme initially went into production with a five-season storyline in mind.
While it’s unclear how the Great Pandemic Production Freeze of 2020 affected Mindhunter alums’ work schedules, it’s safe to assume that even with the break, they’ve all been busy booking new projects. That makes a comeback even more difficult — even if they’re probably certainly itching to get back to work on more Mindhunter nonsense.
In Season 3 of Mindhunter, which serial killers may make an appearance?
It’s simple to guess who may return if Mindhunter returns for a third season, but predicting which bad characters they’ll be interrogating and/or investigating is far more difficult. The initial intention for the programme was to go all the way through the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, so most of that discussion is likely over which decade the upcoming season would be set in. Yes, the chronology offers up a lot of story possibilities. However, wherever the upcoming season goes, Holden and the group will almost certainly spend more time with the villainous “Co-ed Killer” Ed Kemper, as Cameron Britton’s bone-chilling work on the show has resulted in some of the program’s most thrilling moments.
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Similarly, Sonny Valicenti’s return is all but certain, given the investigation and ultimate capture of his character — the as-yet-unnamed “BTK Killer” Dennis Rader — appears to be the series’ unambiguous finale. The infamous Ted Bundy, the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, and the cannibalistic killer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as the infamous “.22-Caliber Killer” case and an explosive investigation involving Ted Kaczynski, aka the “Unabomber,” are all in play, as is the infamous “.22-Caliber Killer” case, and an explosive investigation involving Ted Kaczynski, aka the “Unabom